When I'm asked why I like TP

[Fire]

Last month, I lent a close friend my copy of the Golden Box dvd set of Twin Peaks. I was very happy to watch it with him and see him really get into the show. About a week ago he lent his brother the pilot, and I was ecstatic to learn that both his brother and his family are currently enjoying finishing episode four.

Sometimes when I have guest over and they spy something Twin Peaks related, maybe Laura's diary or my poster, they'll ask about it. Or maybe I'll be listening to the soundtrack and someone ask "What are we listening to?"

All of these situations have something in common for me.

While my friend certainly loves Twin Peaks, he most definitely is not a... Peaky? He wouldn't be one to stumble upon Dugpa, for instance. And his love for the show begins and ends with the episodes. Does that make sense?

I guess what I'm trying to say is he does not love Twin Peaks the way I, and the for the most part "we" here at Dugpa and other communities, love this universe. When I say that, I don't want to sound condescending and that is not my intentions.

The reason I bring this up, is because when I'm confronted with explaining my love for Twin Peaks, I'm at an absolute loss for words. Rather, too many jumbled words that don't quite do it justice come to mind.

As I sit here drinking my coffee, I wonder, how would I, and you guys and gals here, explain your adoration for Twin Peaks? That must be a strange question and I feel strange asking it, but countless times I have tried to put it into words and simply settled with "I can't explain it," which is a less then satisfactory answer.

Twin Peaks is a force that is constantly on my mind, something I experience at my very core, an enthralling dream that somehow granted me a catharsis I've never experienced before.

Of course, if I said that to an average person I'm sure I'd get strange looks.

Anyways, how would you explain why or how you like Twin Peaks?

[Smiling Bag]

What I try to explain to people is that it is not just WHAT Twin Peaks was but WHEN it was. I was a senior in High School when it originally aired as were many of the main characters. The clothes, the hair, the clicks, everything resonated on a real level while still pulling off this completely "Surreal" experience. I also remember meals associated with watching the show or even songs I'd hear while driving home from work to catch the episode on Thursday nights. I have always said that Twin Peaks was the precursor for so many things to come in the 90's, and how those things differed from the 80's. The flannel (Before Grunge hit). The Coffee (Before Starbucks was everywhere), the obsession with the Northwest (Before Grunge, Starbucks, and Microsoft Windows . Another aspect was how cocaine (drug of the 80's) was emphasized earlier in the series while heroin (drug of the 90's) was eluded too LATER in the series at One Eyed Jacks. These things would be repeated, expanded, and commercialized throughout the 90's not only in pop culture, but in day to day routines. I won't even mention the influence on TV shows from then on and up to today as they are too vast for this thread. The bottom line for me is that Twin Peaks created my expectations for the 90's as I left High School and went to college that we should expect more intellectual media than what we saw in the 80's. I often wish to be able to go back and simply view MYSELF viewing the show for the first time. I was 17 then. I am 39 now and I still think that no single media event has ever shaped my life the way this show did. I have certainly converted many others to loving the show, but for me, seeing it in 1990-1991 is just not a feeling you can manufacture for others. Even though to see Twin Peaks is to usually love Twin Peaks, it's initial timing was as important as the content of the show itself.

[Brad D]

I get what you mean, and I think a lot of people (some of my friends included) have seen the series, enjoyed it, and moved on with their lives. I think it takes a certain level of interest in something to dive in past the surface. Some get there and some don't- with TP and everything else in life.

[perno]

The show is not what it seems.
It means a lot more than what you could guess at first glance. You can go as deep as you want in Twin Peaks. That's why I love it.
Twin Peaks tells about us, about human nature as no other show does.

I think people who likes the show but not as much as we do has just missed something about it.
You can see it with the other thread about the question "who killed Laura Palmer". Those answering "Leland" are missing something. The can like the show but they will never go deeper...

I've seen the show 6 times. The movie about... dozains of time.
I still find things to explore. That's why I spend so much time talking, reading, watching, breathing Twin Peaks.

I add you can explore TP in different ways.
You can just try to understand all the different emotions, feelings...
You can focuse on the characters, their links and so on.
You can also try to explain all the mysteries, try to decode all the dreamy scenes...

To sum it up, I would say that if I like TP that much, it is because it is very very rich and much more deeper than just a "murder case".


Oh ! And of course, the fact that I was beaten by my mother when I was a child as nothing to do with it...
Even if TP is full of fantasy, it is so much "true" that every one should feel concerned about it.

[Fire]

I get what you mean, and I think a lot of people (some of my friends included) have seen the series, enjoyed it, and moved on with their lives. I think it takes a certain level of interest in something to dive in past the surface. Some get there and some don't- with TP and everything else in life.

I was initially nervous about making this thread because I was afraid of coming off as condescending or pompous for this very reason. I understand that "getting" TP takes a certain amount of delving, which is perfectly understandable and there is nothing wrong either enjoying the show on a surface level. What I mainly wanted to get across was that I have a terrible time explaining my love for TP without rambling. That doesn't stop me from trying though.

, but for me, seeing it in 1990-1991 is just not a feeling you can manufacture for others. Even though to see Twin Peaks is to usually love Twin Peaks, it's initial timing was as important as the content of the show itself.

Oh how I wish I could've been there....

Alas, I was only three years old!

[BOB1]

I think this is a very good question, Fire! I will try to come up with my own as I have many times before... but not on this board... first, though - wow! Few answers to that topic but it's the quality that matters!

the precursor for so many things to come in the 90's, and how those things differed from the 80's. (...) Twin Peaks created my expectations for the 90's. (...) ... as were many of the main characters. The clothes, the hair, the clicks, everything resonated on a real level while still pulling off this completely "Surreal" experience. I also remember meals associated with watching the show or even songs I'd hear while driving home (...) Seeing it in 1990-1991 is just not a feeling you can manufacture for others. Even though to see Twin Peaks is to usually love Twin Peaks, it's initial timing was as important as the content of the show itself.

What a great set of thoughts! Not everything here exactly works for me - because even though I watched it at that very same time and I, too, was in High School, the country was so different! Poland had just got out of communism and everything was very new. The people were very different as well - I remember back in 1991 the viewers of Twin Peaks would say: well, we definitely love the series but they overdid it a little by making high school kids look and act like adults. At that time high school kids just DIDN'T act like the characters in Twin Peaks did and we tended to see it as a kind of 'mistake' in portraying the society. And now? I look around and I see 15 or 16 year olds who are just like them (not sure if that was exactly the change for good but that's another matter )

And "a feeling you can't manufacture for others" - oh yes, I made a thread on the Gazette called "passing Twin Peaks to the next generation" where I described my parental experience of showing Twin Peaks to my elder daughter. It was very satisfactory, no doubt. She liked it a lot, she wants to rewatch some episodes with me and she has lately expressed an interest in going to Twin Peaks Festival one day! It's all great. But... I could show it to her but it is NOT the experience that Smiling Bag wrote about above.

Ah...

I often wish to be able to go back and simply view MYSELF viewing the show for the first time.

Oh boy...

I was 17 then. I am 39 now and I still think that no single media event has ever shaped my life the way this show did.

Oh boy...