Debbie Zoller Interview

Emmy nominated Make-Up Artist Debbie Zoller takes a stop at the Red Room to talk with Scott about her amazing career. Twin Peaks, Star Trek, Kill Bill, Lost Highway, Mad Men and so much more. Scott could have talked to her for 3 hours, but Debbie is a busy woman. So enjoy this hour discussion about make-up, Lynch and all kinds of fun.

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153 Twin Peaks UK Festival interview with Lindsey Bowden

Scott interviews the organizer of the 2018 Twin Peaks UK Festival, Lindsey Bowden. They talk about the upcoming guest, how Season 3 has changed the festival and Lindsey’s recent trip to Snoqualmie, Washington.

The Blue Rose Magazine has cover the UK Fest in Issue 1 & Issue 4 and will cover this years in Issue 8. Be sure to subscribe.

Please head over to Lindsey’s site and order your tickets for the 2018 festival as tickets are going fast. (You can come see many of the Blue Rose staff there. We wouldn’t miss the best Twin Peaks event of the year)

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#TwinPeaks Trends – A look back at Part 8

  

   When Laura and Leland Palmer were chased down by a camper in FWWM and driven off the road to Mo’s Motors, Laura looked at her father and said, “Just, just sit here for a moment.” She was rocked and shocked to her core. That is how viewers felt when Part 8 finished its premiere showing on Showtime, June 25, 2017. Everyone needed to sit for just a moment and catch their breath. In the original run there were plenty of moments that shocked viewers, but in the ’90s there was no place to look, besides the person sitting next to you, to discuss what just happened. In 2017 there is a place we can turn to —  Twitter. Tweets are now a commodity that networks use to supplement ratings. They want trends, retweets and followers.

      For the first time in its run #TwinPeaks trended worldwide at 10:01 p.m. that night. In fact, it exploded. See the graph below, supplied by Joshua Minton from The Red Room Podcast, to see the spike. Tweets about Twin Peaks went from around 500 to 9,000 almost in a moment. The world watched, and then the world wanted to talk about it.

   This give and take between friends and strangers is the kind of interest that Showtime had to be looking for when they gave Lynch free reign. The increased traffic proved that fans were intrigued. Some blasted the episode, and some praised it. That is what fans do. But what about the critics? Here’s a handful of quotes about Part 8 from a few television critics.

“Part 8 aims for maximum weirdness and succeeds. Wherever you land on it, there’s one thing that can’t be argued: You’ve never seen this before on television.”

Liz Shannon Miller – IndieWire

“There’s nothing to point to in the history of television that helps describe exactly what this episode attempts. Considered that way — as something to see and hear, and to react to on a primal level — this hour was phenomenal.”

Noel Murray – The New York Times

“David Lynch just unleashed what’s arguably television’s WTF-weirdest and most ambitious hour ever.”

Sean T. Collins – Rolling Stone

“There should be no doubt: the eighth episode of Twin Peaks: The Return will stand as one of the defining passages in David Lynch’s long career.”

Tom Huddleston – Sight and Sound

“The eighth episode of Twin Peaks: The Return is one of the greatest hours of television I’ve ever seen: horrifying, horrifyingly beautiful, thought-provoking and thought-annihilating; a work that owes as much to expressionistic and surreal painting, musical performance, and installation art as it does to narrative and experimental cinema.”

Matt Zoller Seitz – Vulture

   All of those quotes came out within 24 hours. Podcasts, tweets and Facebook reviews happen in a moment in our social media existence. There is so much to unlock in Part 8 and even more to feel and experience. I actually made sure not to re-watch the episode for a few days just so I couldn’t make sense of what I had watched. I was off kilter for at least a day after it aired. I wasn’t sure what I had seen, but I knew it affected me. That is my favorite thing about Lynch’s work. I don’t always know what it is, but I always feel it.

    I asked David Bushman, Television Curator at The Paley Center, about Part 8 and its place in history. He said, “At a time when so much programming is innovative and daring in its own way, David Lynch and Mark Frost created a transcendent hour of television that was visually stunning and narratively ingenious. The landscape has radically changed in the twenty-seven years since Twin Peaks premiered, but the show is as subversive as ever, and people will be pointing to Part 8 for decades to come as the epitome of its incandescence.”

The Back Cover of Issue 3. Order now at bluerosemag.com

    The following day there were many posts saying that television had been changed forever. The jury is still out on that one. One has to remember that Part 8 was not created from a television writer’s room. It wasn’t a script that was approved by a network chain of command. Lynch and Frost had a special deal where they could create what they wanted and it would be aired. Only Lynch could have created that mood and feeling. He is a singular artist and always has been. This was a moment where the deal they had with Showtime collided with a great idea and a brave artist. All these factors converged to create an avant-garde hour that caught even the most devoted Lynch student by surprise. No one was expecting that the story would detour into a 40-minute, black-and-white sequence with little dialogue. All anyone could do after experiencing it was to be just like Laura. To sit there and try to catch one’s breath for just a moment. Then pick up their phone and tweet, read and retweet. Anywhere from W.T.F. to L.O.L. to B.O.B. (Beware of Bob)  #TwinPeaks.

Written by Scott Ryan for The Blue Rose Issue #3 (Kindle version only)

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Courtenay Stallings Interviews filmmaker Gabrielle Norte

Written by The Blue Rose Magazine’s Courtenay Stallings

Gabrielle Norte is an award-winning filmmaker and a member of the Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians located in Southern California. She is currently a college student majoring in Film Studies. Courtenay Stallings sat down with her to discuss Twin Peaks and Michael Horse (Hawk), who is featured in Issue #6 of the Blue Rose Magazine. A longer interview will appear in Stallings’ book Laura’s Ghost: Women Speak About Twin Peaks.

Courtenay Stallings: Can you tell me a little bit about your background as a filmmaker?

Gabrielle Norte: I developed an interest in film specifically in high school because I had grown up on the reservation. I grew up going to pow wows, and storytelling is such a huge part of my culture, both song and dance. I was always fascinated with it even though I didn’t understand parts of it. In high school, I started looking for ways to use my creative aspects because I always had an interest in the arts in general, but I was looking for a specific thing I could do while also bringing my culture into the mix. So I thought about it more my senior year in high school, and so it made sense that film and TV were something I wanted to do because I loved making videos, and I felt like it was time for Native American people to be represented in film and TV because I grew up watching all these shows and movies, and I never saw myself represented on the screen. I said, “Well, maybe it’s time that I could be the person to change that,” and so I decided to pursue a degree in film. But deciding to be a filmmaker and being a filmmaker are two different things after producing my first short film, I learned all of the time and effort and work that went into it and the journey that it’s been. Being able to get into film festivals — specifically Native American film festivals and hearing how Native people were extremely supportive in what I was doing helped a lot because it’s discouraging sometimes going to a school where there are no Native American people, especially no Native American filmmakers. They don’t really understand why what I am doing is so important to me because I am always very vocal about why it is so important. It’s been an interesting experience to see how non-Native filmmakers have reacted to what I have to say both through my film and just talking about what I’m doing.

CS: Your film “The Wounded Healer” won for best cinematography at the Reelstories Film Festival. It had a striking reoccurring image of ceiling fan in it. Was that inspired by Twin Peaks at all?

GN: I think subconsciously it was. I did catch that the second time I watched it, and my roommate pointed it out. She said, “What’s up with the ceiling fan?” [laughter] I really don’t know. There is something about ceiling fans as a motif that I had to use as a way to tell this story and incorporate the theme of it. I don’t know if I drew directly from Twin Peaks, but maybe subconsciously I did.

CS: I loved your use of the fan. It had this idea of wind and movement and technology, and I liked the way you used it in your film. Can you talk about the process of making your film “The Wounded Healer?”

GN: It was a challenge, and I learned a lot because I had never done something like that to that extent and especially not by myself. It was a learning experience. I just sat down and wrote it. I typically get an idea of one shot, and then I build upon that. The one shot that I saw was the wide shot of a car pulling up to pick up David. I thought, “I can build around this.” I have the location, and I have a general idea. It just blossomed from there. The first time I wrote the script was not that script at all; it was a completely different story. Then, I sat down and rewrote it again, and that’s when it came to be “The Wounded Healer” that was made in production. I didn’t know where to start when making it. None of it went according to plan, of course, because that’s how filmmaking works. I was learning as I did it. There were so many problems, but it was a great experience because now I continue to think about new projects and go into the summer and hopefully shoot something else. I have everything I’ve learned from that process to drive me to do better than I did the first time.

CS: Let’s get into your love of Twin Peaks. When did you first watch it?

GN: I watched Twin Peaks about two years ago for the first time. I always really wanted to watch it. I did a presentation in class, and my topic was on diversity and small-town life. I had mentioned Twin Peaks in there, but I had never seen Twin Peaks. I had always heard of it. I finally made the decision to sit down and watch it. I thought, “I get this now — the draw to it.” I really enjoy this style of storytelling. It was different than any other show I’ve ever watched in my entire life. From then on I was fully involved. I was in it. It was great to watch it and see Michael Horse, of course, because I wasn’t expecting to see a character like that in that show — especially not one that wasn’t extremely stereotypical in the circumstances of the show being very mysterious and all of that. It was a great experience.

CS: Regarding Michael Horse, what do you think stands out about his character or his performance because, like you said, if there is representation, it’s very stereotypical. Was there anything in there that was stereotypical or wasn’t or stood out to you?

GS: His character was written extremely well because Native characters are always just the historical shaman or medicine man or something like that, but his character really was just an everyday guy, but he was also this everyday guy who had this position of leadership and power. He talked like a normal person, and he had this normal life in a way, but they didn’t saturate his character with the normal Native stereotype. He wasn’t this mystic being or anything like that. At times, he talked about Native American folklore and stuff like that, but it wasn’t done in a way that was just out there. He was presented as an everyday Native American, a contemporary image of a Native person. That was really important.

CS: One of the things I love that Michael Horse talks about is how he is not the same person as “The Hawk” (he calls him “The Hawk,” which I love), but there are aspects of Hawk in him and vice versa. David Lynch tends to cast people that are somewhat like their characters. There’s a little bit of truth in the characters that come from the person cast. What about your identity — because we have so many identities as people — as a woman and as a Native American, can you talk about how your tribe and where you came from and how it affected your identity and how you bring the culture that you come from into your work?

GN: I come from a tribe called The Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla and Cupeño Indians. It’s very rural and very isolated. That whole experience was really unique because I grew up wanting to get out of that because there wasn’t a whole lot to do. But once I left the reservation, I realized just how big of an impact it had on me — going into an environment that was completely different and going into something I really didn’t have a strong background in. My family aren’t filmmakers. I don’t know anyone who is a filmmaker. I barely got a camera as soon as I got to college. So I realized how important my culture was going to be in my college journey as well as a symbol of pushing me to actually finish. I take every opportunity for everyone to understand that that was my background and how important it is in all of my decisions throughout college.

CS: Do you find that people treat you differently when they find out that you are a Native person? Do they look at you differently? Have you ever had any interactions like that?

GN: Yes, all of the time here especially. I think a lot of people think I’m joking because I’m not extremely dark skinned so that throws them off when I say that. I had an experience last week when I told someone. They didn’t believe me at all. I pulled out my tribal I.D. and showed him, and he’s like “Is this real?” A lot of people in general just don’t understand that Native American people exist and that they are just normal people but also all of the things that have happened throughout history are still on our mind, and we’re still trying to change a lot of things.

CS: What about representation on TV and film? You touched on this a little bit because there are so few Native people who are telling those stories behind the camera and in front of the camera. What have you seen in terms of representation and what do you hope to change in your own storytelling in terms of how Native people are represented?

GN: I think we are seeing a lot more Native actors get Native roles, but these movies are typically historical movies so it’s still in the realm of this is a stereotypical historical telling of our culture. You never just see a Native American going about their normal day, driving a car or going to a job. None of that exists. In film, specifically, it’s historical lately. Then you have very little, if any, on television. They are trying. Of course with Twin Peaks, that’s a great example. I just finished watching The X-Files, and Michael Horse played a role in one of the episodes in the first season. That was really important, too, because that showed a lot of great things by actually including Native actors and having it set on a reservation. It wasn’t overly “Native American.” That was one recent example I saw, and that show was in the ‘90s. It is just another prime example of the normality that should be shown of Native Americans, but representation is severely lacking and often severely incorrect. A lot of the movies that are coming out nowadays have Native actors, but it’s always a supporting role. They are never the protagonist. You never see a Native face as the face of a movie poster or Native stars carrying a movie. It’s always like they are kind of there, but they are not as important. You typically have a White protagonist who is there to play the White savior role and save the Native supporting actor. That needs to be changed to depict Native Americans in a contemporary sense because we are still stuck in a historical sense.

CS What did you like about Michael Horse’s character Hawk?

GN: I like how laid back he is. He has these really funny moments, too, where he is just a normal guy. I relate to him. He seems like the most normal one out of everyone there. The most level-headed and put-together one there, which is why I think David Lynch and Mark Frost wrote him as the main person in Season 3. He is just very relatable as a human being. You need that in Twin Peaks when everyone is out there. He grounds you, and he just has a presence that’s welcoming as well.

CS: In Season 3, Michael Horse/Hawk had a much bigger role. No one could have anticipated what we were going to see in Season 3. What were your impressions of him and the role he played in Season 3?

GN: I was extremely happy to see that he was given a lot more screen time because I think he deserved that, and again he was there to kind of ground everyone because things are all unravelling. He was a leader. That’s an extremely important role especially for Native actors. He’s almost like a symbol of resilience for Native people in being a leader in the role that he’s in. It was extremely important, and I am extremely happy that David Lynch and Mark Frost did give him that time because he did deserve more of that. And maybe they would have given him more time if the original series had carried on.

CS: Do you have a favorite character from Twin Peaks?

GS: I love Cooper, of course, because he has this charming personality, and he really just wants to do the best thing possible. You need those characters when things are just a little too heavy. He really is accepting of everyone. I think that’s very important as well.

CS: What does Twin Peaks mean to you personally?

GN: I just like David Lynch’s style in general. I’ve seen some of his movies. I like how it doesn’t have to adhere to any television model, and it very much does focus on the art aspects of storytelling. I think that’s lost a lot today because we are so worried about the industry and ratings and making sure this show sells. With Twin Peaks, we are able to watch it and enjoy the art of it and the deeper meanings and maybe not understand everything because that is not really the point. Even with art in general you don’t always get all of the meanings that the artist intended. With Twin Peaks it is exactly that. You can kind of make your own meaning and craft your own meaning. For me, it was unique, and that’s what I always look for in storytelling — something that is just different. I get tired of watching the same thing over and over and over again and Twin Peaks was not the same thing so I felt some kind of connection. I thought, “This is weird. I love it. I’m here for it. Everything about it.”

Gabrielle Norte is currently working on a short film called “People Watching” shining a light on the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Follow her on Twitter: @gabriellenorte and Instagram: @nativekidwithacamera.

 

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151 John Pirruccello Interview about HBO’s Barry

Actor John Pirruccello (Chad from Twin Peaks) joins Scott to discuss HBO’s Barry. Barry is a new half hour show from SNL’s Bill Hader. John Pirruccello plays Detective Loach. Discussion topics include working with Henry Winkler, auditions and a strange no spoiler policy. John also talks about getting to write for the Twin Peaks’ magazine, The Blue Rose for Issue #6. Enjoy this lively hour interview as Scott and John dissect the new show, Barry.

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Podcast about Mark Frost’s Final Dossier

Remember when we had to wait 20 years between Twin Peaks products? Well its been only 2 months and we another piece of Twin Peaks. Mark Frost has released his new book, The Final Dossier. Mya McBriar joins Scott and Josh as they talk about the book. The answers and the questions those answers brings up.

We also talk about Josh Minton’s recent trip to the locations where Twin Peaks was filmed and we mention Scott’s recent interview with Ray Wise (Leland Palmer) for The Blue Rose Magazine. Then it is all about the Final Dossier. Spoilers are everywhere so only listen if you have read.

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2 Podcasts about Twin Peaks Part 18

We do things a bit differently on this Red Room. After weeks of listening to us argue and debate deep theory, we take a break to have a roundtable talk with 10 Twin Peaks fans. We throw out questions and go around and let some hard core life long fans have their say. We talk about most satisfying moments, best Black Lodge moments and our first thoughts on Parts 17-18. Look below for Episode 140 which also covers Twin Peaks

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But wait…There is more.

We have another podcast, Episode 140 where Scott talks to Comic book artist/writer Jeff Lemire about Parts 17 & 18

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We’ve Been Given A Green Butt Skunk

Some people give flowers, some a Starbucks gift card, some an edible fruit arrangement. All are pretty good gifts from a co-worker. But, when Harry S. Truman was tasked with getting a going away present for a two-and-half-week visitor to his town, he settled on something a little bit different. Harry gave Special Agent Dale Cooper a “Green Butt Skunk” fishing lure. He explained that when those fish are heading up stream they are thinking of only one thing: SEX. Nothing can break their concentration more than a Green Butt Skunk. This summer I feel like Mark Frost & David Lynch gave me a Green Butt Skunk, and I couldn’t be more thankful.

If there is one rule in 2017, it is to not get political with strangers. At any moment things can get ugly. You live in your bubble and I live in mine. Its the law. We try really hard not to burst any bubbles around here. I will not take a stand on politics, but I will say, no matter which side of the stream you were swimming on in May 2017, there was probably only one thing on your mind: The state of our country. Things were bad in May, they are worse in August. Again, no matter what side you are on, chances are, you think the other side is really, really wrong. What could possibly turn our segregated heads? A Green Butt Skunk.

Frost & Lynch dropped that lure into the waters of television and the school of television fans, starving for something new, changed direction and all swam together. Yes, even me, who had theories that contradicted with EVERYONE ELSE. (I still wanna believe that Richard Horne is from Johnny, but I doubt even the Red Room small gold ball can make that happen.) The distraction I was given this summer has been so much fun. So rewarding.

Every Sunday night, I was taken away to another world…and sometimes multiple worlds. Afterwards my Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feed was filled with theories, pictures, quotes and Memes. It was nice to see us all wondering where the music was. Wondering where Big Ed was. Heck, just plain getting to wonder was a gift. Not knowing is fun, isn’t it? What’s the fun in knowing? You want to KNOW something, turn on the news. Was that fun?

That has always been my favorite part of Twin Peaks. As I write this, we are days away from the ending of Twin Peaks: The Return (TPR). I don’t know if we will get answers, but I am kind of hoping we don’t. Just dangle another lure in front of me and make me swim in another direction.

On September 4th, we will go back to a life without a sprawling mystery to wonder about. I will deeply miss my Sunday routine. I will miss my Monday morning, afternoon and evening calls with my Twin Peaks friends in different time zones. Arguing about gold orbs, if the Nine Inch Nails song was too long, or discussing a fake website that you could actually go to. How about the people that typed in the coordinates to find where Mr. C was going to? I love those people. It was all just so much fun. It was a television experience that will never be repeated because it can’t. No other show will wait 25 years to answer a question like Who’s Judy.  I think its The America girl, or the girl in 1945, or Diane or I think its Laura…no Sarah. (See what I mean. It is fun not knowing.)

So we will all go back to our lives, and will, of course, still talk about Twin Peaks. John Thorne, Courtenay Stallings, the Blue Rose Magazine staff and I are just getting started with our analysis of this 18 part fishing lure. There is line from the new series that took place in a scene that I will eventually dissect in an upcoming essay. It was from my favorite new characters in TPR, The Mitchum Brothers.

People are under a lot of stress. TPR relieved it for a moment, changed the story in my mind and gave me the most fun experience I ever had watching a piece of art on television. Will there be things to pick apart and argue about? Of course, it wouldn’t be Twin Peaks if there wasn’t. Some of it is supposed to please us, some of it is suppose to enrage us and some of it is just to distract us from our lives.

So to Mark Frost, David Lynch and Sabrina Sutherland I say, “Thank you so much for my gift. It worked. You caught me. Hook. Line and Green Butt Skunk Sinker.”

Scott Ryan is the managing Editor of the Twin Peaks Magazine, The Blue Rose. Order the Dougie Special to get all 4 issues. Follow on Twitter.


Tribute to FWWM25

I wrote this for the 20th anniversary of Fire Walk With Me. I was going to update it, but decided it is more fun to see how much Twin Peaks has changed in only 5 years.  I have added new commentary in parenthesis. One thing that has not changed in 25 years, FWWM is my all time favorite Lynch movie and one of my top 5 films of all time. It is beautiful, moving and has the single best acting performance ever captured on film. Let’s find out if I said the same thing 5 years ago…

For this essay, I thought I would focus on FWWM’s legacy in the world of David Lynch.  This movie has been reviewed many times and 20 years later we are still trying to figure it out.  How cool is that? All of his movies are a bit of a head scratcher, but this one should be a breeze.  It is set BEFORE the series ever begins, so we already know the plot as back story.  Also, it is based on a character that an entire book was written about, The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer.  Still it was a shock and surprise to critics and Lynch fans back in 1992.  This year being the 20th year, there have been all kinds of revivals on the subject of Lynch films and characters.  I believe FWWM is the best David Lynch movie ever made.  It is his masterpiece.  It has everything a Lynch film needs.

1. Horror – BOB behind her dresser drawer is the scariest thing ever. (My sister called me after seeing this scene literally screaming and crying.)

2. Creepy characters – The old woman at Fat Trout Trailer Park makes her presence felt in less than 30 seconds of film.

3. Dreams – Laura’s dream where she ends up in the picture hanging on her wall haunts me to this day. (OK, how freaking cool is it that now we know she is actually inside the Convenience Store? I often thought it was the gateway to the Red Room, never considered she was above the Store. I don’t ever remember anyone else saying that either- SR 2017)

4. Split story structures – Lynch loves to drop us into a linear story and then rip us out with his bare hands.  The scene with David Bowie cuts together years of a story in a few moments.

5. Love – (Yes, all of his movies are about love.) When BOB leaves Leland for that brief moment before bed and he visits his daughter’s room to tell her that he loves her is a moment of the purist love of all.

If it is quintessential Lynch, then why is it not beloved like Blue Velvet or lauded with awards like Mulholland Drive?  Simple, movie watchers are dumb.  OK, maybe that is a little harsh. How about I say uneducated? (Again, look how things have changed. No critics or Twin Peaks fans say they don’t like FWWM. In just 5 years time that has totally been washed away. SR 2017)

The trick to FWWM is being very knowledgeable about Twin Peaks.  That is asking a lot of someone who just popped in a DVD to watch after the kids went to bed. (DVD? Streaming is the future, Scott – SR 2017) Critics who say Lynch just throws things up on the screen that make no sense have not paid close enough attention.  In a very early scene of the movie, FBI director Gordon Cole shows Agent Chet Desmond a dancing girl named Lil.

She dances in place with one hand in her pocket and shows her tailored dress off while wearing a blue rose. Chet looks at it and moves on. In the following scene his partner, Sam, asks him about the dancing girl. Chet goes on to explain each detail of the girl and how that pertains to the case. To me (and I admit, I didn’t get this the first time I watched the movie) this was Lynch telling us: Everything I show you matters and has a meaning. The dancing was referring to leg work.  The tailored dress referred to drugs.  The Blue Rose?  He can’t tell us about that.  (I can, in 2017 we know what the Blue Rose is. It is a magazine that…oh, it also is a Task force that Gordon was on the first case of. See, we know so much more in 5 years. SR 2017) Leaving the viewer intrigued.  The jaded viewer may say, that is dumb, why have that dancing girl? It is weird just to be weird, even if they explain it. Except, we know that Gordon Cole has a hearing problem and talks loud.  It makes sense for him to give his direction with code. Everything in a Lynch movie means something.

On a personal level, I have to admit an oddity.  I watched this movie every year on my birthday.  Creepy I know, but why?  The reason plain and simple is Sheryl Lee’s performance.

The story of Laura Palmer is really fascinating.  If Laura doesn’t die none of us meet her.  She had to die to bring Twin Peaks to life.  She had to die to escape a horrible existence.  The reason you watch most movies is to see the end, but this movie you know the end before you hit play.  She dies.  Come to think of it, why isn’t this movie the number one grossing movie of all time instead of Titanic?  Everyone knew the boat sank, everyone knew Laura Palmer dies.  It is inevitable.  It takes the idea of fatalism and the meaningless of life to levels that Kierkegaard never dreamed of.  I see all of that in Sheryl Lee’s performance.  I believe that her performance in this movie is the best female acting job ever put on film. (I had a feeling I thought this 5 years ago. SR 2017) Her huge cry when she goes to Donna’s house asking if Donna is her best friend.  Her amazing smile of innocence when she simmers an angry Bobby outside of the school.  Her abusive and scary behavior as she threatens Harold Smith.  Her losing all control as her father and the One Armed Man argue in the car.  Her seductive actions at the Roadhouse where she can even make the name BUCK seem sexy.  I can not think of another role for a woman that covered so many levels. And if you know Sheryl please tell her the Red Room is awaiting an interview about this acting job. (OK, this is just mean. 5 years later and still nothing. I feel like I am in a play called Waiting for Ga’Lee. SR 2017)

So why are we still obsessed with this movie 20 years later? (25 now) Simple.  It is art.  20 years means nothing to Sunday on the Island of La Grande Jatte.  20 years isn’t a drop in the bucket to Bach’s “Wachet Auf.”  I believe that FWWM is a moving painting.  It is a piece of art that needs to be looked at, studied, and is meant to horrify us.  It is a reflection of a society that hides its darkness under small town goodness.  I know that this movie still causes rifts in the Twin Peaks fan base; although over the last couple years it is not as controversial as before, but I will make a bold statement.  If you don’t love FWWM then you are not a Twin Peaks fan. (Wait till I find out that when Twin Peaks: The Return happens, it will actually all happen again. SR 2017) What you are is a television fan, and that is OK.  But when you truly have Twin Peaks in your blood, as in owls, scorched engine oil and Douglas Firs in your veins, then FWWM is just the cure you need to help wash away the dreck of movies that will be released this year. (And it gets so much worse once Hollywood only makes Comic book movies. SR 2017) Movies you will see, forget and never ask the question: why the hell did that monkey just say Judy?  I thought we weren’t gonna talk about Judy.

I have to admit, 5 years later, I stand behind that essay. There are only 3 hours left of TPR and I would still say FWWM is my favorite section of Twin Peaks. When TPR references FWWM I think the show comes alive. Probably by the time most of you read this, we knew who Judy was. I kind of like that 5 years ago, I didn’t even think there was a chance I would ever find out. Happy Birthday, FWWM. You don’t look a day over 20.

Scott Ryan is the managing Editor of the Twin Peaks Magazine, The Blue Rose. Order the Dougie Special to get all 4 issues. All Day August 28th The Blue Rose Facebook Page will post a picture an hour to celebrate #FWWM25