Subject: Re: Frost/Lynch completely wimped out this time
From: alternat@watserv1.waterloo.edu (Ann Hodgins)
Date: 1990-12-04, 12:41
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks,alt.recovery

In article <2954@skye.cs.ed.ac.uk> jha@lfcs.ed.ac.uk (Jamie Andrews) writes:
> >In article <1990Dec2.092715.1737@lavaca.uh.edu> jet@karazm.math.uh.edu (J. Eric Townsend) writes:
>> >>They had the *perfect* chance to examine the horrible world of
>> >>child abuse....
>> >>But noooooo.  L/F have to back out, and instead of realising that people
>> >>really are *that* "evil" on their own, they have to go and invent
>> >>"BOB"....
> >
> >     I think you've got completely the wrong idea about this --
> >you're looking at it much too literally.  BOB is a metaphor for
> >the evil side of everyone's personality.  Even if you don't
> >believe in vampires, vampire stories can tell you lots about
> >avarice, sex, obsession, compulsion... as many writers have
> >shown over the years.  _Twin Peaks_, the modern horror story cum
> >soap opera, has a different focus and different plot devices.
> >The idea, though, is similar.
> >
> >     I spent the weekend reading _The Secret Diary of Laura
> >Palmer_, and there's no doubt in my mind that Jennifer Lynch,
> >at least, is very aware of the symptoms of survivors of child
> >abuse, and the process by which victims perpetuate the "evil"
> >which they feel has become a part of them.  The fact that it's
> >represented as an evil spirit migrating from abuser to victim is
> >just a literary device (but a very powerful one, IMHO).
> >
I've been thinking about this too and feel that perhaps there are
ways of looking at this as a positive thing.  It is good that TP promotes
the diary because I agree with you that it casts a lot of light on the
effects of incest and abuse and the connection between that abuse and
drug use/promiscuity.
There are parallels between BOB and real abusers. People who have studied
child abuse say that their parents act as though their children are their
possessions. They try to * possess* them. Control and dominance are the
main motivations. TP shows that that is the 'spirit' of child abuse.
 
I found Leland's description of Bob's dream visits very similar to a child's
vague memory of an attack.  It is possible to see Leland and as a victim
who becomes a victimizer.
But to see all these positive signs is a bit of a stretch right now.
I hope that Twin Peaks does not degenerate into an owl hunt complete
with exorcisms and stakes in the heart.
 
ann hodgins
 
I hope that Lynch explores