andthendougsaid wrote:Something I've always wondered about this scene is whether Herb sees the bum as well. Dan clearly reacts first (possibly just because he's expecting it):
Even before Herb appears startled, you can see his arm start to move up toward Dan during Dan's initial reaction, so he is reacting quickly to something. But it seems strange that he'd become that cartoonishly horrified just because Dan was freaking out.
So does Herb see it too and react more slowly? Or is his only a reaction to Dan's reaction -- worrying about his mental health, and/or being "frightened when I see how afraid you are"?
doug, I think that's an interesting question.
It's always appeared to me that Herb seems shocked by Dan's fall to the floor. If Herb had seen the Bum (and wasn't expecting it), we might expect him to have a slightly different reaction. I've always assumed that he's shocked by Dan's collapse and doesn't understand why it happened. Hence "Dan, Dan, are you alright?".
On the idea of Herb seeming cartoonish, watch the scene again and focus on Herb all the way. The walk gives me the heebie jeebies big time. Lynch creating a mood of the kind that I've only ever seen him create. It's signature Lynch. Uncanny. Uncanny is an overused word that has lost a little of its meaning, but if you look a definitions of it, it's the perfect word to describe that whole scene.
