Eccentricity and Masculinity in Twin Peaks
1 In the first regular episode[1]Various numbering schemes have been used to refer to the 30 installments that comprise the two seasons of Twin Peaks. Hardcore fans on websites today devote forum threads to the various merits and shortcomings of the differing schemes. For the sake of this paper, I will refer to the pilot episode as the pilot, and then the first regular episode that follows as episode 1, then 2, etc. up to the finale, episode 29, as this is how it is labeled in currently available DVD editions of the series. of Twin Peaks, the camera takes us to the hotel room of FBI special Agent Dale Cooper and slowly reveals him to be hanging upside down from an exposed water pipe, practicing some sort of yoga. Cooper had been introduced as the main character of the series in the pilot episode, which first aired on ABC on April 8, 1990. In the pilot, Cooper was shown to be an offbeat, non-traditional detective with more than a few personal quirks that set him off as unusual. This first re-introduction to the series’ protagonist confirms this: Cooper is an eccentric, and as an eccentric, he turns things upside down and contemplates the world from a reverse angle.
2 And so we are immersed in the world of Twin Peaks, where an eccentric character is our guide to this strange, new place hidden in Washington State. Eccentricity is, paradoxically, at the centre of Twin Peaks, where the lines between good and evil, real and unreal, logic and intuition are confused and blurred. Eccentric characters are deployed in order to challenge conventions and to challenge those who do not consider themselves eccentric to question the lines of demarcation that separate “normal” from “odd,” acceptable from unacceptable, conformist from nonconformist. One thing the deployment of eccentricity in Twin Peaks achieves is opening up alternative spaces and this works for gender roles as well. In particular, I will argue that the valorization of eccentric characters in the series opened up space for alternative conceptions of masculinity. As many of the main male protagonists in the series exhibit eccentric behaviours, these behaviours often challenge normative masculine gender roles and allow for a freer conception of what masculinity entails.
3 For two seasons, Twin Peaks aired on ABC and, one may assume also through its creation and use of eccentric characters, developed a loyal following. The series created by film director David Lynch and TV veteran Mark Frost was initially an enormous hit, with the pilot episode reaching nearly 20 million households (Rosenbaum 26). The series continued to receive high Nielsen ratings and was nominated for eight Emmys, won three Golden Globes including best TV series and won the Television Critics Association award for program of the year. Then, according to many critics, viewers, and, ultimately, executives at ABC (see, for instance, Lavery 1-3), it became a confusing mishmash of needlessly complex plots and unconnected strangeness. As the series wore on, the viewership declined to the point where the series was finally suspended, resuscitated for a few episodes and then finally cancelled, with the last show airing on June 10, 1991.
4 But even now, almost two decades later, there are dozens of websites dedicated to the show. Many Internet forums are abuzz daily with active users who debate tirelessly the various intricacies of the plot, the strange but lovable characters, the genius of the show’s creators and all manner of esoteric details of the series. When innovative, successful television series like The X-Files or Lost appear today, critics are quick to compare them to Twin Peaks. For such a short-lived series, the show has remarkable staying power. A large part of this is due to its depiction and use of eccentric characters.
5 Eccentrics here illuminate some of the fundamental paradoxes of American culture: the tension between individuality and community and between conformity and nonconformity. Twin Peaks skillfully employed eccentrics and ideas of eccentricity to confound viewers’ expectations and force the audience to question conventions: those of genre as well as those of gender. Through the appealing qualities of eccentric characters, these challenges to conventions were humanized and viewers’ emotional attachment to them was thereby increased. Eccentric characters are lovable, confounding, interesting, confusing, enlightening and frustrating, and Twin Peaks offered a picture of them that encompassed their many traits and investigated how they operate in culture.