Subject: Re: Ben
From: v101pyrw@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Michelle L Zafron)
Date: 1991-01-16, 08:36
Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks
Reply-to: v101pyrw@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu

In article <1991Jan16.153043.1120@watserv1.waterloo.edu>, alternat@watserv1.waterloo.edu (Ann Hodgins) writes...
>> >>Suppose a man as calculating as Ben Horne could snap after a series of 
>> >>financial losses and public humiliation. Would the resulting insanity manifest
>> >>itself in an obsession with toy soldiers? Do you really think Ben's character
>> >>isn't being milked for comic relief?

I haven't seen his current mental state as comic relief but as a regression to 
his past.  Note how drastic his breakdown has been.  Ben used to be almost 
fastidious about his personal appearance; take a look at him now.

> >I think that his mental state is being played up for colourfulness but I still
> >think it is based on a realistic mental condition, ie regression to childhood. 
> >As a kid he probably played with those same soldiers and wished he had a
> >real johnny reb costume to play in.

Let's not forget the nostalgic trip down memory lane with the films of the 
opening of the Great Northern.  I believe there was a point when Ben was 
standing right next to the screen and touching it gently.  Then there was Ben
and Jerry's vision of Louise Dombrowski dancing on the hook rug.  There was 
something in TV Guide (I know it's been ironically off base before) about Ben 
being dissatisfied with his life.  That seems to be on the money.  It might be
accurate to say that Ben is a frustrated artist...

--Michelle