The Owls Are Not What They Seem free essay sample

Essay, Research Paper Twin Peaks was one of the most popular shows on telecasting during its first season, aired in 1990. The show was based in little town America, and was easy related to by immature and in-between aged viewing audiences. The series begins with the slaying of an American icon, the Homecoming queen Laura Palmer. The full series spawned from the individual image of a immature beautiful girl s dead organic structure that washed up on the shore. This image led to others similar to it- the force and disdain towards adult females. The adult females of Twin Peaks wholly seemed to hold something in common, where they were all either murdered, portrayed as weak, delusory, and/or abused by the male characters. The dangers that stem from demoing such images on national telecasting are that the audience, typically composed of males, would go desensitized to these images, and farther, believe that the bold stance that Twin Peaks takes on muliebrity is true. We will write a custom essay sample on The Owls Are Not What They Seem or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Twin Peaks treats domestic force and maltreatment with a creepy insensitiveness. The incestuous relationship between Laura and her male parent Leland is about ignored- being blamed on the genitive spirit, BOB. After Leland s confession and self-destruction, Agent Cooper asks Sheriff Truman whether he would prefer to believe that BOB worked through Leland or that a adult male would ravish and slay his ain girl. At this minute Twin Peaks articulates a alteration of the seduction theory. Small misss are non abused by their male parents ; if they meet an unhappy terminal, the ground must be sought outside the household circle ( Desmet 98 ) . This reinforces societies urge non to straight confront its jobs, but instead turn away in a convenient mode. Twin Peaks expresses this impulse by concealing Leland s individuality as the rapist/murder so good, until it is eventually showed to the audience when Leland viciously murders his niece Maddy. Could it be that the ground it is impossible to place Leland as the slayer, is because the spectator does non desire to? The audience knows that Leland is capable of slaying after he is seen slaying Jacques Renault, but they still do non desire to believe that Leland would kill his girl. There are hints, nevertheless, which do indicate the incrimination towards Leland, but these are neer straight mentioned or officially addressed. Laura is seen shouting out for aid, but is excessively scared to come out and state anything, even to the 1s she loves. This addresses American society s will to hold its adult females be inactive and voiceless. [ Laura s ] cocaine wont, her engagement in erotica, her calling as a cocotte at One-Eyed-Jack s, and her desire to happen a male parent replacement or male defender in Doctor Jacoby and others, all identify Laura Palmer as an incest victim inquiring for aid ( Desmet 94 ) . It is typical in America for males to disregard the demands of adult females because they would instead assist themselves and others of their gender. Twin Peaks reinforces this belief by feeding this thought to a mass audience, which, in this instance, is typically composed of males. The stance that Twin Peaks takes on the feminine, force, and gender can be viewed as unsafe in a society such as ours. Throughout the series, adult females are viewed as sex objects, every bit good as objects that males can take their aggression out on in a violent mode without any effects. In the series, Laura, Maddy, Teresa Banks, Caroline Earle, Audrey, Annie Blackburne, and Blackie O Reilly all dice at the custodies of work forces, who have no reverberations for their actions. Besides, each of the adult females who die in the series, are at one clip or another put into sexual state of affairss, turning the adult females into objects ( or in some facets, prostitutes ) used merely for sexual intents, which, in the male witting, removes any duty to see them as existent people. In a society as riddled with domestic force as ours, it is hazardous concern to feed a mass audience the thought that the miss following door might be a prostitute, that the seductive stripling possibly wants a existent adult male to ache her ( George 115 ) . The effects for the visions that Twin Peaks portrays is that it is acceptable for work forces to sexual maltreatment, injury or even murder adult females, without any reverberations for their actions. The desensitisation of force and sexual maltreatment directed towards adult females, by work forces, is non without its effects. In the US a adult female is battered every 15 seconds. A colza is committed every six proceedingss. Three to four million adult females are beaten in their places. Over half of the work forces in a study of college pupils said they would ravish a adult female if they were certain they could acquire away with it. Furthermore, one out of eight Hollywood films depicts a colza subject, and by age 18, the mean American young person has watched 250,000 Acts of the Apostless of force on telecasting ( Ms. 33-58 ) . In the instance of Twin Peaks, the force towards adult females is highly inordinate. What is about more distressing than the existent force portrayed, is that harmonizing to the spectator polls, the bulk of the loyal viewing audiences of the series were adolescent males. The screening of Twin Peaks requires trueness ( most viewing audiences who missed se veral episodes stopped watching the series ) , and hence requires the audience to excuse the force directed towards adult females. Could it be a possibility that the force in Twin Peaks has affected the conscious of immature male viewing audiences and had desensitized them to the actions and secret plans shown in Twin Peaks? Female gender is of import to analyse when sing Twin Peaks because it allows the audience to see both how adult females view themselves sexually, and how work forces view adult females sexually. The most evident contrast of gender appears be between Laura and Maddy. Laura and Maddy seem to exemplify the familiar patriarchal division of adult females into virgins and prostitutes: Maddy is chaste where Laura is motiveless, solicitous of her relations where Laura brought them merely heartache, and is considerate of the teenage friends Laura exploited ( Desmet 100 ) . This division reinforces to the male audience that they must see adult females as virgins or prostitutes. The consequence of this in society is that males will be less swearing and more prone to force towards the adult females they see as prostitutes, and to disregard the adult females they see as inactive virgins. Although the series depicts such atrocious images of the different maltreatment towards adult females, it is non the purpose to excuse these actions, but instead, to demo the viewing audiences the world and errors in American civilization. As Dr. Jacoby says to Agent Cooper, The jobs of our full society are of a sexual nature. To some extent, this is true. Unfortunately, Twin Peaks is no exclusion to these jobs. What s new about telecasting working our love matter with the interfaces of sex and decease, or our hungriness for seeing adult females dead or maimed, or mutilated, or suicidal or raped or incapacitated, particularly if they are sexually active ( George 110 ) ? Twin Peaks feeds off of the lecherousness of society to see adult females in these state of affairss, which can be seen as merely a agency to have high spectator evaluations ( which it did ) . There are few, if any, strong adult females in the town of Twin Peaks. The lone strong adult females to be are Nadine ( who is merely physically strong ) , Catherine, Denise, and Norma. All the others female characters are seen as weak and incapacitated, in demand of a male character for support. Nadine, who after trying self-destruction, becomes physically strong due to an inordinate epinephrine production. She is, at this point, besides insane, believing she is 18 old ages old and in high school. Even though she is strong, she is still treated as an object by high school pupil Mike, who merely dates her for the sexual satisfaction that merely a adult female every bit strong as Nadine could offer. Catherine is seen as strong and oblique, but must conceal behind the costume of a adult male, Tojimura, in order to carry through her desires of power and money. This is really evocative of how adult females in society, particularly in the work force, are treated otherwise from work forces. Womans non merely still have problem progressing in the concern universe, but are by and large paid less so work forces. This may stem from the work forces in the work force non taking adult females earnestly plenty as to listen to their thoughts. Twin Peaks reinforces this fact by Catherine ever falling short to Ben Horn, the of import and powerful man of affairs, and proprietor of the most of import commercial activities in Twin Peaks- Ghostwood Estates and the Great Northern Hotel. By demoing this, Twin Peaks forces its audience to believe that adult females are inferior in respects to concern affairs. Denise has the strongest female function in Twin Peaks, but it comes as no surprise that the character is a transvestic played by David Duchovny. When Cooper about dies at Jean Renault s custodies, it is non Audrey, but Denise, the transvestic Drug Enforcement Agent, who comes to the deliverance. The merely good adult female, it seems, is truly a adult male ( Desmet 103 ) . This is one ground why Denise makes so many work forces uncomfortable. They do non cognize how to respond to Denise- they want to handle her like they would to any other adult females, but can non, because she possesses the indispensable male variety meats. The message that this portrays to the audience is a strong, but confounding one. In order for a adult female to be strong, she must non be castrated from the phallus ( see subdivision on the Man From Another Topographic point and Cooper s judgement in the Black Lodge ) . Denise can win in Twin Peaks because she has the physical and mental capacity of a adult ma le, and hence the audience sees this as true in society. Audrey is a really of import character to understanding adult females in the series. Audrey provides an first-class illustration of what happens in Twin Peaks when the adult female transgresses by taking over the male function ( Kuzniar 122 ) . When she tries to assist work out Laura s slaying by look intoing the brothel, One-Eyed Jack s, she ends up being captured, and causes Cooper to be emerged in legal problem for traversing the Canadian boundary line to deliver her. By Audrey trying to take over the traditional male function, there are black effects for both her and Cooper. Merely work forces are presumed either to k now or to be intellectually or intuitively equipped to happen out what they do non yet know ( Kuzniar 128 ) . What this portrays to the spectator is that when a adult female disobeys her traditional inactive function, she non merely fails, but besides ends up conveying lay waste toing effects to herself and the people environing her. Norma Jennings remains the lone female character strong plenty to defy the subjugation that the male characters try to put on her. She begins the divorce procedure against her murderous hubby ( who is arrested for parole misdemeanor before the divorce takes topographic point ) , and farther does non let herself to be put into any places where she will be forced to depend on a masculine character. Norma does, nevertheless, appear as a submissive female, working ( but still having ) at the Double R diner. She merely appears to the audience in her bluish work uniform, which resembles that of a amah ( the quintessential theoretical account of a submissive female ) . So even the lone existent strong female character still appears as submissive, functioning nutrient to and cleaning up after the hungry work forces of Twin Peaks. Norma s character shows that the lone manner for a adult female to win in society is to set up the fa fruit drink that she is ready to kneel down and serve those po ssessing the male function. Twin Peaks offers its ain point of view on the masculine, every bit good as the masculine reaction to the feminine. The male characters in the series about ever have the same societal mentalities on what is masculine and what is feminine. Work force are thought to be gallant, strong, dominating- both socially and sexually- , and destructive. Womans appear to be submissive, weak, viewed as objects, and appear about evil. These points play an of import function in the developments of the series and the characters ( or miss at that place of ) . BOB, who appears as a representative of the masculine in society, treats his adult females as objects, instead than people. He kills adult females without any vacillation or compunction. By seting the letters of his name under the fingernails of his stripling victims, BOB brands them as his belongings even as he violates them ( Desmet 102 ) . This thought of adult females as belongings is non uncommon in American society. In a more realistic manner, Leo besides treats his married woman Shelly as belongings instead than a partner, which allows him to take from himself any thought that Shelly is a individual, and hence can see her as an object. Leo invariably beats Shelly whenever his is angry about anything and diminishes her self-esteem by shouting and dissing her. Shelly herself appears weak when she eventually garners the bravery to eventually hit Leo. She takes one non-fatal shooting at him, hitting him in the shoulder, so immediately bursts into cryings, experiencing an immediate compunction for her actions. When Leo realizes Shelly betrayed him by hiting him and holding an matter with Bobby, he tries to kill her in the fire at the Packard Mill. BOB, Leo, and others all treat adult females as objects, symbolically demoing them as representatives of maleness in American civilization. The harm of feeding such images on national telecasting is that the audience would believe that these actions and thoughts are O.K. , as there are few reverberations for these beliefs ( both on telecasting every bit good as in society ) . The work forces of the Twin Peaks about ever think of the female characters as immorality, whether it is symbolic or actual. Many facets of the show can be viewed as a conflict of good and evil- work forces stand foring the good, and adult females stand foring the immorality, particularly when sing the struggles between the Black Lodge and the White Lodge. Agent Cooper, Sheriff Truman, and The Bookhouse Boys, all are the masculine contending the immorality, which is feminine. The immorality that the Bookhouse Boys and their male parents have fought for coevalss is adult female herself. The bird of Minerva, emblem of what lies hidden in the forests, is the bird of Athena, the female goddess of wisdom The war waged against the timeless evil lurking in the Northwest forests is entrusted to masculine fraternities: The Bookhouse Boys, the Sheriff and his deputies, and in Major Brigg s instance, the ground forces ( Desmet 103 ) . The message that Major Briggs delivers to Cooper, the bird o f Minervas are non what they seem, can be seen as a warning from the male patriarchate to defy female power- fundamentally stating Cooper that he must non subject to female laterality, or he will be defeated. This message comes strongly into drama at the terminal of the series during Cooper s judgement in the Black Lodge. One chief defect in Cooper s judgement is his deficiency of understanding that he does non necessitate to protect adult females, which finally leads to his autumn. Stoically offering his psyche in return for Annie s safety, Cooper engages Windom Earle in a masculine psychomania, so that he is eventually undone by his gallant codification of award and by the patriarchate s thrust to destruct, instead than suit the feminine ( Desmet 106 ) . Rather than trying to salvage himself every bit good as Annie, Cooper would instead go the sufferer, than the existent defender. He offers his psyche because he feels it is his responsibility as a adult male, instead than because he loves Annie. This may be the lone salvation of the female portraiture in Twin Peaks- where portion of Cooper s failure is based on the fact that he refuses the adjustment of women- nevertheless his failure is still due to a adult female, as he would neer hold be put in that state of affairs if Annie had non allowed herse lf to be captured by Windom Earle. The message of this facet of the series is that although Cooper failed in the right function towards adult females, it is still a adult female s failing that helped destruct him. When Cooper faces the concluding judgement in the Black Lodge, he symbolically falls victim to the laterality of adult females. In the Black Lodge, there are several statues of adult females every bit good as images of the adult females in his life, all representative of what is go oning in Cooper s judgement. The Lodge is besides decorated in ruddy curtains, which can typify the uterine liner of the maternal uterus. In mention to the Venus de Milo, Cooper s test takes topographic point under the auspices of maimed adult females, whose emasculation validates the Freudian myth of gender. When he discovers the lesion in his side, the Venus de Milo disappears, proposing that Cooper himself has now become a martyred unsexed female saint ( Desmet 106 ) . By symbolically going female, Cooper finally is overcome by the immorality of BOB and the Black Lodge, and hence fails in his judgement. What this tells the audience is that Cooper s failure is due to the fact that he is now seen as a wom an- and as already explained in Twin Peaks- it is impossible for a adult female to obtain the mental or physical capacity to win. The male audience, who all like and esteem Cooper s character, has now become even more contempful of adult females, who help do Cooper s failure. Cooper s concluding judgement and his dreams are closely related- particularly sing The Man From Another Topographic point. The MFAP symbolically represents the phallus and adult female s sexual mutilation. The little, wiggling, dancing, rose-colored figure has clear phallic associations. To do the association clearer, the small adult male of Cooper s dreams often undulates in forepart of a Grecian marble female nude, such that he is frequently framed with the statue s fork behind his caput ( Nichimson 152 ) . In another manner, the MFAP can be seen as a unsexed phallus himself. As the audience finds out in the Twin Peaks film, Fire Walk With Me, that the MFAP confesses that he is The Arm, intending the arm that MIKE, BOB s spouse at the beginning of BOB s killing fling, had cut off, or castrated, from himself- which in bend separated MIKE from BOB when MIKE realized that the violent death of adult females was incorrect. The audience is supposed to see the castrated MIKE as a helpful heroic character, while the MFAP is seen as the justice of Cooper, and in bend, the justice of Cooper s manhood. This feeds the audience that the male Judgess of society ( in this instance, the MFAP ) would non accept Cooper, as he has become the unsexed female sufferer, and is at that place condemned to neglect, and in bend become possessed by BOB ( the last shooting in the series is Cooper gazing into a mirror with BOB s face in the reflection- as Lelend saw himself months before ) . The emasculation of adult females, in add-on and relation to MIKE s, is besides really of import in the symbolism of female characters. The adult female s deficiency of a phallus, in other words, her presumed mutilation, externalizes and displaces the adult male s fright of inadequacy and insures him phallic integrity ( Kuzinar 122 ) . This is another ground why the work forces of Twin Peaks view their adult females every bit objects every bit good as a agency to alleviate aggression. The work forces are allowed to experience that they do non hold to esteem or fear adult females, due to their deficiency of masculinity. However, This disclaimer and projection of emasculation explains but does non shrive the show s transgressivity toward adult females, which begins and ends with Laura Palmer ( Kuzniar 122 ) . This tells the audience that a adult female is truly merely an uncomplete adult male, and should be treated as that. This justifies to males the maltreatment of adult females, as they are weak and inferior due to their deficiency of organic structure parts. Twin Peaks takes a bold stance on the portraiture of adult females in the media every bit good as adult females in society. The images and secret plans shown about ever portray adult females in a negative visible radiation. The dangers of demoing these images on national telecasting are the thoughts that are imposed to the audience in existent life. Twin Peaks feeds the audience thoughts that adult females are weak, unqualified, evil, deficient, and frequently objects of a male dominated society. The audience is sucked into the universe of Twin Peaks and hence will take a similar stance on what is feminine and masculine in society. David Lynch said in 1989, I couldn t attention less about altering the conventions of mainstream telecasting. Unfortunatly this is true. Lynch did non alter, or want to alter, the manner that adult females are portrayed in telecasting, and it is this sort of ignorance in our society that lets the desensitisation of force and scorn toward adult females cont inue in our mass media.