Twin Peaks Question (includes spoilers)

[joethelion]

ok - so a while ago, when I got strep throat; I managed to download the entire Twin Peaks series and movie

and b/c I was basically just sitting around my apartment for two weeks, I was able to watch the entire series

although it's now been a couple of weeks since I watched it - there's still some things kind of bugging me about the series and how it relates to the movie... I've already tried to find the answer to my question online, but with no luck.

So anyways ->


*SPOILER



ok. In the movie, Laura Palmer's dad says something to the effect of "I thought you knew it was me" just before he kills her. Which kind of implies that "Bob" was really just like a psychological 'masking' of Laura's father's identity by Laura. Like, instead of seeing her Dad - she always saw "Bob"

but - in the show, you discover that Bob is essentially some sort of spirit that takes over a host... so this 'psychological masking' theory doesn't really work - esp as "Bob" in the show is an actual character who interacts with several other people

and here's my problem - in the show, you discover that Laura's Dad didn't know that he had committed all these horrible acts to his daughter, and as he's dying - Bob says something to the effect that he now will have to remember everything he/they have done (as if he had no idea what had been happening over that long period of time... like if Bob had possessed him for years)

so - was that just an error in continuity in the film?

or did Laura's Dad actually know what he was doing for all of those years (you find out that Laura had been molested since she was like... 12, I think) and in the scene in "Fire Walk With Me" where he's in the room with the red curtains, and the bloodstain is removed from his clothes was really like - his memories being erased by the other inhabitants of the "red room"


sorry if this doesn't make sense... esp as there are just sooo many little details between the two seasons and the film -> and the fact that I haven't watched any of them for like - 3/4 weeks now

[adam]

I think these aren't continuity errors per se so much as that you're trying to enforce a consistancy that they weren't concerned with. I think it's allowed more play, like a dream. Dreams don't follow rational explanations. I don't think the world of the black lodge does either. That is, I think Leland is supposed to simulataneously be/not be Bob. He commited the acts on one level, and on another was a puppet.

[potatobroth]

well just because the dad says, "I always thought you knew it was me" doesn't necessarily mean it was the dad speaking.

Twin Peaks (as almost every David Lynch movie) was all about duality. Adam nails it in that both things are happening simultaneously and don't need to be explained away. The things in Twin Peaks, just are.

[Aaron Contreras]

That is, I think Leland is supposed to simulataneously be/not be Bob. He commited the acts on one level, and on another was a puppet.

What Adam said. I always looked at Bob as a real man who had gone so far into bad shit (the Black Lodge) he became a kind of totem spirit. Like a white trash David Lo Pan with more of a possession angle.

[joethelion]

I guess it makes sense

but... I mean, they just make it be such a big deal in the tv show that Leland had no idea what he was doing when Bob possessed him.

and why would Leland be so obviously distraught when he'd have these moments of (obvious) guilt in the movie

and just the statment in itself "I always thought you knew it was me" doesn't make that much sense... like especially - if it was "bob" talking

could it have been something like this? ->

maybe Leland molested Laura for all those years (as himself). And to 'mask' this horrible thing that happened, Laura imagined it was this guy "bob" instead. Except that because of the Black Lodge / wierdness in Twin Peaks, the "imaginary bob" eventually became like a real entity

so he slowly morphed into existance until he became a unique being unto himself

(or maybe the imaginary Bob became an entity when the one armed man cut off this arm... and broke off his 'partnership' with the black lodge)

well just because the dad says, "I always thought you knew it was me" doesn't necessarily mean it was the dad speaking.

Twin Peaks (as almost every David Lynch movie) was all about duality. Adam nails it in that both things are happening simultaneously and don't need to be explained away. The things in Twin Peaks, just are.

[potatobroth]

maybe Leland molested Laura for all those years (as himself). And to 'mask' this horrible thing that happened, Laura imagined it was this guy "bob" instead. Except that because of the Black Lodge / wierdness in Twin Peaks, the "imaginary bob" eventually became like a real entity

again, with Twin Peaks, things just are. Bob was real. Leland was real. David Lynch never worked with clean/clear explanations but rather the feeling of what is going on. The dad was raping the daughter in a schizophrenic way. But rather than a normal schizo where its a duality in his head, its a duality that exists in The Black Lodge/Twin Peaks.

Duality and personified Schizophrenia is the theme (and title) of Twin Peaks. Bobby and Mike were doubled with Mike (one armed man) and Bob (evil man) etc. There were LOTS of these things happening in those episodes.

Btw, the crush I had on Audrey Horne when I was in High School. My goodness, was she ever stunning. :P /wolfwhistles

[adam]

So did my girlfriend, which I fully support.