Sunday, May 08, 2011

America Goes to Art School


David Lynch's Twin Peaks

There has been a lot of television made in the years since David Lynch's series aired—some of it okay, most of it standard fare—but I would argue nothing as creative and current as Twin Peaks was in its time.

What is most striking to me about the series now, is how it transformed the television viewer from a casual consumer of predictable narratives to one engaged by the director's craft. The attention Lynch gave to the interiors and transitions from scene to scene, made them as important as conventional character framing and narrative outline. Viewers grew to process the narrative noise and fake leads with the same intensity as the real clues to Laura Palmer's mysterious death.

David Lynch, who is also a painter, rather quickly had people looking at a television program differently than they had before. The viewer wasn't simply involved in unlocking a mystery that unfolded in the center of their TV screen, they were also scanning the entirety of the screen—foreground, middleground, and background. Viewers were seeing their televisions for what they actually are—two dimensional framing devices—each frame carrying visual information that was either useful to the narrative or not.

The game, and the fun of watching Twin Peaks, was to view it as a crime mystery while simultaneously tracking Lynch's dark humor (and obsessiveness)—from his choice of chotzkes to grand exterior shots—we were delighted with the artifice and fakery of his television.

Updated:
I failed to mention the music Lynch used throughout the series—it was always clear which mood it was designed to set—but that transparency invariably made you doubt the response.

A post-modern puzzle.

Updated again:
Oh why not?

4 comments:

Goliath said...

I never watched it Patrick. But, I am going to download it on netflix now.

Patrick said...

At that time, you were in Louisville lawyering, while us malingerers were getting together in Cinti with Mark and Julie to watch "appointment TV."

Goliath said...

Ok, so I started watching. I am NOT a Lynch fan I should say at the outset. I appreciate what he has done. Especially with Wild at Heart and later, Mulholland Drive. Although I don't like that creepy feeling I get from what he does to his characters and what he shows. I hated Blue Velvet when everyone else was raving about it. Part of this comes from, (I think) the fact that in my reality I waa dealing with a lot of very creepy things in my real life (through my cases) and simply did not enjoy them being presented as 'entertainment'.

My friend Stan and I frequently discuss Lynch. (Stan is a big fan).

I will post an example of a David Lynch story come to life.

Patrick said...

I get that Goliath. "There but for the grace..."

I think what gets me about Twin Peaks is that it was ever broadcast in the first place.


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