Subject: Re: Laura
From: crovella@cs.rochester.edu (Mark Crovella)
Date: 1990-05-10, 08:56
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks

In article <EaGL2r_00juk0oh1BW@cs.cmu.edu> Jon.Webb@CS.CMU.EDU writes:
> >I saw ``Laura'', the Otto Preminger film that Twin Peaks refers to,
> >recently.
Increasingly it seems that _Laura_ is the primary referent
movie here.  Other theories have suggested Vertigo, Zardoz (sp?)
and Blue Velvet (for obvious reasons).  But only _Laura_ is
referred to by clearly constructed concrete references, esp.:

> >The killer in ``Laura'' is Waldo Lydecker -- Cooper says ``The bird who
> >killed Laura Palmer is a client of this clinic.''   The bird turns out
> >to be named Waldo, the clinic Lydecker.

Some thoughts suggested by this:
> >The detective falls in love with the real (he thinks dead) Laura.  
Just like Vertigo, but perhaps the device is re-used for its
effectiveness, rather than direct allusion.  

> >he's still dreaming.  Cooper saw Laura in a dream.  We still haven't
> >seen Cooper's reaction to Maddie; should be interesting.
I bet Maddie becomes the reason Cooper finally settles in
Twin Peaks (apart from the coffee and the doug firs).

> >The killer in ``Laura'' is Laura`s mentor, who helps her succeed in
> >advertising.  He's jealous of her plans to marry her lover.  He hides
> >the shotgun in a large clock he gave her that's in her apartment.
Remember the heavy handed shots of the grandfather clock in
the Hayward's house (first 9 pm, the midnight -- time flies
as Donna and James gaze into each other's eyes)?  'Bout the
right size for a shotgun (or some twine?)?

> >Other observations; maybe clues in Twin Peaks:
> >In ``Laura'' the dead woman is not related to the real Laura; she's in
> >Laura's apartment with their common lover (played by a suave young
> >Vincent Price), and when she answers the door the killer shoots her
> >close up with a shotgun in the dark, not recognizing her.  

And now another installment from the University of Rochester
Wacko Theories Department ...
The key (as pointed out by a colleague here) is that the
killer killed the wrong person ... suggests the following
sequence of actions (building on previously posted hypotheses):  

Laura and Maddie switch places in early February.
Both are blond to begin with.  Maddie decides
to record the experience in a diary, starting with "day
one".   She's wild, gets in with all the evil
elements in town.  So the coke is hers.  Goes from the
perfume counter to One Eyed Jack's (BTW - that's a terrible
pun for what others in TP call "little elvis", isn't it?).
Same time, she is naturally interested in a new boyfriend,
starts seeing James.  Finally meets her demise in the train
car, *as Maddie*, by the killer *who travels around a lot*
(e.g., frequents Missoula).  Laura, hearing of all this
while in Missoula, figures she better get back.  Dyes her
hair. As observed, she is sort of floating above all the pain
in town, because while everyone else thinks she is dead,
*she* knows she is alive.   Naturally ministers to Mom and Dad,
mainly by bringing them coffee.  QED.

Next Season: Cooper and Laura (as Maddie) in Missoula:
"Twine Speaks".



 

-- Mark Crovella Dept of Computer Science, University of Rochester, Rochester NY 14627 UUCP: {decvax,rutgers}!rochester!crovella ARPA: crovella@cs.rochester.edu