Cast: Aunt Ruth Elms

AuntRuthMayaBond

Sex	Female	Quote: "Just one more bag after that."
Age	Late 60s
Origin	Canada?
Address	1612 Havenhurst
Occupation	Works in the movies
Fashion style	Red-headed, scarf
Family	Betty Elms
Relationship	Wally Brown, Coco, Louise
Doppelganger	Older woman in a yellow dress at Sierra Bonita

Clue #10: Where is Aunt Ruth?

First we see who we believe to be Aunt Ruth at 1612 Havenhurst: a well-dressed red-headed lady with a scarf on, and a taxi driver helping her with her bags.
Then at the airport while Betty is saying goodbye to the old couple, who walks by around the taxi zone? A well-dressed, red-headed lady with a scarf on, and a man accompanying her, carrying her bags.
And then at Sierra Bonita, Betty and Rita watch a well-dressed red-headed lady with what appears to be a scarf around her, with a man carrying her bags to a limo or towncar. »Visual Echoes: Accompanied red-head
There's a black hat in Aunt Ruth's bedroom. Is it part of a funeral outfit? Another clue to us that Diane's aunt is dead?
Ruth is leaving Havenhurst (probably) towards LA airport to catch her flight for Canada where she's gonna shoot a movie. Betty just arrived at LAX from Ontario, Canada to go to Havenhurst. Why are they missing each other? Betty probably hasn't seen her aunt for a while, and Ruth leaves the very same day Betty arrives. They could have arranged their flights in order to meet at Havenhurst or even in LAX. Also, in the end we see Ruth arriving just after Betty has left. Betty's aunt is always just out of reach in Diane's fantasy. This is actually a glimpse on reality where Diane's aunt died before she moved over to L.A.
Watch interpretations of Lynch's clue #10 here.

Ruth & Bitsie

Photo at Havenhurst

Searching for Aunt Ruth is a quest that Diane has been on since before she came to Hollywood. In fact, it probably started in earnest as things in her family fell apart after the abuse she went through. Aunt Ruth is her only notion of family anymore, as the picture of Aunt Ruth with Diane as she was a child in her fantasy seems to attest (Havenhurst interior). Yet, as we will see repeatedly, the Aunt Ruth of Diane's dreams never connects with Diane's various personas, as though she is just out of reach. And this represents a tragic truth that she cannot escape, that their lives never came to overlap in Diane's adulthood - Aunt Ruth died before Diane made it to Hollywood. And without Aunt Ruth, Diane has been afraid and alone, unable to find the right path on her own. - (Alan Shaw)

Why is Aunt Ruth not seeing things?

In the beginning we see Diane's aunt leaving Havenhurst. Rita runs across the courtyard heading for her apartment. But when Ruth is looking back she doesn't see her. Then she's forgetting the keys, even forgetting where she left them, even when it was the only thing left in a perfectly clean apartment. Again she is not aware of Rita under the table. After the blue box is opened Aunt Ruth returns, scanning the room but doesn't see what is going on. What could all this mean?

Just as in the beginning when Ruth and Betty missed another at Havenhurst, it symbolizes Diane's yearning for her beloved Aunt that can never be resolved because Ruth died before Diane arrived in L.A. in the first place.
Ruth can't see events around Rita and Betty because the girls are ghost/dream characters. Their visit to the Havenhurst apartment remains uncovered from the real world.
The abuse theory: The abuser was a male member of Diane's family and the female partner (represented by Aunt Ruth) either overlooked it, turned a blind eye to it, or somehow missed it altogether. A conversion of the female partner of the male abuser who might have or should have checked in but either didn't or saw nothing.
Could some atrocious "accident" have taken place in Diane's bedroom when she was young? Could Aunt Ruth have been part of it in some way? Was she paid to keep it quiet (and then did she subsequently bequeath the money to Diane out of guilt)? Was Aunt Ruth's sin of omission/silence the most traumatic part for Diane? »Sexual abuse

Related Theory: Diane's dream is a replay of her sexual abuse

Aunt Ruth Aunt Ruth - the principal character?

Betty/Diane is Aunt Ruth in her young years! It's her story. The movie is about a young girl who came from Canada to make a career in Hollywood. She was dreaming to become a famous actress, a movie star. It's Aunt's dream - that's why she had Rita Hayworth's poster on the wall - a movie star from the 50s. All the movies Adam is making are placed in the 50s/60s, also Ruth's and Diane's apartment are far from being modern (the bathroom, the fridge, the oven), the old-fashioned dance contest Diane wins... Note: there is a jitterbug dancer who seems to resemble Ruth in her younger years. She also sports a bracelet similar to Ruth's.
The anachronistic touch of the women ride around in cabs. Also Camilla has always this dramatic look like movie stars in the 50s had - she never looks "modern." Coco and the Cowboy both seem like characters out of a forties B grade movie. Notice that in the first part there is no foul language: "horse pucky" and "smart aleck" are spoken in place of "horse shit" and "smart ass." Try to find a dirty word in the first part. Betty herself is kind of cheesy. She seems to be a bit naive for movie-making; even naive for life in general.

Linney James She has the attitude of a little girl hoping good things will happen (much like the story of many feminist flicks of the 50s era). Why? There's no other reason in this insistence in the 50s.
One more thing: Aunt makes her appearance when Betty disappears. Betty didn't leave the room, wasn't sucked by the blue box - she vanished to reappear as the Aunt! This is the clue: where's Aunt Ruth? The reality of Betty and Diane are probably the two possible ways her life could have been. - (Aleksandra H.)

To take it a step further, perhaps they are all representative of Ruth at different stages of her life: A young jitterbugger, into a stylish young actress (Betty), into a popular casting director (Linney James), to retirement (Lady at Sierra Bonita). - (blu-riven)

While not quoting any particular film, Lynch uses the retro-'50s imagery to evoke media-memories of an 'innocent' America. It is the ideal pop culture iconography for his characters' dreams of purity and fulfillment, and thus equally ideal for subversion. This is definitely the case in Mulholland Drive – Betty/Diane was brought to Hollywood after winning a jitterbug contest and, from what we see of the film she wants to star in, it appears to be a '50s set romance with musical scenes. But the '50s was also the classic decade of film noir which, like Lynch, embraced such themes as paranoia and conspiracy, the constant questioning and subversion of accepted identity, the fragility of sound perceptions of reality when attacked by desire, guilt and/or curiosity as well as the fragility of fantasy and its attendant hopes.

sensesofcinema.com

Trivia

Another interesting remark is that the actress playing Aunt Ruth, Maya Bond, is referenced for nothing else than Mulholland Dr. on IMDb. I think that Lynch has chosen a completely unknown actress to play Ruth's part just to match with the fact that it was a lie that Diane's aunt was 'in the movies'. Coco's and Ruth's social conditions are switched in Diane's dream. - (gandalf36)

MAYA: The power that veils and obscures the true nature of the Self and creates a sense of differentiation. It makes the universal Consciousness, which is One, appear as duality and multiplicity.

BOND: 1. Something, such as a fetter, cord, or band, that binds, ties, or fastens things together. 2. Confinement in prison; captivity.

Threads:
How come Ruth missed 'Rita'? - (Spider J)
Omigawd, I think I know where Aunt Ruth is... - (ddell)
Aunt Ruths appereances... - (blacksad)
Dear Aunt Ruth, I would like to meet you! - (gandalf36)
An exchange? - (Dave H.)
Aunt Ruth is really Diane's mother - (jjcortes)
The Theory That Sent Shivers Down My Spine - (Darklite)
Why is someone always hiding in the bushes? - (deepmovie)
A theory about Aunt Ruth and Adam/Linney and her assistant - (the_kid_with_the_helmet)
The Blue Haired Woman: Aunt Ruth vs. Camilla - (Freiheit)

Related:
Lynch's clue #10: Where is Aunt Ruth?
The Blue-Haired Lady = Aunt Ruth?
ruth selwyn - (richdubbya)
This Will Be the End of Everything (jackmagazine.com)
Origin Of Diane's Last Name - (Lou Ming) Ruth Selwyn