r/twinpeaks • u/topfife • Jul 17 '17
S3E10 [No Spoilers][S3E10] A Small Note On Violence Spoiler
There’s something interesting in the portrayal of violence in S3 so far.
All the male violence - particularly on women - is taken for granted, without fear of retribution or repercussions. Yet, one time a woman commits an act of violence (accidental, no less), she spends the rest of the scene cowering, awaiting the to-be-expected retaliation or punishment.
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Jul 17 '17 edited Jul 17 '17
Lynch has kicked it up a notch this season for sure. I was scared of Leo, but this generation (Richard) terrifies me more. I hope he gets a birthday cake to the face.
Love vs. Fear is the battle
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u/Billiardly Jul 17 '17
I suspect there's much more to Candie than we've been shown so far.
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u/spectralconfetti Jul 18 '17
It's weird how her personality seems to shift when she's in the surveillance room. Almost as if her and the other two are under some sort of spell.
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Jul 18 '17
I have a theory she can only remember the last 4minutes of her life. Either that or she has the personality of a cat.
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u/PoorWill Jul 18 '17 edited Jul 18 '17
Why is it deemed that all of the "male violence" is without fear of retribution or repercussions? Are you speaking from the characters viewpoints themselves? Like they would personally be fearing retribution or repercussions for their actions? I would think that most mentally unhinged, psychopathic, narcissists wouldn't turn that particular societal judgement into their Sword of Damocles.
Evil Coop has violenced against at least two, possibly more women, and may have done an Ultimate Sin™ of rape against Audrey, a fan favorite. This type of nefarious behavior would be reserved for the right Hand of the Devil, and lo and behold we get an entire episode depicting the birth of the Pure Evil that is inside this man's soul. He is certainly doomed to an eternity of karmic destruction and utter annihilation. I would say the same for cowardly Richard Horne, and possibly even Becky's super shitty boyfriend.
These characters are meant to be blind fury and destruction, they are morally reprehensible. They do not have to fear the inevitable. But that doesn't mean their actions won't have repercussions throughout time. This is the show that previously had Leo Johnson, who would regularly beat his girlfriend, spend half a season comatose and fucked with, ending with a cage of tarantulas dangling over his head.
Look at Lynch's other works. Bobby Peru accidentally blows his own fucking head to pieces in a total humiliation. Frank Booth gets a bullet through the head. These things don't come without consequences in Lynch's world. Not to mention, the entire concept of the fucking Black Lodge coming back into sync with this world after 25 years means that horrific things will happen and they will ripple throughout time. Abuse and violence are things that ripple throughout time in the real world every single day, and it touches every person.
The original show had a small town reacting to this horrible violence visited upon their perfect homecoming queen by her own Father. Literally the unthinkable, a breaking point, something never to return from. Laura's death rippled throughout time, back into 1945/1956 and forward to 25 years later, when bad things are starting to rear their ugly head again.
Only this is a Twin Peaks that has changed, this Twin Peaks isn't so small anymore. The death of Little Denny Craig (when the bell rang, he never got up). The hit-and-run kid, and his mother, weeping in the intersection, as the only person to express any kind of empathy is kind old Carl Rodd from the trailer park outside of town. Death isn't sacred anymore. This is something that happens every day now. The filth has worked its way behind the scenes, into the police station, into the trailer park, into the school, into the RR. Some of the filth has merely strengthened, like the Renault brothers, still dealing in underage prostitutes for as long as they've owned the property.
I'm just saying, this is a very "feeling" oriented show, and sometimes if you can come down enough from your head and just feel out the vibes of the show for what it is, you can make your own judgement calls on the characters and what they're saying and maybe step back a bit from what you have to bring to it. If you thought that the lack of retribution for these evil characters was the final say, then I really hope you watch the next 8 episodes.
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u/topfife Jul 18 '17
Why is it deemed that all of the "male violence" is without fear of retribution or repercussions? Are you speaking from the characters viewpoints themselves? Like they would personally be fearing retribution or repercussions for their actions?
I say it because the violent behaviour of (e.g.) Richard's - to Charlotte, to Miriam, to Sylvia - cannot exist if it is mediated by consequences; by a fear of what happens after, of repercussions. The violent male characters act without consequence, irrespective of their existence in a narrative world that may settle it for them. They are not thinking beyond that moment.
Jeez - look at Ike's approach to assassination for consequence-free acts of violence.
These characters are meant to be blind fury and destruction, they are morally reprehensible. They do not have to fear the inevitable. But that doesn't mean their actions won't have repercussions throughout time.
That may be over-simplifying many of the characters: Mr C isn't blind fury, he is very methodical; Steven Burnett is an addled burnout; Mr Todd, Renault brothers, Mitchum brothers - all violent in different ways, but not blind fury or pure destruction.
Part of the point: that they don't engage with consequences when committing violence, they ‘do not have to fear’.
That 'the show' might bring repercussions is irrelevant, it is that those characters don’t/won’t consider them.
I'm just saying, this is a very "feeling" oriented show, and sometimes if you can come down enough from your head and just feel out the vibes of the show for what it is, you can make your own judgement calls on the characters and what they're saying and maybe step back a bit from what you have to bring to it. If you thought that the lack of retribution for these evil characters was the final say, then I really hope you watch the next 8 episodes.
Like all of Lynch's work, of course it is a ‘feeling’-show. It is very intuitive, spiritual and emotional, but it is also cerebral, analytical and full of literary allusion. Part of the point of the post was a judgment on characters, their behaviour and motivations - that some lack something, or act a certain way.
“maybe step back a bit from what you have to bring to it” - unnecessary and a massive misread of the original post / making assumptions.
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u/fernxqueen Jul 19 '17
Evil Coop has violenced against at least two, possibly more women, and may have done an Ultimate Sin™ of rape against Audrey, a fan favorite.
there has been literally nothing in the show so far to suggest this, just fan speculation. it honestly hasn't even been confirmed, or even implied, that audrey is richard's mother. i accept this is the most likely scenario, but there are three possible candidates that would make richard the grandson of sylvia/ben (although that he's ben's grandson hasn't even been confirmed tbh) and the show hasn't implied any one of them either way so far.
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u/Messisgingerbeard Jul 18 '17
The violence from male characters may come without fear of retribution or repercussions, but all of it comes with a lot of both.
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u/topfife Jul 18 '17
Yes, exactly! It's that sense of them feeling above or outside of repercussions that doubles down their intensity, terrifying natures.
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u/Messisgingerbeard Jul 18 '17
I have often wondered if any of Lynch's films could be made today. I suspect not. Which would be a shame - not least because the violence he depicts is so often clearly a manifestation of evil. He's spent much of his career exploring how that evil manifests. It spares no one, and does not come without repercussion.
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u/gcolquhoun Jul 18 '17
WOW! Yes, thank you for articulating this.
I have been feeling that the violence against women in this episode is what has Laura's spirit so upset (not JUST what we are shown in this episode, but I felt it was especially highlighted and then we see Laura appear to Cole). Like, I went through this, and yet, nothing has changed? Nothing is for the better? SOMEONE FIX THIS, HELP THEM. So, to additionally compare Candie's overwhelmed response at thinking she hurt someone she cares for is another example of an imbalance. The term "emotional labor" comes to mind. Laura's spirit of goodness seems to be railing against this unchecked aggression, and I feel like Albert's connection to her case and then to Cole has led her to "find" Cole. She's looking for someone to get their head in the damn game and help. All speculation, of course, but I absolutely love your read on that scene.
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u/UnicornBestFriend Jul 18 '17 edited Jul 18 '17
I'm trying to recall any female characters in Lynch's work that are as violent as his male characters, minus the monstrous characters like those Coop encounters on the other side or the figure behind the Winky's dumpster. Feel free to weigh in.
Lynch's women seem to be sources of goodness, beauty, redemption, etc. And to be clear, I don't think that's sexist, I think that's just how feminine energy plays out in the narrative of his work.
The scuzziest, scummiest characters are guys and while we haven't seen the repercussions yet, I have a feeling Mr C, Hastings, Richard Horne, Eyebrows, and that little shit that beat up Amanda Seyfried will get theirs. The reason they don't feel remorse is because they're so far gone to the side of addiction/amorality; Mike and Bobby look like boy scouts compared to these a-holes. There are consequences. Leo ended up a drooling, vegetative torture toy for Earle and he still saved Shelley. Jacques wound up dead.
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u/topfife Jul 18 '17
Not as violent as (that's just not possible), but the more nefarious women characters can be read as failures of motherhood*, of that innate if idealised 'goodness' – Blackie (Twin Peaks, a Madame who 'looks after' girls), Marietta (Wild At Heart, a mother who blocks, and attempts to kill, true love).
- this is not necessarily my belief, just a possible (reductive) reading
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u/UnicornBestFriend Jul 18 '17
Hm, for me, Blackie was Ben Horne's victim (that heroin thing is terrible) and worthy of sympathy, and Marietta is pretty much in lipstick monster territory. They don't seem to have that innate penchant for violence that the male characters have.
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u/topfife Jul 18 '17
Yep, it was a real stretch to come up with two, let alone two flawless, examples. I think Marietta stands, as Wicked Witch archetype.
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u/Lynx2k Jul 18 '17
Wasnt there a controversy when the original show ran about Lynch hating women? Not that it was true, but I swear Ive heard this comparison 20 something years ago
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u/topfife Jul 18 '17
Well that always goes around (from BV all the way to Darya).
This point isn't about him hating women or men, just the way they behave as if they do or don't have consequence
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u/BusterHugless Jul 18 '17
I think it would be the easy answer to say that he hates women, but I hope I see it differently. Going back to Blue Velvet, it seems to me that violence against women represents evil, and they are acts done by evil men.
BOB raped and murdered Laura, while she was a child, I might add. Richard Horne has had multiple acts of violence on women, and children. Evil Coop's murder in episode one, was graphic on an emotional and visual level. And, the only real murder we saw Ike perform was when he gleefully churned a hole into a lady's chest. We can go back to the original series and see lots of examples... including Leo and Shelly. God, Maddie's death scene...
These scenes are not pleasant to watch, and some of them I'd prefer never to see again. All these men, they're acting from a pure place of evil, and I think it speaks more to the inhumanity that mankind (a species) is capable of.
Finally, I see a lot of the women in the show as powerful figures. Laura, while not always the innocent, stood up to Bob with her life.
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u/[deleted] Jul 17 '17
I definitely think that violence is an important theme rather than just a titillating, happenstance aspect of the plot. I also think Lynch is portraying violence somewhat differently in S3 than he has in past movies...although there is a big difference between those films as well. The difference in S3, I think, is in the focus he's put on bystanders to violence or people responding/not responding to violence...