Will We Ever See the David Lynch of the Games Industry?
Two nights ago I was watching Inland Empire with a buddy of mine (which was serendipitously Lynch’s birthday). I’m a pretty big fan of David Lynch’s catalogue, having seen most of his projects multiple times. Lynch has this subtle and gentle way of pulling his viewers away from a typical narrative and into a reality best compared to as a dream. And the way these dreams fold into the narrative is usually left up for debate and speculation.
As somebody who is admittedly not the biggest movie fan, I love that Lynch was able to offer up the medium something truly unique. And because my mind is never more than a few thoughts away from video games; I grew sad as I realized the gaming industry has never really had a David Lynch.
I know, I know- Hideo Kojima exists. I get it. Kojima is absolutely an auteur in a similar field as Lynch. He’s stubborn, he’s experimental, he’s weird- and I love Kojima all for those things. But at the same time, I don’t think Kojima has ever hit the same blend of genre bending and surrealism as Lynch. A Hideo Kojima game always commits to a certain play style and format. With films like Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire (especially Inland Empire) Lynch was able to combine genres such as noir, drama, romance, surrealistic, horror, thriller, and mystery.
There’s also Remedy’s Sam Lake, who clearly is a fan of Lynch. Alan Wake feels like a clear Twin Peaks ripoff at times. I respect Lake, and my favorite game he’s written is Control. But Control has a heavy handed way of giving the player lore and answers, with documents among documents scattered everywhere. Once again, not even close to Lynchian. Lynch had a firm love of not explaining any of his stories, which I totally agree with fundamentally. A good story allows both the artist and enjoyers to walk away with their own feelings, beliefs, and experiences. And Lynch knew that.
With video games being endlessly more expensive than films to produce, I understand why such a taking would be hard for a big budget studio to commit to. Hell, we’re lucky that such a bizarre title as Death Stranding was given a reasonably big budget (and even greenlit!).
Gamers often credit people like Kojima and Lake as some of the best visionaries and creatives in the industry. And don’t get me wrong- they are. But I truly believe there are many Kojima-like and yes Lynch-like talents within the gaming industry that don’t get their chance to shine because of how expensive the industry is. And it’s a shame. Lynch continued to make films up until 2006’s Inland Empire; and none of his feature films really made an immense project. But people still greenlit and funded his movies because it was important for the medium to do so. I wish more gaming executives would realize the same thing.
No video game has ever given me the same feelings as Mulholland Drive or Twin Peaks. And I hope one day a game will.
