One of the main themes of Twin Peaks, wether specifically addressed often or not, is the concepts of domestic abuse, both physical and sexual. Most of this sexual abuse takes the form of incest, which J.G. Bainbridge and E. Delany define as “the forbidden sexual relations between family members” in their journal Murder, Incest and Damn Fine Coffee: Twin Peaks as a New Incest Narrative. The main plot of most of the show is based around one central question: “who killed Laura Palmer?”. In the 7th episode of the second season, this question is finally answered, with an incredibly unexpected result. The killer was none other than Laura’s own father, Leland Palmer. There is, however, a catch to this: Leland was under the influence of a vicious inhabiting spirit named BOB for most of his life, and it is heavily implied that he committed these incestuous and murderous acts while under the control of BOB. Upon Leland’s confession and suicide, Sheriff Truman questions whether or not Leland sexually abused his daughter due to BOB’s control, or of his own free will. In the film Fire Walk With Me, which was released after the series ended and served as a prequel, detailed the life of Laura Palmer in the time right before her death. In this movie, Laura’s personality is outlined. In the review of the series and film on the blog Cinema Autopsy, the author lists the most prevalent signs that an individual was the victim of child abuse. These symptoms include “problems with concentration, nervousness, irritability and mood changes, withdrawal, wetting or soiling, regressive behaviour, trouble getting along with others, problems with emotions, personality changes, problems with depression and anxiety, post-traumatic symptoms, impaired sense of self, distortions of thinking, relationship problems, avoiding certain situations or people, use of substances or activities to reduce stress, sexualised behaviour, ritualistic behaviour, self-mutilation, suicidal thoughts or attempts, and dissociation including ‘multiple personalities’” Laura shows several of these in the film. A good place to start would be her love life. Her boyfriend, Bobby Briggs, was manipulated romantically into getting involved in very dangerous drug trafficking operations. While dating Bobby, she also engaged in a secret relationship with James Hurley, whom she also heavily used for her own amusement using love. She kept a secret diary, which upon investigation, detailed her escapades in getting into dangerous situations with no regard for consequences. As the LA Times review states in their Fire Walk With Me review, several people try to help Laura, including Agent Dale Cooper after her death, but she constantly ignores all potential for aid in her issues and dangers. In addition, both of her parents fit into the model of an incestuous family. Laura’s mother, Sarah Palmer, is shown fitting the model because of her low self esteem and constant feeling of helplessness. Leland, regardless of BOB’s influence, fits the mold due to his “violent and jealous outbursts” toward Laura, while seeming harmless and kind to outsiders. In addition, in Murder, Incest and Damn Fine Coffee, a point is made to highlight that almost all of this abuse, basically all of it excluding the murder, takes place in the home, in the domestic/family space. They mention Foucault’s studies on incest on this detail, in which he says “since the eighteenth century the family has become an obligatory locus of affects, feelings, love; that sexuality has its privileged point of development in the family; that for this reason sexuality is “incestuous” from the start… in a society such as ours, where the family is the most active site of sexuality, and where it is doubtless the exigencies of the latter which maintain and prolong its existence, incest… occupies a central place; it is constantly being solicited and refused; it is an object of obsession and attraction, a dreadful secret and an indispensable pivot. It is manifested as a thing that is strictly forbidden in the family insofar as the latter functions as a deployment of alliance; but it is also a thing that is continuously demanded in order for the family to be a hotbed of constant sexual incitement”. He means that the link between sexuality and abuse is most often the home. Bainbridge and Delany also cite several other incest narratives, and show their similarities to other Incest works in a purely narrative sense. In Mary Shelley’s Mathilda, the daughter’s revelation isn’t revealed until after her death, through a letter. This is similar to Laura’s diaries not becoming publicly available until after he murder. Another comparison is made to Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres. The two characters Ginny and Rose know they can’t tell anyone of their abuse because of their father’s popularity around the town. In Twin Peaks, Laura isn’t able to tell her best friend Donna Hayward, as their fathers are longtime best friends. Lastly, while much more vague, a comparison is made to Georgia Savage’s The House Tibet, where the character Vicky runs away from her family instead of telling anyone of her abuse. In Twin Peaks, Laura was heavily considering running away with James, to get far away from her father and her old life without compromising anything. Through all these examples and comparisons, it’s not hard to see why Twin Peaks could be seen as a modern-day incest narrative in addition to its place as a mystery or horror show.
Sources:
http://www.laweekly.com/film/twin-peaks-fire-walk-with-me-is-david-lynchs-masterpiece-2613896
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=ea9794a5-482a-48f8-9f17-ad0f1114db29%40sessionmgr110&vid=6&hid=126
http://blog.cinemaautopsy.com/2000/10/01/shadow-of-a-twisted-hand-across-my-house/#three
Thursday, February 12, 2015
TWIN PEAKS resources
This Facebook page has some interesting links to all kinds of stuff about TWIN PEAKS, including their festival coming up this summer.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Twin Peaks
As
I watched the series of Twin Peaks, the
part, or rather the person who intrigued me the most was the spirit
of Bob. He was the character in the show who had the viewer most
confused, and frightened. I searched for my three articles originally
under the basis of Bob, and
was able to further my understanding of the character, aw
well as, the show in three
different approaches: a scholarly article, and entertainment article,
and a blog post. The similarities I found between the three was that
all of the authors were very critical of the subject of Twin Peaks.
They provided me of an objective analysis that created an
understanding of their ideas, and occasionally their opinions on
different topics concerning the show. All
three articles allowed me to know that the author's all were
extremely interested in the series.
Twin Peaks was a
revolutionary television series
and it was reflected in all three of the articles I will write about.
Written
by Scott Pollard,
“Cooper,
Details, and the Patriotic Mission of Twin Peaks”, is the scholarly
article I chose to read. It focuses on key
main points about Twin Peaks,
rather than the series as a whole which
occurred in both the entertainment article and blog post I read.
These academic reviews, or journals can
give an in depth assessment of any subject a person is researching.
The authors are normally experts on what they are writing about,
therefore the topics and ideas are more informative and accurate. A
lot of the time, with some exceptions, vastly more research is put
into scholarly articles, comparatively to entertainment pieces and
especially blogs. They are written and changed over a long period of
time before it is published to make sure that the information is
valid and credible. This piece in particular focuses on the character
Special Agent Cooper, his effect on the town of Twin Peaks, Leland
Palmer and of course the frightening character of Bob. By focusing
solely on these topics throughout the piece, Pollard is able to more
fully explain what he believes to be true about the show. My first
point about what sets this article aside from the other two is Scott
Pollard's use of quotes throughout the piece. This shows that Pollard
has researched his ideas thoroughly enough to use others writing's in
order to
further his point, as well as, describe his ideas in a different
light. He is the only writer out to the
three to use other sources in his review.
For example he uses Georg Lukacs' idea
of an epic universe to describe Dale Cooper's supernatural guidance
that he
receives from some of the inhabitants from the Black Lodge. The epic
universe idea is that “everything
is always/already a part of the same universal weave”,
therefore the Giant and The Man From
Another Place can guide Agent Cooper through his case because it is
destined to happen. As
a whole, this piece of writing takes a
more astute approach to commenting
and exploring the world of Twin Peaks.
Rather than focusing on the overview of
the series, Pollard makes insightful observations such as the
presence of both a supernatural and an earthly evil. Yet, the most
important to help turn Twin Peaks back into the utopian small town is
the termination of Bob's spirit; this is Agent Cooper's biggest quest
upon the show, rather than just finding Laura Palmer's killer. This
type of article makes the reader think more thoroughly about the
content in which the author is speaking about.
The
next article I am going to write about is, “Don't call Twin Peaks a
Cult Classic” by Martha Nochimson which was written for the Salon
Website. This is an entertainment article which is usual written for
the general public in order to find out quicker information about the
topic of discussion. They are usually more easily read than a
scholarly article, but research
is still necessary
for accurate information. What has set this piece
apart form the other kinds of articles is that the author had spoken
to David Lynch during the time the show had aired in 1990, as well
as, many times afterward up until the publishing of this article in
2014. For an entertainment article, it is common for interviews to be
conducted in order to better understand
the area of discussion, unlike the scholarly article where research
is more widely used. For instance, in this article it helps Nochimson
give a more accurate depiction of Twin Peaks by getting to pick the
brain of the creator David Lynch. She writes that the first time she
interviewed him on the phone, Lynch spoke the entire time in the
character of Gordon Cole. This is what made Nochimson realize the
imagination of Lynch, which helps to show how it was possible for
Twin Peaks to be so influential and revolutionary for television.
What is revealed in this article is that ABC forced Lynch to expose
Leland and Bob as the killer of Laura earlier than expected, which
perhaps is the reason for the shows demise. Once the killer had been
shown, viewers had
less of a reason to keep up with the show, therefore creating
plummeting ratings. Another difference between this article and the
scholarly article, is the use of opinions. They are not as strong as
in the blog post because of restrictions with editors, but they are
present in order to guide the reader to think more about the topic.
Nochimson sheds a very positive light on Twin Peaks and encourages
others to be less critical of this series which defies the television
norms.
The
final article I am going to compare is a blog post by Joyce Millman
and can be found on The City of Absurdity Website. The title of the
post is “Twin Piques and Perplexes” and was written in 1990 after
the original air date of season 2 episode 7, where Laura's killer is
revealed. This piece was interesting because it was written before
the resolution of the show and without the knowledge of much more
than personal opinions and what fellow fans have spoken about the
show to the author.
Therefore, this makes the blog post mostly opinion based. For
example, Millman, without knowing much about the character Bob and
the dark lodge, believes that he is able to jump from person to
person whenever he pleases. This ends up to be true and
Millman,
along with the other authors I have
mentioned, are
capable of making educational guesses on the happenings to the
series. This type of review is also contrasts the other two types
because Millman was able to use humor throughout the piece, such as
when she refers to Leland as an “overacting father”. She is able
to tell the reader how she truly feels about the show, with not many
restrictions because it does not have to go to an editor and
she is speaking her mind fully. Millman
does not praise the show, but she makes a point to tell fans to not
give up on Twin Peaks so it avoids being canceled.
All
three types of articles have both pros and cons; it mostly depends
what the reader is looking for. They all give insightful thoughts
which helps for a better understanding of the topic.
Millman, Joyce. "Twin Piques and Perplexes." The City of Absurdity: David Lynch's Twin Peaks. The City of Absurdity, 18 Nov. 1990. Web. 08 Feb. 2015.
Nochimson,
Martha. "Don’t Call “Twin Peaks” a “cult Classic”."
Saloncom
RSS.
Salon, 13 Oct. 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.
Pollard,
Scott. “Cooper, details, and the patriotic mission of Twin Peaks”.
Literature Film Quarterly 21.4 (1993) : 296-304. Print.
Article Analysis Post
During my research and findings I had decided to find and
read articles based upon the supernatural aspects of Twin Peaks due to the unusual
nature and uneasy feeling the audience has during these scenes such as Agent
Cooper’s dream. The three articles are:
The Allure of the Supernatural: Twin Peaks and the transformation of the
detective story, The Supernatural Gothic, and Twin Peaks – box set review: a
murdered beauty, a clean cut Fed and a screwball universe.
First, “The
Allure of the Supernatural: Twin Peaks and the transformation of the detective
story” is a scholarly article which can be accessed through Academia.edu. Scholarly articles compared to a blog, or online
news source is considered more formal in structure due to the writing style and
could be due to the readership as well.
People do not read scholarly articles like this if they are looking for
news about Twin Peaks or basic information.
The information is more elaborate and relates to other works and is
not written based upon the opinion of the author. The author, Marcel Hartwig, primarily talks
about the causes and influences of the use of supernatural aspects on the show
and the evolution of television based upon the Twin Peaks formula. One example of this is when Hartwig is
discussing the implications of the red room scene in Cooper’s dream. Hartwig takes two different views of the
scene saying that it can be perceived as a code needed to be deciphered in
order to find Laura Palmer’s killer. On
the other hand, Hartwig relates this to other fields of study such as
psychology and Freudian views of the mind, thoughts, and dreams. Another aspect that is different between the
scholarly article and the other articles is the way information is used in the
article compared to a news site or a blog.
The information used is not based upon opinions but must be from other
authors or researchers who have published works about specific elements, about
the Twin Peaks show, or how Twin Peaks revolutionized television, Hartwig discusses
throughout the article. Overall Twin
Peaks scholarly article may rely on scenes and analysis of the show but
primarily focus on elaborating on research done previously and relating to the
show using explanations and examples.
Second,
“The Supernatural Gothic” by Andreas Blassmann discusses the supernatural
elements of Twin Peaks and other plot elements as well different as compared to
a scholarly article. This paper/essay
was submitted to the website http://www.thecityofabsurdity.com
. This website is a David Lynch fan
website about movies, television shows, and his personal life. If a person was to post to this website must
mean that they identify with the others that they are hardcore David Lynch
fans. Therefore some point of views may
be blinded due to the previously knowledge and liking of David Lynch movies and
shows. Also the writing style on fan
sites like this are informal, such as using the work “I” to describes feelings
or thoughts that a person has. This paper
only refers to article which it is talking about, which is Twin Peaks. Because of this the paper has to only use
elements of the television show to explain the actions, and thought processes
of characters; Blassmann primarily focuses on the supernatural experiences Cooper
has which include the scenes of Cooper’ Red Room dream, the character BOB, and
the black lodge. All these aspects have supernatural
aspects to them and allow the viewer to make interpretations about Agent Cooper’s
personality and his past as well. When
comparing a fan submitted paper to a review posted by a news source there are
many differences. However, one of the
important aspects of these differences is based upon the author who posted on
the website. Authors on blogs and fan
sites, such as this one, can fluctuate dependent on writing skills and the ability
to express their ideas. Websites similar
to this one act as a middle ground between news sources and scholarly
articles. This paper seems to be closer
to a scholarly article rather than a news review due to the writing style of
the author and has similar aspects of scholarly articles such as citations,
quotations, and some external information.
Lastly
is the article, “Twin Peaks – box set review: a murdered beauty, a clean cut
Fed and a screwball universe” by Phelim O’Neil posted on www.theguardian.com . In the article by O’Neil it is as though O’Neil
is trying to sell the show to viewers who have never watched by talking about
specific details about the show such as the cultural impact it has and relating
the impact of Twin Peaks to big name television shows as True Detective and
Fargo, and mentioning Blue velvet, a film David Lynch has previously directed
and relating certain aspects of the movie to the television show. O’Neil then summarizes the story of the first
season talking about the murder of Laura Palmer, the investigation that led Agent
Cooper to arrive at Twin Peaks. As well
as introducing many other characters in the show such as Donna, James, and Ed’s
wife. When comparing this news article
to the other two there are many differences that stick out between the
two. In the paper and scholarly
articles, they refer to specific attributes of the show and information that
can be used in comparison with it. The
news article does something similar but mentions shows, like previously stated,
but it is in order to capture peoples’ attention since if they like that show
then they will enjoy Twin Peaks as compared to an analysis between the
shows. This article is trying to sell
the show to readers on The Guardian website to watch the show while the others
articles elaborate on specific aspects of the show and try to understand and
comprehend Twin Peaks with a deeper meaning.
It was difficult finding a specific article about supernatural aspects
of Twin Peaks on a major news website since it is a very specific topic as
compared to just an overall review of the show which is why this one seems to
sell the show more than the others.
Overall
these different types of websites produce different types of information but it
is dependent on the author and what one may be looking for as well.
Friday, February 6, 2015
Understanding McLuhan...a little bit better
This article appeared in the New York Times just prior to the publication of the McLuhan interview in Playboy. It may help offer some insights or perspective on McLuhan's words.
And here, Wicked High Dude explains what books are like...
And here, Wicked High Dude explains what books are like...
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan's phrase Narcissus narcosis pertains directly with the trends of social media where people post statuses and pictures of themselves creating a self-absorbed image of themselves thus creating a separation of importance between the individual posting thinks they are the most important person and everyone else is not important. This surfaces in different situations outside of social media, where people do not think of the people around themselves and take unnecessary actions or risks because they only care about themselves, an example of this type of behavior is when someone cuts off people while driving even though traffic is moving at a pace above the speed limit and the only reason they cut people off is because they think everyone needs to get out of the way so they can get to where they are going and no one else has to be somewhere important. A recent invention called the “Selfie-Stick” supports the idea of people becoming more narcissistic because we had to invent a piece of technology to help take a picture of ourselves to show other people what we look like everyday and what we are doing, while hoping someone will notice us and take up interest in our lives.
The tribal culture McLuhan brings up differs with the way humans interact now with the technology we use where talking face to face does not appear as popular for a magnitude of people where texting and instant messaging on computers makes conversations quicker and more convenient however; the drawback of communicating this way the written words can be misinterpreted when the recipient reads it. The misinterpretation can result in an over reaction because people can only read the words for what they are and if the words where spoken it would bring on a different meaning for every different tone being used to change the meaning like emphasis on a phrase or even if the person uses sarcasm making a joke. Currently when people go on nature exhibition it can force people to disconnect from their technology and take in all the sights and sounds around them, which relaxes the mind from the high speed life style of social media and the internet.
The evolution of technology over time creates a new environment which society needs to adjust to and upon adjusting to the new environment an innovation on the current technology creates a slight change, such as a website going down for maintenance and slight changes are made, but the changes are different enough to create a need to adjust to what each button on the page does, and change the muscle memory people develop after repeating the same action over and over. The pencil is another example of technology evolving over time where the mineral used for the writing has changed from lead to graphite, and even further mechanical pencils have extended the length of time one pencil can be used by just having to add strips of graphite to replace what has been used.
TWIN PEAKS writing assignment
Find THREE different reviews of TWIN PEAKS online, and compare the ways in which the three different critical styles discuss the series.
The three different kinds of reviews you need to find:
1. One Scholarly or Academic Review (may be a review, an essay, or a monograph)
2. One Mainstream Review (from a major newspaper or online magazine such as Newsweek, The Atlantic Monthly, Entertainment Weekly, etc.)
3. One genre review from a specialized website such as one for horror film, cult TV, David Lynch fans, etc.
This essay should be about 1000-1200 words in length. You may list your sources in a bibliography at the end, and refer to them directly in your essay(footnotes or endnotes are not required in this assignment).
There are a variety of critical approaches seen in the vast body of criticism and analysis of TWIN PEAKS, because the show itself was so iconic and influential. Some are from major newspapers such as The New York Times or The Guardian. Many articles online were written when the DVD set was finally released, twenty years after the series premiered, and so reflect the passage of time and the evolution of television storytelling over two decades. Many genre-based websites and blogs also feature reviews: the quality of writing and aptitude of the criticism may cover a wide continuum from inept to mediocre to brilliant. Some specialized horror genre blogs like Bloody Disgusting might showcase some interesting approaches to talking about the show.
Do some searching around for a wide variety of sources for your assignment; consider factors such as popularity of a given source, or the appeal of one particular writing style over another, in choosing the best examples of criticism. Some of the more "informal" writers may surprise you with their insights.
Here are some links to help you find academic sources for this assignment, which is due next week. As we demonstrated in class, the library website has an online database that is very effective for finding scholarly source material. If you look under letter 'C' for 'Communication and Mass Media Complete' and then do a search on Twin Peaks you will find a great many articles.
This website from UC Berkeley has some very helpful tips for finding scholarly sources of film and television reviews, plus many useful links. This page from the University of Connecticut links to some good databases; you should be able to access them as an enrolled student.
Finally, this article from FlowTV is a very insightful and effective explanation of how television criticism works and what its implications are. All of you should read it to better understand the context of criticism as it relates to this course.
Feel free to ask any questions here in the comments section.
McLuhan Philosoraptor
Generally just a statement regarding the fact that new media is thrown at us almost every day of the week. He asks that we attain a grasp on the effects of media, but with his theory regarding the way in which we learn (by going a step back), we'd have to go back to literary media in order to get closer to what's happening today.
Monday, February 2, 2015
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