This article has some SPOILERS from Twin Peaks, Twin Peaks: The Return, and other David Lynch films including Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and Inland Empire. Do not read unless you've seen the films and show. If you've seen them all, then keep on scrolling. :)
A great friend of mine, Mandela Man of the Damn Good Coffeetime show, revealed to me a very interesting concept. I don't know if anyone has even thought of it. Maybe there are a few and my eyes haven't seen their theories yet. Either way, it's something of a huge theory that I'm not sure everyone can agree on. As for Mandela Man, he's been through the wormhole of the Lynchian mystique and is beyond knowledgable to the extent of the mystery here to be solved.
'Gnosticism (from Ancient Greek: γνωστικός, romanized: gnōstikós, Koine Greek: [ɣnostiˈkos], 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems that coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized personal spiritual knowledge (gnosis) above the proto-orthodox teachings, traditions, and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic cosmogony generally presents a distinction between a supreme, hidden God and a malevolent lesser divinity (sometimes associated with the biblical deity Yahweh) who is responsible for creating the material universe. Consequently, Gnostics considered material existence flawed or evil and held the principal element of salvation to be direct knowledge of the hidden divinity, attained via mystical or esoteric insight. Many Gnostic texts deal not with concepts of sin and repentance but with illusion and enlightenment.' (according to Wikipedia)
JUDY, BOB, MIKE, the Little Man, the Cowboy, the Mystery Man, the Phantom, and the Twinkies. All these 'entities' have something in common. #1 They each seem to have a purpose, and #2 They are both of unknown origins and powerful in their ways. First off, let's start off with the most mysterious of all of them. The Mystery Man.
The Mystery Man:
Known very well for his haunting appearance in the 1997 film, Lost Highway, the Mystery Man is the strangest of all the Lynchian entities. When you see him, he sticks out in the crowd like a sore thumb, with his short stature, pale skin, slightly yellowed teeth, dark attire, and very direct eyes. When he approaches you, you feel a sense of uneasiness and curiosity toward his presence...
Is he good? Is he evil? Or is he just flat-out weird?
You never know... And nor will he ever reveal his stance on the spectrum.
From what we witnessed in Lost Highway, it is not his custom to come when he's not summoned. Like the Devil, he seems as if he'd grant any wish to come true. But unlike the Devil, he can't come to you willingly on his own. You have to summon him, which, to me, sounds like he's some spirit or god. This leads to the theory of Gnosticism. I believe the Mystery Man is indeed a Demiurge.
'The term demiurge derives from the Latinized form of the Greek term dēmiourgos, δημιουργός, literally "public or skilled worker". This figure is also called "Yaldabaoth", Samael (Aramaic: sæmʻa-ʼel, "blind god"), or "Saklas" (Syriac: sækla, "the foolish one"), who is sometimes ignorant of the superior god, and sometimes opposed to it; thus in the latter case he is correspondingly malevolent. Other names or identifications are Ahriman, El, Satan, and Yahweh.
'The Demiurge creates the physical universe and the physical aspect of humanity. The demiurge typically creates a group of co-actors named archons who preside over the material realm and, in some cases, present obstacles to the soul seeking ascent from it. The inferiority of the demiurge's creation may be compared to the technical inferiority of a work of art, painting, sculpture, etc. to the thing the art represents. In other cases, it takes on a more ascetic tendency to view material existence negatively, which then becomes more extreme when materiality, including the human body, is perceived as evil and constrictive, a deliberate prison for its inhabitants.' (according to Wikipedia)
From this, the Mystery Man does seem, at the same time malevolent, and yet somewhat comforting in a strange sense. Perhaps that is what most would feel upon the approach of Satan himself. The Mystery Man also wears black as Satan would, a could also be referred to as the Grim Reaper. But as a Demiurge, I believe his purpose is strictly to come to us for his own use in the process. I also believe he created Judy (who gave birth to BOB, who gave birth to MIKE, who gave birth to the Arm), the Cowboy, the Phantom, and the Twinkies as Archons, as their purpose seems to always revolve around taking on human forms and/or souls, feeding off of fear (garmonbozia) or killing them through insanity. Why he made these entities, we don't know, but it's kind of similar to that of the Ancient Greek Gods, who have their own assembly of gods, and every other culture prior to or after them.
The Cowboy:
Most definitely an Archon created by the Mystery Man. From what we witnessed in Mulholland Drive, he's a Messenger and a Wise Man. He's similar to that of Hermes, the Messenger God, and Athena, the Goddess of Wisdom, of Ancient Greek mythology.
From what we see of Adam Kesher (played by Justin Theroux), he's given a message by the Cowboy to 'pick the right girl' for the film Adam is to direct. He also gives him wisdom about changing his life. And finally, he gives Adam a threat that he'll come back to him one time if Adam does good, and twice if Adam does badly. Seems like a godly thing to say, and Adam seems forced to do what he's told or else.
There is more to this, but we have to wait til we talk about the Little Man, which I'll save for last in the article. Don't skip, because there is much more to explain.
The Phantom:
The most questioning entity of them all. Appeared in Inland Empire, he takes the form of a Serbian or Russian man and has some connection with the film industry. He's somewhat also connected to Mulholland Drive, due to the system of film-making and his entry into the story of Nikki Grace (played by Laura Dern) in Inland Empire.
His purpose is unknown... though I have some theory he's a malevolent spirit haunting and killing those who want to make it big in the industry. Even cursed a set that's trying to make a movie that he created for that purpose. Such an extraordinary measure to torment the industry... possibly revenge for the death of someone he loved.
But why the film industry?
I have a theory on that one, but that too has to wait til later. Unfortunately for this one, he doesn't seem to be an Archon, for he does not have any power to take over one's life or body, or even say a single word.
The Twinkies:
Archons of a sort, but their purpose seems to be like that of the Harpies in Ancient Greek mythology. They cause misery to the extent of suicide and could possibly be the ones giving the Black Lodge more souls for whatever purpose unknown. As we saw in the final scenes of Mulholland Drive, Betty (played by Naomi Watts) is chased in hysteria by these two entities that take on the grandparent-like form. This leads her to suicide by taking a gun and shooting herself in the head. These Twinkies could yet again be connected to the Little Man, aka the Arm. And the Blue Box could be their way of luring souls to their desires and leading them to their doom.
Judy:
The Queen of Evil as most Twin Peaks fans consider her. As we saw in Episode 8 of Twin Peaks: The Return, we saw she originated after the explosion of an atomic bomb. And from this explosion, she gave birth to BOB with her vomit. These three events began the rise of havoc for the F.B.I., due to their discovery. Enough that they created the Blue Rose sector to watch over these entities that would plague the world and eventually cause panic.
Judy is a confusing being. We don't know much about her, but what we do know is she's very skillful with mutilation. I would consider her a Demiurge like the Mystery Man. Could be either his version of Lilith to Satan, and he's trying to get her back or to mate with her or win her love. As we saw in Lost Highway, he had Fred Madison take on the form of Pete Dayton to score the affection for the blonde doppelganger of Fred's murdered wife. He does what he can to get her out of the hands of Mr. Eddy, and murders Andy on the way as they attempt to steal his money to run away. Upon reaching a cabin out of nowhere, they have sex, but in the end, she tells him she'd never love him and walks into the cabin. He then becomes Fred Madison again, and he too walks into the cabin, only to find the Mystery Man there with his film camera. It would seem the Mystery Man was highly upset with his failure and put his anger toward Fred by chasing him with his film camera that possessed his greatest fear: events as they had happened rather than as he chose to remember them.
This is a controversial theory, I would believe, but it does somewhat make sense as to why he used Fred Madison and for what pursuit he intended.
Judy is also wanted by Mr. C, aka Agent Cooper's doppelganger in The Return. Why? Some say it's to mate with her or it's to kill her for dominance of evil. But I think it is the competition between the Mystery Man and BOB to find her and impregnate her to create possibly the Anti-Christ. Judy and BOB would be the Oedipus Complex situation. A son probably wants to be the King of Evil alongside his mother and have a child way more powerful than all entities, including the Mystery Man.
I don't know if Judy could be a Demiurge of her own... a Sleeping Beauty of evil upon the kiss of the atomic bomb. But her existence is a greater threat than that of BOB with his hunger for committing chaos and pain.
Whatever her purpose and for what reason other entities pursue her, Judy is something we can all agree is the Queen of Evil. And from her, we gained three more evil entities (one that soon turned to God), to cause havoc on her behalf as she hides herself from the eyes of the Federal Bureau.
I also have this theory that Judy did possess Laura's mother, Sarah, and she and BOB (who is in Leland Palmer's body) gave birth to the Anti-Christ, Laura Palmer. Sensing Laura's supreme powers, BOB wanted them for himself to destroy Judy for evil greatness, but failed in the process of doing so, thanks to MIKE with the green ring.
BOB
He is an Archon born from Judy's vomit during her emergence into this world. His main purpose is to give human pain and fear as a way of feeding the entities of the Black Lodge with garmonbozia, and also for his pleasure of causing havoc and suffering. He craves raping and killing innocents. Even leading them to tragic outcomes as he had done with Leland and Laura Palmer. He takes on Cooper's doppelganger and leaves the Black Lodge, his new body suit in the form of Mr. C to pursue Judy. Was he to do the same if he had successfully possessed Laura Palmer? That question is concerning, especially as to why he wanted Laura Palmer specifically. Perhaps to take on the female body to compete for power with Judy?
And his business as a drug manufacturer and seller in The Return raises another strange theory. The drug he produced and sold made users get into a zombie-like state almost seems like he was making an army of his disposal... or killing the human race. Either way, it seems like a gesture of secret world domination.
MIKE:
He is oddly the son/friend of BOB. Since it is commonly known that BOB was lonely and wanted a companion with the same appetite for destruction and havoc as he did, he created MIKE. For years they were together, until one day MIKE saw the face of God and tore off the arm he had the Fire Walk With Me tattoo on. He is an Archon who helps Cooper (along with the Giant) to solve who murdered Laura Palmer. He is relied upon to know what BOB would do since he came from him and had their years of chaos together. Without MIKE, BOB would probably never have been known to Cooper and the rest of the Sheriff's Department. His connection to BOB could also help with why Mr. C was pursuing Judy, but unfortunately, he never spoke about it nor was asked the question. All he did was give Cooper the green ring to dispose of Mr. C, so Cooper's doppelganger could return to its rightful place in the Black Lodge.
The Giant:
The Giant has been thought of as God many times. Giving Cooper the clues needed to solve Laura Palmer's murder like God did with Moses with the Ten Commandments and leading him and the Israelites to the Holy Land. This would classify the Giant as a Demiurge, but I'm not very positive of such a thought. He could be like MIKE, just an Archon helping Cooper to stop BOB and Judy. But he is part of the White Lodge as he is with the Black Lodge, which would make him seem like God in his own right, especially as we saw him wearing a tux in The Return. Or perhaps the caretaker of the two Lodges.
Another theory I have is what if the Giant and Dido rival that of BOB and Judy? A civil war between the White Lodge and the Black Lodge.
Love vs. Fear.
Good vs. Evil.
And what if the Giant and Dido are the rightful parents of Laura Palmer, tricking Judy and BOB into having her as their own? Then, somehow, BOB would've known she was a child of the White Lodge and would've wanted to take over her body to be part of that union. Maybe even corrupt the White Lodge.
The Little Man:
The Little Man, also known as The Arm, is highly involved in Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive, and even possibly Inland Empire. He was born from the evil arm of MIKE and wants to stop BOB from pursuing Judy and superiority in the Black Lodge. Though I do believe the Little Man and other entities of the Black Lodge relied heavily on BOB for the harvesting of garmonbozia, I don't believe he was of anything else to do with BOB other than to stop him, despite the Meeting (witnessed by Phillip Jeffries).
To stop BOB from succeeding in his plans, the Little Man seemingly relies on Agent Cooper, MIKE, and the Giant. His place in Mulholland Drive in the film industry could be a possible outlet from the Black Lodge, controlling what goes with everyone involved, including using the Cowboy as his Messenger in Mulholland Drive.
He could possibly have a rivalry with the Phantom, who cursed a set on a certain film that keeps trying to be made and failing due to the death of the main leads. As to why this film was so special to the Little Man, we don't know, but it certainly has something to do with the Black Lodge. As to why the rivalry... could be that the Phantom used to be human, was in love, lost his lover to her demise for fame or for starring in that film, and committed suicide to curse and seek revenge. Whatever their connection may be, it is not for certain. But the Phantom could possibly be the malevolent spirit fighting for love.
Whether these theories are agreeable to you or not, or just utterly absurd...
LOL!!
It was worth pitching these theories. Especially with the Demiurges and Archons aspect on behalf of a dear friend of mine (though he only mentioned that concept to me, not the other resulting theories).
Thank you for checking out this article. If any questions, disagreements, other theories, or a desire to debate anything discussed within this article, feel free to pop them in the comments.
See you in the trees.
No comments:
Post a Comment