The Misogyny of Twin Peaks

Emily Peper

The Misogyny of Twin Peaks

Abstract: In their critical reception of Twin Peaks’ central plotline surrounding the investigation into Laura Palmer’s murder, fans and critics of Peaks formulate decoded messages that identify the show’s portrayals of women as misogynistic, insofar that they perpetuate sexual and domestic violence against women.

The original series of the crime drama Twin Peaks ran for two seasons from 1990 to 1991. It rose to immediate fame upon its premiere, captivating viewers with its intoxicating blend of bizarre, supernatural, and eerie elements that served as the driving force behind its central murder-mystery plot. Upon an astute analysis of the reception of Peaks’ principal plot, that being the investigation into the murder of Laura Palmer and how the murderer’s identity comes to be revealed, feminist oppositional readings of the show emerge in response to the portrayal of women within this plot and its development. Such feminist critiques reveal how fans and critics alike have formulated their own decoded messages of the show. In unison, fans and critics argue that Peaks’ portrayal of women as victims of sexual and domestic violence perpetuates the misogynistic practices of gender-based violence that are deeply embedded in our society’s patriarchal culture.

Analyzing the production of Twin Peaks reveals much about the encoded messages the creators of the show intended to evoke through their content. Twin Peaks’ was produced by Lynch/Frost Productions, alluding to the names of both showrunners, David Lynch and Mark Frost. Before Twin Peaks even premiered, the media associated the show with the creative genius of the auteur Lynch, as Peaks was seen as his brainchild that would capture the attention of many (Paskin). The October 1, 1990 issue of Time Magazine even featured a cover image of a portrait photo of Lynch, alongside the caption, “The Wild-at-Art Genius Behind Twin Peaks,” further imprinting Lynch’s star status. Peaks was run by ABC Network, but the creative direction of the show was largely spearheaded by Lynch and Frost, and not ABC executives. Lynch and Frost created the pilot and the first two episodes of season one together. Following these episodes, the showrunners were involved in the production of a few episodes here and there for the rest of the series. Overall, the media circulation of Twin Peaks surrounding its creators reveals how the show was and continues to be largely associated with its showrunners, who were painted as ingenues of the television medium.

Upon its premiere, Twin Peaks was praised by the media for its innovative take on the mystery genre, as it combined soap opera, drama, thriller, supernatural, and horror elements all into one show. Peaks’ unique combination of genres helped contribute to the exciting, quirky, and bizarre energy that captivated audiences upon its premiere (Framke and VanDerWerff). The show developed a cult fan base in the years following its release and has since been referred to by both critics and audiences as one of the best television shows of all time.

Twin Peaks’ central plot follows the investigation into the murder of the seemingly perfect, sixteen-year-old, homecoming-queen Laura Palmer in the fictional town of Twin Peaks, Washington. The protagonist, FBI Agent Dale Cooper, often referred to as just Cooper, comes from out of town to lead the investigation with the local Twin Peaks detective team, which includes Sheriff Harry Truman, Deputy Chief Tommy 'Hawk' Hill and Officer Andy Brennan. This array of characters lends itself to embody the show’s intended messages about how people in positions of power, like police officers and detectives, can be understood as representatives of society’s moral diligence who bring justice to the families of murder victims. However, Peaks only depicts men in these positions, which raises questions about the gender relations that come to light in the plot pertaining to the investigation of Laura’s murder.

Beyond the investigation plot point, other Twin Peaks’ story engines explore the secret, behind-the-scenes misdeeds of the town’s notable residents and how they all connect back to Laura’s murder. The main town residents often straddle the line between innocent town goer and potential suspect or meddler who is involved in some type of illicit scheme. For example, take the town’s richest citizen and CEO businessman Ben Horne. Horne is involved in dealing drugs across the Canadian border and secretly owns One- Eyed Jack's, a casino that doubles as a brothel. At One-Eyed Jack's, young girls are recruited to work there as sex objects for men to lust after and take advantage of sexually. Ben Horne himself even engages in sex with underage girls there. This plot point surrounding Ben Horne’s character serves as one of many other story engines that embolden the dominant ideology of patriarchal society, which constructs and legitimates the misogynistic notions that reduce women to objects under the male gaze and uphold men’s domination of women.

The audience reception of Twin Peaks’ main plot provides substantial insight into how feminist oppositional readings of the show have been used to critique the stark misogyny that fans and critics locate within the show. The violent nature of Laura Palmer’s murder and the revelation of her murderer to viewers serves as the ultimate springboard for critics and fans to engage in feminist critiques of the show. It is important to first acknowledge how the central plot of Laura’s murder was portrayed. In the pilot episode of Peaks, the very first scene shows the washed-ashore, plastic-wrapped corpse of Laura’s body, a gruesome sight implicating to audiences the violent nature of her murder as well as the murderer’s complete disregard for her body.

Deducing from Peaks’ introduction of Laura’s murder, it becomes evident that the central plot of the show is essentially founded in the misogynistic “dead girl” narrative, which commonly emerges in many other murder-mystery stories, (e.g. Thirteen Reasons Why). Essentially, a “dead girl” narrative uses the murder of a beautiful young woman– in Peaks’ case, Laura Palmer– as a vehicle for the growth of male characters (Marshall). Undoubtedly, as the investigation into Laura’s murder unfolds, the show centralizes around Agent Cooper and his all-male detective team, as they do all that they can to solve the murder. By portraying these characters as highly talented, intelligent detectives who bring justice to those who need it, it becomes clear that the murder of Laura Palmer facilitates the growth and likability of these male characters as the investigation plot deepens.

Subsequently, it is important to acknowledge how Laura’s murderer was presented to audiences. The seventh episode of Twin Peaks’ season 2, titled “Lonely Souls,” finally revealed to eager viewers the identity of Laura’s murderer as Leland Palmer, Laura’s father, who, while being possessed by an evil, supernatural demon named BOB, had been molesting Laura for years up until the night he raped and murdered her. However, this revelation of Leland as the murderer only became known to audiences through Leland murdering another female character. There is a horrible scene in the “Lonely Souls” episode in which Leland, fully possessed by BOB, impulsively attacks and viciously stabs and murders Maddie Ferguson, Laura’s cousin who came to stay with her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Leland after Laura died. Thus, in finally revealing the murderer, what should be a moment of relief for audiences, the creators of Peaks enlisted another brutal murder against a young woman. Ultimately, Leland’s murder of Maddie further emboldens the unintended but inherent, misogynistic messages of the show that perpetuate a culture of men dominating women through sexual and domestic violence.

Audience reception of the revelation of Leland as Laura’s murderer sparked much chatter on the Internet, especially on the early-90s communication platform Usenet. Usenet was an online bulletin board where 90s television show fans congregated to post their thoughts and engage in discussions within their respective fan communities. In his book Textual Poachers, media scholar Henry Jenkins examines how fans come to interpret media texts in ways that are meaningful to them. At the time of writing Poachers, Jenkins was studying Usenet and how Twin Peaks fans used it to create online discussions about the show (Miller). Jenkins essentially saw Usenet as an online platform that was indicative of how fans come to arrive at their decoded interpretations of media texts.

From these Usenet discussion boards created by devout Twin Peaks fans, oppositional readings of the show sprouted as fans delved into feminist critiques regarding the misogynistic perpetuation of violence against women on the show. Located in an online archive of a Twin Peaks Usenet discussion board, one Peaks fan, by the username of Mike Miller, posted his feminist critique of Leland’s murder of Maddie on November 11, 1990, writing:

I really think it's past time for them to get rid of the BOB plotline. I'm past tired of young women being brutally murdered on the show. The 11/10 episode where Maddie is almost certainly killed had by far the most disturbing scene I've ever seen on TV. I haven't even been mildly freaked out by anything else that has gone on before. But watching Leland/BOB do his thing on Maddie was just a bit too much. There seems to be plenty of other plots going, so why do they keep dragging this out? (“Twin Peaks on the Internet...in 1990”)

This Usenet post provides a clear example of a fan-produced oppositional reading of Twin Peaks’ apparent, continued failure to stray away from a narrative that rests on plot points that reinforce the portrayal of women as victims of sexual and domestic violence. This oppositional reading of Peaks embodies how fans have come to subvert the show’s encoded messages regarding Maddie’s murder that attempt to excite the audience by prolonging the murder-mystery narrative through the dramatic murder of another character. However, fans decoded these messages to arrive at an oppositional reading of Maddie Ferguson’s murder, as they felt it ultimately served to perpetuate and glorifiy sexual and domestic violence against women.

Fans continue to circulate their reception and critique of Twin Peak’s portrayal of women to this day. Many Peaks fans, upon the release of a returning third season in 2017, have congregated on the popular forum and discussion site Reddit to reassess and rehash their reception of the show’s first two seasons. One such Reddit user, by the name of “@loveisatacotruck,” posted their thoughts in 2017, writing:

Maddy's murder scene was horrific in the sense that it was all so real. One of the things I love about this show is that it constantly makes me question whether or not the supernatural is truly involved or if it's all just the horrors of man. Is Bob inside Leland or are they one in the same? Do we invent demons to make the awful things we do to each other more palatable? I think, at least so far, Twin Peaks explores that beautifully (Official Rewatch: S02E07 "Lonely Souls" Discussion).

Despite the use of admiring language, this Reddit user’s post is representative of a feminist critique of Twin Peaks’ shifting of the blame for Laura’s murder from Leland to a supernatural demon. Ultimately, the BOB plotline excuses the epidemic problem of sexual and domestic violence against women and effectually curtails any possibility of real justice to be had for Laura. By voicing the concern about whether or not BOB and Leland are one in the same, this Reddit post encapsulates feminist concerns about Peaks’ romanticization of the “supernatural” murder of a young woman, which fans ultimately believe diminish the true reality of the violence that men commit against women.

Looking holistically at the portrayal of women within Twin Peaks’ murder-mystery plot, several feminist oppositional readings emerge on the behalf of television critics. In her article “Gender, Power, and Culture in the Televisual World of Twin Peaks: A Feminist Critique,” communications professional Sue Lafky underscores how the murder plot of Twin Peaks is essentially rooted in patriarchal ideology that perpetuates rape culture and romanticizes violence against women as prime-time entertainment. She writes, “Twin Peaks is a place where women constantly live with the threat of violence at the hands of men. This gendered difference in treatment, as well as the male gaze that is central to the show, links a ‘privileging of vision with a sexual privilege’” (Lafky 11). In this manner, Lafky’s analysis manifests an oppositional reading of Peaks’ sexualization of women that ultimately positions violence against women as an acceptable result of the patriarchal power dynamics that enable men to view women as sexual objects.

Lafky goes on to importantly emphasize how Twin Peaks’ “dead girl” narrative is dangerous, in that it emboldens patriarchal ideals that devalue the existence of women. She writes,

After the mystery is solved, patriarchy is still intact, and the bonds among women (some of them dead, some of them insane) are shattered. Viewers watch the male bonding among FBI Agent Dale Cooper, Sheriff Harry Truman and FBI forensics expert Albert Rosenfield become even stronger as they celebrate their own roles in ‘fighting evil’ and maintaining a romanticized fraternity of men who bond together to protect small-town family values (Lafky 16).

Consequently, Lafky’s feminist critique of Twin Peaks effectively subverts the encoded messages surrounding men bringing justice to the town regarding Laura’s murder. She asserts that in preserving the male relationships throughout the course of the murder investigation, Peaks did so at the expense of the female characters’ stability and happiness, further contributing to and reinforcing a patriarchal culture that places women below men.

In her article “Lynching Women: A Feminist Reading of Twin Peaks,” literary critic Diane Hume George maintains a feminist oppostional reading to Twin Peaks. Echoing the aforementioned Reddit critique, Hume affirms how Peaks’ encoded blaming of Laura’s murder on the demon BOB ultimately encourages society’s patriarchal notions of not taking violent crimes against women seriously. George writes,

Peaks participates in excusing male violence toward women, mythologizing their behavior as possession by evil forces that originate outside of the self. Safely relegated to supernatural and irresistible status… the ‘evil’ does not reside in normal, troubled, tragic human lives, but in helplessly possessed male victims who do not know what they are doing and cannot be held responsible (George 117-118).

George declares that by identifying the demon BOB as the true mastermind behind Laura’s rape and murder, Peaks’ plot “casts off the guilt that belongs to an entire cultural ethos,” this “cultural ethos” being an ethos rooted in patriarchal ideology (George 118). George asserts that this ethos of patriarchy becomes validated through the shifting of blame from a human man, the typical offender of violence against women in society, to a supernatural being that compels the man to commit horrible crimes against women. Thus, George’s article provides an oppositional reading to Twin Peaks’ encoded messages about the innocent Leland being forced by BOB to commit violence against women in his family. George interprets this shifting of the blame from Leland to BOB as the inherent perpetuation of patriarchal power that devalues the lives of women and separates men from the violence against women that they, in reality, contribute to and eternalize.

En masse, Twin Peaks’ portrayal of women through the development of its central plot surrounding the murder of the young Laura Palmer ulitmately becomes translated by fans and critics alike as a glorification of violence against women by men. They find that Peaks makes a spectacle out of painting women as targeted victims of sexual and domestic assault and murder. The feminist critiques of Twin Peaks by fans and critics serve as key manifestations of Stuart Hall’s encoding/decoding model of communication, which he uses to explain how audiences come to subvert the encoded messages of a media text so as to create their own decoded messages about what the text represents to them. Even though Peaks’ showrunners David Lynch and Mark Frost may have singularly aimed to employ the “dead girl” narrative as the foundation for their innovative, surrealist take on the murder-mystery genre, audience reception of Peaks’ principal plot regarding Laura’s murder ultimately embodies a feminist critique that condemns the show’s perpetuation of violence against women.

Works Cited

Paskin, Willa. “Diane, Remind Me to Tell You How Twin Peaks Changed TV Forever.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 7 June 2017, slate.com/arts/2017/06/how-twin-peaks-spawned-a-whole-tv-genre-from-lost-to-mr-robot t o-westworld-that-wants-to-be-a-riddle-for-viewers-to-solve.html.

Marshall, Sarah. “'Twin Peaks' and the Origin of the Dead Woman TV Trope.” The New Republic, 10 Apr. 2014,

newrepublic.com/article/117323/twin-peaks-and-origin-dead-woman-tv-trope.

Framke, Caroline, and VanDerWerff, Emily. “Twin Peaks, Decoded for Novices and Obsessives Alike.” Vox, Vox, 19 May 2017, www.vox.com/culture/2017/5/19/15660502/twin-peaks-explained-showtime-david-lynch.

“Twin Peaks on the Internet...in 1990.” Lost in the Movies, 17 Nov. 2014, www.lostinthemovies.com/2014/11/twin-peaks-on-internetin-1990-alttvtwin.htm. @loveisatacotruck. “Official Rewatch: S02E07 "Lonely Souls" Discussion.” Reddit, 2017, https://www.reddit.com/r/twinpeaks/comments/4y2vjf/official_rewatch_s02e07_lonely_sou ls_discussion/

Lafky, Sue. “Gender, Power, and Culture in the Televisual World of Twin Peaks: A Feminist Critique.” Journal of Film and Video, vol. 51, no. 3/4, Oct. 1999, pp. 5–19. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.20688217&site=eds l ive.

George, Diana Hume. “Lynching Women: A Feminist Reading of Twin Peaks.” Full

of Secrets: Critical Approaches to Twin Peaks, edited by David Lavery, Wayne State University Press, 1995, pp. 109–119. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=mlf&AN=1997028406&site=eds-live.