In Twin Peaks, David Lynch leads viewers on the path to understanding the phenomenon of sexual violence and realizing that it is an integral part of today’s United States. In fact, the series portray not merely familial violence against women, but also prove the commonness of this practice and the fact that our culture tolerates sexual abuse and enables it through be means of creating the atmosphere of secrecy and ambiguity around it.
Randi Davenport in his article “The Knowing Spectator of Twin Peaks: Culture, Feminism, and Family Violence” argues that “What made Twin Peaks hard to watch was its powerful suggestion that sexual violence is not pleasurable or natural but is common and is practiced by lots of seemingly average men” (Davenport, p. 255). Diane Stevenson in “Family Romance, Family Violence, and the Fantastic” supports the position of the previous author by assuming that children and women are frequently abused and the problem was so significant that the first theorists of psychology like Freud and Jung dedicated a number of their works to explaining the nature of violence (Stevenson, p. 71).
Moreover, the scholar adds that David Lynch intentionally used the language of fantasy and surrealism in order to demonstrate to which degree this negative social phenomenon is silenced in the modern culture, which obviously authorizes violence. Diana Hume George in ”Lynching Women” observes that Twin Peaks can be viewed as each female viewer’s experience, given that each woman actually endured violence in any form at least once, partly due to the fact that the development of male identity necessarily implies nurturing the practice of repression of female personality and sexuality (George, p. 112).
First and foremost, it needs to be noted that Lynch through his production tries to direct his audience’s attention to the fact that incest refers to familial violence rather than to a voluntary and spontaneous intercourse that occurs after a teenage daughter seduces her father. In this sense, Davenport states that Twin Peaks is an attempt to deconstruct the image of Seductive Daughter, a male erotic dream of being tempted and entertained by a very young girl (Davenport, p. 257). The appearance of the series practically coincided with the creation of first texts and studies, which addressed child abuse from the perspective of violence. The author asserts that “Women who were sexually abused as children endured a range of assaults. Some were ‘just’ fondled. Some were penetrated by fingers or objects. Some were raped. Some were tortured. For some children the abuse occurred as isolated incidents. For others it was a daily fact of life for years. It all had consequences” (Davenport, p. 257).
Stevenson also holds that the series refutes the Oedipal complex as described by Freud, or sexual attraction to one’s own parent (Stevenson, p. 72). This drive is greatly reflected in the Seductive Daughter character, which is present in popular works like Lolita. However, Lynch conveys a drastically different message and fully rejects the romanticism and eroticism surrounding the sexual relationship between a parent and a child. In particular, Laura Palmer is treated by BOB cruelly, the maniac frequently batters her, hurts physically and psychologically by compelling the child to do disgusting things, as her diary reveals. Most importantly, BOB-possessed Leland seems to practice the rape of his own daughter for years and finally murders her as the girl grows up and becomes an adolescent. Due to the fact that the truth remain guised for quite a long time, one can assume that nobody knows the actual number of perverted fathers, brothers and uncles, who molest their close relatives, but the phenomenon of sexual abuse is widespread, and it doesn’t matter whether the truth is discovered.
Furthermore, the setting of Twin Peaks, particularly the “small-town” atmosphere, is so realistic that it convinces the viewer of the plausibility of the plot. In simpler terms, Lynch used setting as a tool of showing violence as contemporary reality. Koukal writes that, ”Though some were certainly characters, “simple” and “decent” were the adjectives most rightfully applied to the citizens of Twin Peaks, two words that have been elevated to ideals in the American cultural lexicon. In Twin Peaks, as in the lexicon the town embodied, there was no place for tragedy and evil” (Koukal, p. 56).
In Twin Peaks, the main American values are represented: for instance, the Palmers are at the first sight an “American dream” nuclear family with prosperous father, caring mother and talented daughter enjoying outstanding popularity at school. The value of community is emphasized when the whole town is shocked by the murder of Laura Palmer and all inhabitants seek to support the grieving parents and help the investigator to find the perpetuator. Laura’s life, when recorded from the words of her friends and relatives, greatly resembles the activities the average middle-class teenager engages with: the girl frequently socialized with her friends and neighbors, had brilliant academic achievements, and volunteered for community service, providing the necessary aid to the poor (Desmet, p. 95). Therefore, the town of Twin Peaks does not differ from the rest of rural America.
However, this ostensibly decent society underlies a number of dark secrets, the most important of which is sexual violence against children. As Stevenson notes, the lexicon and language, which can appropriately describe the experience of child sexual abuse, are still missing (Stevenson, p. 72), so Lynch seems to use the elements of surrealism in order to gradually approach the viewer to the truth. In this sense, Stevenson holds that “Surely the reason Lynch approaches this subject “fantastically” has to do with the fact that, even though child abuse and family violence have been much more openly discussed lately than in the past, we still lack a settled language that would enable us to talk about these things “realistically” (Stevenson, p. 72).
Cooper, who received the assignment of investigating the slaughter of Laura Palmer, is haunted by strange dreams and suffers from obsessive thoughts that mix imagination and reality. Ironically, the officer receives the most accurate and reliable information only after and as a result of “being introduced” to half-real secret hypostasis of Mike, who definitely suffers from a dissociative disorder. In addition, it is so difficult to believe Laura’s diary records that they at first seem like the product of the child’s fantasy. As the murder becomes increasingly more mysterious, both the detective and the viewer have nothing to do, but to suppose that the “supernatural” and barely credibly hints are true. Due to the fact that Cooper undertakes a notable effort in order to unravel the ball of strange and unexplainable events, one can conclude that sexual violence is carefully secreted and prevented from disclosure.
Further, as the plot develops, a more rational explanation of child abuse is provided: the mentally ill father was not able to control himself at certain moments and abused his daughter as frequently as the “dark spirit” seized his “humane” personality. On the other hand, the supernatural force referred to as BOB can be also viewed as a metaphor, in particular due to its immortality and the property of moving into another person after its bearer, or victim, passes away. Thus, BOB embodies extremely “contagious” evil, to which each person is vulnerable, even the courageous, sane and level-headed FBA agent, as the Twin Peaks tragedy suggests. Due to the fact that BOB is aggressive by nature, one can assume that the spirit represents the darkest inclinations of a human-being, associated with violence against others, which actually can be found virtually in everyone. In this sense, BOB can be considered a proof of the commonness of violence, as it is transmitted from person to person, from generation to generation.
The spread of violence is also determined by the fact that the formation of gender identity in males involves the development of cruel attitude towards women. Diane Hume George insists that “In the developmental progression outlined by psychoanalytic feminism, which is both classically Freudian and revisionist at the same time, misogyny is fundamental to the acquisition of gender identification for males, and a partially repressed obsession with sexuality is at the basis of cultural malaise” (George 112). In addition, violence against women is sexualized and appears to be a component of male-dominated society’s sexual drives. However, due to the influence of morality, in which sexual violence is treated as a taboo, the society is naturally supposed to hide the evidence of abusing this principle.
As one can conclude, beyond its surrealistic surface, Twin Peaks maintains a detailed focus on the contemporary reality of sexual violence, which, as the present paper has proven, paradoxically encourages and prohibits brutal treatment of women. BOB, the central metaphor of Twin Peaks, points to the poignant fact that the practice of sexual violence is embedded into the Western culture and is therefore quite common.
Annotated Bibliography
Stevenson, D. “Family Romance, Family Violence, and the Fantastic in Twin Peaks”. Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks. Ed. David Lavery. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1995. 70-81.
In her essay, Stevenson analyzes the role of the supernatural and fantastic in Twin Peaks. The scholar argues that fantasy is a new tool of communicating sexual violence, invented by Lynch, given the absence of language through which the phenomenon can be described. The author also contends that the director used imagination in order to reflect the traditional attitude towards sexual violence as “unrealistic”.
Desmet, C. “The Canonization of Laura Palmer”. Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks. Ed. David Lavery. Detroit: Wayne State UP, 1995. 93-108.
The article compares the character of Laura Palmer to a martyr. Three main elements of “sanctity” are addressed: Laura’s kindness and contribution to the community’s well-being, the tortures she endures, and her ability to appear in others’ dreams after her death. The author also contrasts Laura to Maddy in order to demonstrate that women’s sexual freedom and autonomy are likely to be punished by death.
George, Diana Hume. “Lynching Women: A Feminist Reading of Twin Peaks”. Full of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks, edited by David Lavery. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1995. 109-119.
George provides a feminist analysis of the series and ties it to the culture of violence against women. The scholar argues that sexual violence is endorsed by society as it is incorporated as a part of males’ socialization. George concludes that BOB personifies the cruelest side of masculinity, which can actually be attributed to all males.
Davenport, Randi. “The Knowing Spectator of Twin Peaks: Culture, Feminism, and Family Violence.” Literature Film Quarterly 21, no. 4 (1993): 255-59.
The article focuses on familial violence and incest in the series. The author argues that Lynch’s intent was to deconstruct the romantic perception of incest and sexual violence. The author employs comparative methods and juxtaposes the depiction of incest in Twin Peaks to the respective episodes from literature and visual media.
Koukal, D. “The Moral of Twin Peaks”. 2008.
The article is dedicated to moral values and moral conflict in Twin Peaks. In particular, the author focuses on the struggle between the good, or the small town community, and the evil, or violent spirit known as BOB. The author argues that Lynch actually mocks the American society by showing how easily the absolute evil can seize and possess the supposedly ideal virtue and refers to the dark or antisocial secrets of Twin Peaks dwellers, which are revealed during the investigation, in order to demonstrate the depth of Lynch’s irony directed to the double morality of the small town.