The Bum is a character that has many interpretations to be considered:(1) The ultimate power figure behind everything (maybe a funny allusion to director of this film?) (2) Representation of Diane's fears (3) More universal representation of, what Freud defines as ID of Diane Selwyn (4) The angel of death as he happens to appear in the film where somebody is just about to die/died.Perhaps he is a behind-the-scenes manipulator. Just as Mr Roque manipulates events in the material world, the bum hold far greater power - control over a person's soul. In Diane's delusional state, a homeless bum - perhaps the lowest in the social structure of society - becomes all-powerful, the possessor of Diane's soul, or fate. Diane has seen through those walls, witnessed him face to face, and believing that he is the one that's doing it. believes herself to be powerless to stop him. Just like Dan in the dream, Diane's only response is the inability to go on. Fate has decided that she cannot live. Source: http://www.mulholland-drive.net/studies/wip.htmThe homeless man is Diane's acknowledgement of her own mental problems, her own schizophrenia, if you will. A very important distinction is that the man exists both in Diane's dream and when she wakes up as the same character. I think that in both cases it's an abstraction, maybe the Unknown, but I think that Diane is admitting to herself that she has a problem and it is dangerous and life-threatening, not only to Camilla but also to her. We see that as Dan confronts the homeless man and dies - just as Diane does at the end of the film. - (Andy Ross)A striking indication of this point is the prominent use of the Winkie's bum as the instantiation of the Dark Force (both inside Diane and also of Hollywood itself). A homeless person living behind the dumpster on Sunset Blvd. is the polar opposite of Hollywood success a la Adam, Castigliane brothers and the whole glamorous crowd at the pool party. Hollywood is about dreams, money, attention, whereas the homeless is about poverty, disaster, and lack of attention. Anyone who lives in Los Angeles knows the reality behind Hollywood, the part of LA consisting of low-paid immigrants, South Central, etc, bad public transportation and city neglect of social services - (Diane herself is probably on the intersection of these two worlds.) Lynch's choice of symbol is brilliant because it brings together his two themes of personal splitting within Diane of good and evil and his sociological critique of Hollywood itself. - (jkandell) The Controller can be regarded as a pseudo stand-in for Lynch himself who has appeared in many of his previous works. Eraserheads The Man in The Planet, The Good Fairy of Wild at Heart, the denizens of Twin Peaks Black Lodge, and the bum behind Winkie's. It is a metaphor for the man behind the curtain (here: man behind the wall) in Lynchs beloved and much referenced The Wizard Of Oz, which is about dreams, aspirations and the way in which we delude ourselves. (Lynchland: Craig Jones)For more interpretations: http://www.mulholland-drive.net/cast/bum.htm Show less «