David Lynch revealed that movies weren’t a big part of his childhood — but he recalled seeing two of the most popular films ever made. One was a war epic and the other was a cinematic dream. Both appear to have inspired Lynch’s work.

David Lynch said movies were not popular where he grew up

In his 2018 book Room to Dream, Lynch discussed the movies he saw as a child. “Movies weren’t a big part of Boise [Idaho] in the ’50s,” he recalled. “I remember seeing Gone with the Wind at an outdoor theater in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, on a beautiful mowed lawn. Seeing Gone with the Wind on a giant screen, outside, on a summer evening — that was nice. 

“I don’t remember telling my brother about movies, and I don’t remember when I first saw The Wizard of Oz, but it stuck with me, whenever it was,” he added. “But I’m not alone. It stuck with a lot of people. For context, The Wizard of Oz was a big flop when it came out in 1939 but it became a cult classic through its repeated showings on television during the 1950s.

How his childhood inspired his movies

Lynch’s childhood was not all fun. “That ’50s small-town thing, it’s different, and to catch that mood is important,” he wrote. “It’s dreamy, that’s what it is. 

“The ’50s mood isn’t completely positive, though, and I always knew there was stuff going on,” he added. “When I was out after dark and going around on my bike, some houses had lights on inside that were kind of warm, or I knew some houses they were almost out and I didn’t know the people who lived there.” Lynch went on to say that his childhood was a significant influence on his work. Considering how dark, twisted, and disturbing his films get, that says a lot about his formative years.

How ‘Gone with the Wind’ and ‘The Wizard of Oz’ inspired David Lynch

Did Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz influence Lynch’s movies in a meaningful way? It appears they did. Gone with the Wind is, among many other things, a soap opera. Some of Lynch’s films get soap operatic at points, and he even created the surrealist soap opera Twin Peaks. On top of that, the relationship between Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler displays some of the toxicity that shows up in relationships between Lynch’s characters.

The Wizard of Oz may have been a bigger source of inspiration for Lynch. Not to spoil anything, but Wild at Heart has some major allusions to The Wizard of Oz. On top of that, Mulholland Drive is structured similarly to the classic film, where part of the story is set in a grim reality and another part of it is set in a vibrant fantasy. Perhaps the blurring of the line between the real and the fake that’s so vital in some of Lynch’s films can be traced back to his childhood love of The Wizard of Oz.

If you want to get a taste of the classic movies that meant a lot to Lynch, Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz are a good place to start.