...what's going on during Adam's meeting?

Why does Adam ask what the photo is for? Wasn't it just explained to him to keep an open mind because suggestions are going to be brought forward?

Why does Adam say "What girl? For what? What is this Ray?"...wasn't it also just explained to him that he is recasting the lead role?

It just doesn't make sense.

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Also, some argue that Betty walks out on her dream audition when she leaves Adam's studio. Really? It seems to me that Adam made his choice before she decided to leave. It seems to me that there would be no audition for her to walk out on and that it would make sense for her to get on with her business and make an exit.

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Who's dreaming this dream? Adam is made out to be an arrogant fool. Joe is made out to be a total idiot. Rita is made out to be a fearful, tearful mess. Betty is made out to be a painfully corny dork, and much like a child. Dan is made out to be a complete wimp. All are being made a fool of.

By whom? I would think that whoever is having this dream would, in the dream, seem to be sitting on top of the world and pulling all the strings.

vicster111 wrote:...what's going on during Adam's meeting?

Why does Adam ask what the photo is for? Wasn't it just explained to him to keep an open mind because suggestions are going to be brought forward?

Why does Adam say "What girl? For what? What is this Ray?"...wasn't it also just explained to him that he is recasting the lead role?

It just doesn't make sense.

Maybe it doesn't make sense because it doesn't make sense. To Adam.

If he's been promised the final decision on casting choices and certain undertakings have been given to him then it's not surprising that he acts with an amount of belligerance. Asking what the photo is for is almost a rhetorical question. He's asking it with incredulity. The opposite of Diane asking what the key opens. She asks it seriously, it seems, whereas Adam knows exactly what the photo for but he can't believe that it's being foisted upon him.

I can understand Adam's being a bit belligerent when he says "What's the photo for?", but it doesn't make sense for him to continue to do so, making himself look like an idiot, when he says "What girl? For what? What is this Ray?". I would like to explore the reasons why he would say such things, reasons that would make perfect sense.

One reason I can think of that makes complete sense is that the lead role is a male, and not a female, role. So when they say "Oh, she's very pretty" he's wondering why they are looking at a 'she'. So, what's this photo of a 'she' for? Aren't they supposed to be discussing the lead role? Likewise with "What girl? For what? What is this Ray?"... the lead role is for a male, so 'what girl'? For what?

My take on this is that if you're looking for "complete sense" in a farce of a business meeting, it won't be forthcoming.

No handshakes? No eye contact or even acknowledgement of the director by the Castigliane brothers? Lynch is presenting a farce of a meeting where "sense" has no firm basis.

That said, the photo is not presented to Adam so it's not a recommendation to him as far as the Castigliane brothers are concerned, it's a fact. It seems reasonable (even within an unreasonable scene) that Adam expected some big-name actress to be pressed on him. When he hears 'the girl is lovely' or whatever is said - rather than some star he is shocked that a true nobody is being 'suggested' for the lead.

The very idea that Hollywood takes a chance of a unknown woman in a lead role in a major film is farcical. Hollywood is not about taking many risks and chances. That's why the same actors get the same juicy roles year after year. Look at Julie Andrews who was a Broadway hit in My Fair Lady getting passed over for Audrey Hepburn (whose voice was dubbed). It's usually about getting someone bankable.

The very idea that Hollywood takes a chance of a unknown woman in a lead role in a major film is farcical.

Maybe this wasn't a major film. This unknown woman (or her 'Aunt Ruth') is being placated somehow by casting her into a film that everyone knows (except her and Adam) will never get made. (Remind you of Betty's deal?)

Can anyone tell me...

...what role Wilkins may play in the dreamer's real life? It seems that the only time we hear his name or see him, Coco is around.

Is he the dreamer? Is Coco his aunt? Is that why he continues to get away with doggie poo in the courtyard? Does his dog have free roam in the courtyard, which means it can enter any door accidently left open? If so, is the dog a 'she' and is who Louise is referring to when she says 'she won't leave', asking Coco to remover her? Making Coco once again clean up Wilkins' dog's 'mess'?

As you know, I am no longer commenting on theories. But I think you should be asking yourself a key question here:
Do dogs dream in colour?

Points to bear in mind:
At least two clues are revealed before the credits
The camera must have been about 2 feet off the ground when it filmed the dancers, so whose point of view was this?

Diane wakes from her "dream" on a turquoise pillow, but the dreamer at the start seems to be lying on a bed with a red pillow (so it can't be Diane), but the dreamer's head is not on the pillow. So what kind of creature sleeps on a bed, but does not use a pillow?

I have seen an interview with David Lynch in which he talks about MD. He says that he regrets that, due to commercial pressures, it is no longer viable to make films in Black and White, but that he would like to do so, when it is appropriate. Dogs see things in black and white. Perhaps, given the chance, David would have made MD in black and white.

When you dream, do you ever see yourself in these dreams? No I don't either. My guess is that the dreamer, in this film, will not see his/herself represented. We never see Wilkins's dog. But we get a good look at his/her poo, because that is the sort of things that dogs are interested in.

"Run along little doggy." Why would Adam use a phrase like that?

"We get a little catty sometimes." Well, what is that supposed to mean?

Of course, I am not promoting any new theory, just raising points about some puzzling details in the film.

marksman. wrote:Points to bear in mind:
Diane wakes from her "dream" on a turquoise pillow, but the dreamer at the start seems to be lying on a bed with a red pillow (so it can't be Diane), but the dreamer's head is not on the pillow. So what kind of creature sleeps on a bed, but does not use a pillow?

Diane goes to sleep:


First female on the bed (before The Cowboy pokes his head in):


Second female on the bed (The Cowboy sees and close the door):


Diane as she wakes on the bed:


I don't see any turquiose there.

It is interesting to look at the images together though.

vicster111 wrote:I can understand Adam's being a bit belligerent when he says "What's the photo for?", but it doesn't make sense for him to continue to do so, making himself look like an idiot, when he says "What girl? For what? What is this Ray?". I would like to explore the reasons why he would say such things, reasons that would make perfect sense.

One reason I can think of that makes complete sense is that the lead role is a male, and not a female, role. So when they say "Oh, she's very pretty" he's wondering why they are looking at a 'she'. So, what's this photo of a 'she' for? Aren't they supposed to be discussing the lead role? Likewise with "What girl? For what? What is this Ray?"... the lead role is for a male, so 'what girl'? For what?

It makes sense to me that Ray is Kesher's contact at the studio who was involved with negotiating his contract, and that contract perhaps states that he has control over these things. And in such a meeting where these issues were raised and those promises were being broken he would turn to the person who negotiated that contract and question why he was having to deal with this it rather than getting on with his job with casting his actress and directing his film.

If they're trying to push a lead of the wrong gender then it most definitely ups the ante in the farce stakes, but I don't think that Kesher would be the only one scratching his head in the board room were that the case. After all, he was recasting his lead actress anyway.

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Edit: Hmmm. I watched the scene again. I think the above stands, but I think that there maybe value in looking closer at it. There's a lot crammed in. Some things that really don't make much sense at all.

Hmmm. I watched the scene again. I think the above stands, but I think that there maybe value in looking closer at it. There's a lot crammed in. Some things that really don't make much sense at all.

I'm glad you watched the scene again. There's definitely something wrong with it...something's not right.

Our cable was out the other night so I made my hubby watch the film with me. It was his first time seeing it (after hearing me talk about it, lol!) and he had a few interesting comments throughout it, but he wondered right away why Adam seemed to have no idea what was going on during that meeting even though it had just been discussed with him.

And he wanted to know who was dreaming and making Betty out to be so painfully corny. He felt like she was being 'punished', just as Adam was, by whoever is doing the dreaming.


When you dream, do you ever see yourself in these dreams? No I don't either. My guess is that the dreamer, in this film, will not see his/herself represented. We never see Wilkins's dog. But we get a good look at his/her poo, because that is the sort of things that dogs are interested in.

"Run along little doggy." Why would Adam use a phrase like that?

"We get a little catty sometimes." Well, what is that supposed to mean?

It's funny that you caught this. I've pondered the animal comments myself. Also when the key is talked about you can almost hear someone saying 'monkey' and 'yorkie'. And I've talked about horse references before. Mr. Ed, anyone? Lol! By the way, dogs are also interested in dumpsters. Maybe Dan is so scared because the bum likes to pop out from behind the dumpster and scare him off (or try to catch him for dinner). The bum behind Winkie's would just be 'man' (mankind) to an animal. Maybe Dan is a dog or a rat. I've wondered sometimes, too, if this film is about an animated (animal?) film (like a Disney movie) and the auditions are for the animated characters' voices. Lol!

By the way, this would explain why people would look the same but have different names. Two dogs can look alike. They would act differently (have different personalities) though. And the 7's everyone talks about? One human year equals 7 dog years.

Blu, you are totally right. The pillow is still red when Diane wakes up. I won't edit my original post, because when I do this it makes subsequent comments, by people,such as yourself, seem confusing. It was a genuine mistake by me, and I should have checked before posting. I just remembered it wrongly: We saw turquoise pillows during the dream, and when she awakes we see turquoise fittings in the kitchen (which weren't there in the dream). I must be suffering from false memory syndrome myself!
I can only apologize.

I must be suffering from false memory syndrome...

Happens to me, too...we're just human, after all. :)

I thought of another reason why I was thinking about doggies with this film: "Dad's best friend goes to work" and "You're his best friend" comments during Betty's audition.

Also, the fact that Coco asks Betty if she has any pets and then Laura Harring is discovered, like a stray.

It is fun to ponder the notion that DL may have made a film where people play the parts of animals instead of what we're used to - animals playing the parts of people. Of course, this would mean that an animal is having this dream. I'll buy that possibility. We do have 'star' animals in our society. Lassie for one. "Someone's in trouble!"

And I can't help but think about scenes from other Lynch films such as the dirt around Henry's dead plants and the puppies sucking on their momma in Eraserhead. And Henry sinking into a huge bowl of milk with his prize during his dream.

And this reminds me of the clue I think I found in the cast names: 10 'CO' in art - the real wolf echoed. The second part was in spanish. I don't really know what meaning a wolf has for Lynch, so I don't know what to make of it. But I did find the "10 'CO' in art" art pieces he referred to.