30th Anniversary of Twin Peaks
Where to begin… well, let me take you back to my childhood. To be precise – back to when I was 7 years old. We lived in a tiny apartment, my mother, 3 older siblings and I. If you have read my previous Blogs, you have read about a tiny orange mid 70s TV set that lived in my room through my childhood years. That TV set was as much my babysitter as it was my closest friend, I know – tragic for a 7 year old but I was a very sickly child so going out into greenery and play with my sibling was simply not in my cards.
„Absurdity is what I like most in life.“
— David Lynch
It was one late night, I was supposed to be sound asleep, when I heard my mother and oldest sister turning on the TV in the living room. I sneaked out of my room to see what they were watching. Little did I know, it was the beginning of one of TVs most intriguing and strange shows ever to grace the television landscape.
A Lynch kinda escapism
I had no idea who created the show, nor did I much care what that meant at that age… I just watched and watch I did. During my childhoood, I have seen some of the greatest films on this tiny orange tv set. So many films and I didn‘t even know about their greatness, I just loved the escapism it gave me. I must say, Twin Peaks was amongst a handful that burned themselves into my mind forever. I reckon have been a Lynch fan ever since.
Meeting Laura
For the first two episodes, my sneaking went unnoticed but on the third, my mother caught onto me. She told me it was extremely late, that I must be sleeping and that this show is nothing for little girls… little did she know, that by then I was already hooked.
„It makes me uncomfortable to talk about meanings and things. It’s better not to know so much about what things mean. Because the meaning, it’s a very personal thing, and the meaning for me is different than the meaning for somebody else.“
— David Lynch
So, whilst my Mother and my eldest sister were watching the show, I waited till everyone was sound asleep and watched the REALLY late night re-run of it on my tiny orange B/W tv set. Did I mention, I wasn‘t getting much sleep as a kid… I was in a lot of pain and pain keeps you awake, so one day it turns into normality, the little sleep the high pain tolerance. So watching Twin Peaks on a mid-70s tiny B/W orange tv set… something tells me Mr. Lynch would appreciate it.
Why now?
So, during this Lockdown and Quarantine… I not only watched a lot of new things but I revisited some old ones too. Yesterday, don‘t ask me why – I felt the need to re-watch Twin Peaks for the first time in my life since I was this 7-year-old sickly girl. I haven‘t watched the 2014 revisitation either even though, I had planned on it 6 years ago. Something had somehow propelled me away…
I hadn‘t known but I started rewatching Twin Peaks the very day of its 30th Anniversary. What an odd coincidence truly, one Lynch I reckon would find oddly amusing I‘m sure. It is strange, how clearly, I remember the episodes – only this time, I saw them in colour and in its original language. As you ready this, I‘m still watching but I just had to write about it. It‘s quarter past 2 am on a Sunday in case you fancy knowing when exactly I wrote this post.
I‘m not sure, if I can tell you anything about the show, spoiler it for you given it‘s such a well know, cult show. Honestly, no description could do it justice so all I can say to you is this – watch it, you will not regret it, I promise! In case you already know it, give it a re-watch, it‘s worth every second of it.
One little note though. Spare yourself the film – don‘t take away from the show by watching the film first. It sounds stupid, I know the film was a prequel but to fully immerse yourself into the show it simply must not be watched (at best at all).
30 Years later
Twin Peaks does not disappoint. It is a standout one of a kind construct of one of our greatest directorial minds. These days, we see a vast variety of seemingly strange and different tv shows but they only exist because of what Twin Peaks did to the tv landscape 30 years ago.
In case you wanted me to give you an answer as to who killed Laura Palmer, it isn‘t up to me to give but like David Lynch said once „In a Town like Twin Peaks no one is innocent.“
In case you would like a few more things to watch – Oscar Edit
Sidenote: As a long-standing Gilmore Girls Fan, the nods to Twin Peaks they put into the show, didn‘t get lost on me. Yes, both shows can‘t possibly be further off from the other but still. I know the Paladino’s paid tribute to certain shows, films etc. several times. Still, after revisiting Twin Peaks again, certain things just stood out.
