Subject: Re: RS: Wide Awake In America From: barb@zurich.ai.mit.edu (Barb Miller) Date: 1991-05-07, 05:56 Newsgroups: alt.tv.twin-peaks Reply-to: barb@zurich.ai.mit.edu In article <10640002@hpsciz.sc.hp.com> miller@hpsciz.sc.hp.com (Phil Miller) writes: > > BASIC THEORY: I believe David Lynch is using Twin Peaks to > > represent a microcosm of modern day America -- an American that > > is much differnt than the America of the past (especially the > > innocent 1950's). Lynch feels historical American virtues of hard > > work, strong family, and fair play are being replaced by those of > > selfishness, greed, and superficiality. He feels a horrible, unstopable > > evil presence is jeopardizing our very existance as a culture. > > In Lynch's view our only way out is to look within and hope that > > "love is enough". Your posting that follows this shows that you've clearly put a lot of thought into reconciling the elements of Twin Peaks with this theory. I think my basic difficulty with this is that selfishness, greed, and superficiality have been around forever, and the dreamy, mythic, timeless quality of the imagery of Twin Peaks seems to be telling a more ageless story of the struggle of life to go on when threatened by powerful forces. The evil presence seems to be beyond any particular social phenomenon of recent times. In fact, by setting the story in this remote place where the classic American vision would think that all should be peace and harmony, the creators seem almost to be saying that a belief that things were so much better in the golden age is in fact an illusion; that even in a seemingly innocent, safe place like Twin Peaks, _which hasn't changed all that much since the 50's_, there is evil. There are people coming from outside, who carry evil within them (Eckhardt, Windom Earle), but the Black Lodge itself is located right there in the woods outside of Twin Peaks, and has been there since long before there was a United States of America (I refer to Hawk's descriptions of the Native American legends of the White and Black Lodges). The White Lodge is there as well, but to find it you have to find the Black Lodge, and to be able to distinguish between the two. You don't explicitly say whether you agree with the message you ascribe to David Lynch. In responding to your theory I find I am also drawn into responding to the ascribed message, with which I don't really agree. Part of the power Twin Peaks's style is the fact that so much is left tantalizingly ambiguous that it is easy for our interpretations to say more about ourselves than about the story and its characters and symbols. Because my own theory about the show would take at least as many lines as yours and this response would grow way too long, I will simply respond to your interpretations of characters and symbols that seem particularly at odds with my own interpretations of them. [some deletions throughout, where possible] > > THE LMFAP represents that "little man inside our heads" which > > helps us distinguish right from wrong. He's elusive to modern > > America though, always dancing away. He doesn't seem to me to be connected with questions of right and wrong, since he doesn't seem to ever make judgements. He simply knows what he knows, and chooses rather indirect ways of communicating it, as does intuition, as you point out in the next line. > > To Cooper he is especially > > represenative of intuition. The OAM tells Cooper: > > "You will find the anwsers with the heart, not the head." > > Also note Cooper has never beaten Windom Earle in a chess > > game -- a game of intelligence. Is this Lynch's way > > of saying America is blinding itself with knowledge and forsaking > > its natural ability to recognize evil? It seems more like a way of saying that in a straight contest of reason, there is no guarantee that evil will be defeated. However, the heart isn't infallible either. Harry Truman led with his heart in his relationship with Josie, and Cooper was inclined to go along with him, until the highly rational, scientific Albert brought in the inescapable evidence of Josie's involvement in several murders. > > For all his good intentions Cooper does not grasp everything > > the LMFAP reveals, so to get his attention, THE GIANT is sent. > > The Giant stresses patience and reverence: > > "A path is formed one stone at a time." > > "Don't ask questions, listen." > > Cooper can only prevent future travesties in Twin Peaks by heeding > > his advice; just as Lynch is saying Americans can only save their society > > by returning to a slower less competitive lifestyle with respect > > for institutions and authority figures. I don't follow you from the giant to respect for institutions and authority figures. It seems to me that to follow one's intuition necessarily means disregarding authority figures and institutions if your intuition guides you in another way. Would the authority figures in Twin Peaks really be able to identify and defeat the evil presence there without the very unauthoritative, individualistic techniques that Cooper is using? > > COOPER represents an ousider sent to America by forces of good > > (The White Lodge) to prevent its decay. Just as the Dali Lama > > recently warned America to be more compassionate, Cooper sets an > > example of good-will for all to follow, especially with regards to > > fighting evil. If Cooper is an outsider, where did he come from? Granted, he is from outside Twin Peaks, but I can't really buy that he is an outsider to America. It is true that he is an unorthodox figure and would probably be something of an outsider in any organized society in which he found himself. I don't see him as being sent by the White Lodge so much as being an individual who would naturally search for the White Lodge, being more sensitive than most people to the light-dark duality represented by the two Lodges. > > THE WHITE LODGE represents the source of all the unselfish and > > compassionate values which have been lost over the last century in > > America. They feel the time is getting late and sent their agent, > > Cooper, to stop the nation's decline into evil. Yes, time is significant here, expressed as it is in the references to planetary motion. Yet, this implies a cycle rather than a linear decay, which again leads back to the timelessness of the story. > > WINDOM EARLE represents the current American role model, one who > > strives for personal success at any cost. His disguises are indicative > > of the many decptions found in America's business and social worlds. Somehow it doesn't seem to me that Windom Earle is all that interested in personal success, at least in the current American sense. He's in his own world and probably doesn't think very much about his position in the "real" world. If you want a symbol of a current American role model, I would look at Ben Horne, who furnishes a pretty good symbol of the dark side of capitalism at least within Twin Peaks. Eckhardt would be a more cosmopolitan counterpart to him. > > THE MAYOR represents our historic institutions which are > > no longer respected, "Is this thing on, can anybody hear me?" > > The wisdom and advice of the elderly have no place in modern > > America; niether does the sanctity of our elected officals as > > even the mayor gets corrupted by Lana. This goes back to the question of respect for authority. It seems as though the mayor is shown to be something of a foolish old man here, and perhaps the message really is that just because someone is in a position of authority doesn't mean that they are necessarily wise in all circumstances. Figuring out whom to believe and whom to follow is a very individual and potentially hazardous aspect of finding one's way to the White Lodge, as it were. > > LANA represents the over importance of sexual images in modern > > America. The whole sherrif's office comes to a grinding halt; > > the mayor flounders like a fool. Is it just because sexual images are overly important in modern America that she has such an effect on men? It seems more likely that it's the simple, old-fashioned power of eros to raise the energy level of everyday life. She's a very palpable presence, giving a highly pleasurable jolt to the men who come into contact with her. Is this power evil? Well, historically it has been thought to be, and at other times it has been seen simply as a part of life. > > MAJOR BRIGGS represents the true family man of America past. > > He puts personal gain aside for the good of all. "Do you take pride > > in your medals?" asks the Log Lady, "No, pride only obscures the > > accomplishment." He is essentialy to Cooper as Spock was to Kirk. > > (We all know Spock is destined to say someday, "My greatest fear > > is that Love may not be enough.") I'm sorry, I really can't see Major Briggs as a true family man. He is far too remote from his family for that. For a true family man, look at Doc Hayward. His life seems to really center around his family. Major Briggs is on another plane entirely. The center of his life is his work, most of which he is unable to share with others. I think he knows very little of what his wife and son are feeling, other than on an abstract level, just as they are unable to understand him. As I've said in a previous posting, I think that love is something he has tried to cultivate, rather than something that naturally flows from him. [And an aside about Spock--I actually am waiting for him to say that his greatest fear is that Reason is not enough.] > > SHELLY JOHNSON is the traditional pre-women's lib American > > woman with the advice to save the community, "If everybody would > > hold hands, than nobody could make a fist." Because David Lynch's > > character, Gordon Cole, could only hear her, she may be what Lynch > > thinks American women should be more like. Actually, Shelly seems like someone who has always underestimated her own power and worth, feeling that she has to rely on men to give her life meaning. I think her statement quoted above was said in irony--after all, how many times did she hold Leo's hand and did that prevent him from being violent? She seems to have a real knack for setting herself up to be a victim. Given that the role of victim or potential victim seems to be pretty universally distributed to the young women of Twin Peaks it may well be that David Lynch can only hear a woman who has "victim" written so deeply into her nature. And speaking of young women as victims: > > LAURA PALMER represents the refusal of American society to > > waken and see that it is dying. On the outside we are proud > > to boast of the robust success of our modern lifestyle, but > > on the inside we refuse to see that our spirit is decaying. > > This is allegorized by the town of Twin Peak's blindness to > > Laura's disease: schizophrenia, which was brought on due to > > her father molesting her repeatedly. Laura did an awful lot in her brief life, and it's interesting that it was not her involvement with what could be seen as the "modern" evils of life (drugs, promiscuity) that killed her. It was an evil which was much closer to her, and TOOK FORM IN THE ONE PERSON WHO, IN A TRADITIONAL VIEW OF IDYLLIC AMERICAN LIFE, SHOULD HAVE BEEN A SOURCE OF SAFETY TO HER. It's likely that the drugs, etc. were an attempt to escape from the evil that was right there in her own home. It seems to me that an equally strong case could be made that what is being said here is that, contrary to the beliefs of the 50's, Father doesn't always know best. Has this changed since then? Well, Leland's possession by BOB does not seem to be a result of his involvement in the modern corporate world, but rather it dates back to that time in his childhood by the lake, when one would have expected everything to be safe and wholesome. If we're talking about an evil presence here, it seems pretty timeless. Furthermore, if there really is a significance to the implications that something as inexorable and recurrent as planetary conjunctions can indicate the times when the Black Lodge would have most power, then it would seem that a return to a previous image of America would only lead back to the same situation later. "Innocence" implies a lack of knowledge of evil. Perhaps there was a state of innocence in America in the 50's. Or perhaps there is an official "innocence" in Twin Peaks (although people like Laura and Shelly are all too aware of the underside of that innocence). But it seems to me that the only hope of "good" against "evil" is a knowledge of what is really happening in homes, families, and secluded natural places, and of why it is happening. And the fact is that the veneer of civilization, whether it be old-fashioned virtues or modern knowledge and technology, can not cover up the presence of a very dark side of human nature that has always been there and will always be there. Barb Miller