Twin Peaks Cinema

The worst thing about TP fandom is the way hatred for certain characters or arcs ends up being taken out on the actors or directors of episodes, rather than on the writers/showrunners (Harley Peyton, for the most part) who actually created those much hated arcs. The disrespect and ignorance directed at Joan Chen is particularly disgusting. Fans treat her like some nobody who should’ve been grateful for the racist scraps of story thrown her way by Peyton (to Lynch’s own chagrin) in season two—even while the same fans mock that story itself, and almost seem to blame Chen for it. Even ignoring, as nearly all fans do, her career as the show’s most successful film actor at the time the show was cast (having appeared in the Best Picture winner of the previous year), her own later debut as a film director—1998’s Xiu Xiu the Sent Down Girl—should be more than enough to silence the anti-Chen voices. I know this podcast is mostly locked off to subscribers only, but if you could create a public episode on Xiu Xiu, I bet it would be quite popular and serve as a gateway to the rest of your show (many TP fans are into the band, not even realizing they are named after a Joan Chen-directed film). I think this film has some strong connections (both in its central character and aesthetics) with Fire Walk With Me, despite the story being set in a very different time/place. It would blow most TP fans’ minds to see what Chen was capable of here, and might lead to more nuanced responses to the Josie character and a better understanding of the (very intentional on Lynch and Frost’s part in the pilot) parallels between Josie and Laura Palmer. Aside from Lynch himself, nobody else involved in Twin Peaks has directed any films as good as Xiu Xiu.

just found this via the YouTube channel- what an amazing podcast for Twin Peaks lovers AND cinema fans. Great job!