Subject: Re: Is Twin Peaks anti-woman? Are Twin Peaks fans? From: eboneste@bbn.com (Liz Bonesteel) Date: 1990-11-15, 13:47 Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks Reply-to: eboneste@BBN.COM (Liz Bonesteel) I'll start by saying that I'm not going to absolutely defend the Ms. article; personally, I found that some of it went too far. But I am somewhat distressed that there are people who seem to be contending that there is no sexism at all on Twin Peaks. Our entire society is sexist; why should Twin Peaks be any different? I am not advocating, and shall not advocate, that Lynch/Frost change their vision simply to please me; art is art, and they are entitled to create their own vision and put it out in the world. I find the vision of Twin Peaks to be a powerful and thought-provoking one. I criticize because for me the essence of truly effective horror (and I think TP can be classified as horror - or is this another debate? ;-)) is an atmosphere that has enough identifiable with the world that I live in to affect my perceptions of my own existence. For me, the stereotypical gender roles presented on the show dull some of its effectiveness. In article <39597@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> jbuck@galileo.berkeley.edu (Joe Buck) writes: > > > >the show deals extensively with the unconscious, but they aren't > >"gifted innocents"; they are very deliberately tapping into the unconscious. I'm not so sure of that. David Lynch, from the interviews I've read, strikes me as just about anything but deliberate. He thinks "horrifying", comes up with an image, and presents it. I did not get the impression that he does a lot of thinking about *why* that image is horrifying. In this, I'll have to agree with the article. > >Get it: Twin Peaks is not socialist realism. It deals with the unconscious; > >the ones we have, not the ones we wish we had or think it would be politically > >correct to have. I'm not sure what you're getting at here. Are you saying that our collective unconscious is sexist? That we all take a prurient interest in violence against women (or simply those that are helpless)? > >Twin Peaks portrays violence against women; our culture > >contains violence against women. Our culture also contains violence against men, children, the elderly, and people of non-white ethnic groups. Violence against women is a terrible social problem (why it has yet to be classified as a hate crime is beyond me), but I see it disproportionately represented on television. In defense of Twin Peaks, it began well on this front. Yes, our victim was female; but we experienced the trauma of her death without actually having to watch her suffer and die. I still think one of the most powerful images the show has presented was in the pilot, when Sarah finds out *over the phone* that her daughter is dead. There was something incredibly poignant about that shot of the phone receiver, transmitting the sound of her sobs. > >I would prefer that violence be depicted > >as Twin Peaks does it, with all the horror that that violence really has, > >than in the sanitized form that the rest of the media portrays it in A point perhaps; but surely the scenes of violence have been some of the best photographed of the series. I watched Maddie's murder from beginning to end, absolutely enthralled, even as I was horrified. Is this any less reprehensible than the sanitized quasi-killings that populate shows like "Hunter" and "Miami Vice"? >> >> Leading the bordello where all these high school girls have their after- >> >> school jobs is Blackie, a creature of smoothly amoral collarbones if >> >> ever there was one. > > > >Of course in real life there are no madams. This is probably a fair shot. (I kind of liked Blackie, myself, at least until she turned out to be dependent on Jerry Horne; a truly nasty, unpleasant person.) But my understanding is that most pimps are men. I personally don't have any problems with the character of Blackie, but if she was meant to be a realistic character I'd be surprised. (I can't believe I'm arguing about "realistic" characters on Twin Peaks!) >> >> Audrey is so sexually advanced that she's 18 going on 40. > > > >Say what? I can almost guarantee you that Audrey is a virgin. I agree with this, too. Audrey is my favorite character. BUT she is stereotypical, in that she uses her sexual precocity (whether or not she is a virgin, she certainly knows what she's working with) as a weapon against men. I personally have encountered a number of men who have attributed to deliberate manipulation what is nothing but simple friendliness. In this, I see Audrey as a sort of fantasy character; if she is a virgin (and I believe she is), she is truly a madonna/ whore. She is also one of the most complex and well-developed characters on the show, so it's hard for me to criticize her with any heart. Jury's still out on Audrey. If she lets Coop turn her into mush, I will stop watching the show. >> >> Is anyone vaguely >> >> in charge of herself, not a victim, crazy, and not corrupt? > > > >Sure. Norma, Donna, Audrey (yes, I know she needed to be resued, but > >then so did Cooper and Truman). Norma, yes. Donna roams off on her own, does something stupid, and then relies on James to get her out of it. Her life currently revolves around a man. As for Audrey - well, considering her family history (one thinks that her mother must have been somewhat allright, or she'd be a total loss), I can't really blame her for being confused; but since very early on everything she's done has been to gain the notice/approval of Cooper. She may be in control of her actions, but she's hardly in control of her life. > >But you see, Twin Peaks is about archetypes; Maddie gets > >to play an archetype, as do a number of the other characters. Ben is > >just as one-dimensional playing Corrupt Businessman. Ben is your average corrupt businessman? You must have hit some reeeeeel bad folks out there, Joe! ;-) > >Seems to me we've seen quite a lot of Donna. I think part of the > >underdevelopment is that Lara Flynn Boyle's acting is kind of flat > >and wooden. I'll agree with you there. >> >> It is Peggy Lipton's >> >> Norma who must finally bear the burden of being the only adult woman in >> >> the series who is strong so far, nobody's fool, and only one man's victim." > > > >Oh, please. Catherine and Josie also fit into this category. Catherine I'll have to see about. She certainly let a little afternoon delight cloud her perceptions (but then, I suppose, so has Harry). But Josie plays the little girl too much for me. Here's a question: Don't men ever get pissed off at being portrayed as so vulnerable to the attentions of an attractive woman? I mean, for God's sake, it's as bad as those commercials where a guy can't even cope with putting a shirt in the laundry by himself. Is there any *man* out there who has been annoyed by images of men in Twin Peaks? (Harry, for example, pisses me off to no end.) Stereotyping generally goes both ways. Liz I feel better than James Brown. - Was (Not Was)