This article has SPOILERS. If you haven't seen the films Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Boxing Helena, do not read this article. If you have, then keep on scrolling. :)
Without a doubt, Boxing Helena is overshadowed by the fame of Twin Peaks. But... that doesn't stop it from having some connection to the iconic television series. The film was written and directed by Jennifer Lynch, the eldest daughter and child of David Lynch. It stars Sherilyn Fenn as the main female character, Helena, who becomes a victim to an obsessive doctor who only wants her and no other woman. A very dark, erotic, and compelling film that sparks some influence from David Lynch himself.
This story has similar aspects of BOB's infatuation with Laura Palmer, except that BOB has no interest in loving Laura whatsoever. But his infatuation with her might be sparked by her inner power and voice. Something that attracts him deeply. So deep that he wants it for himself. He sexually assaults her right after she becomes a ripe young woman. After she turns 18, he traps her and Ronette Polanski in an abandoned freight train car to sexually assault and even take over Laura's body. This ending of course is much darker than that of Boxing Helena, but the desperate craving and urges of BOB and Dr. Nick Cavanaugh for their female infatuations are quite similar.
In terms of Boxing Helena, Dr. Nick Cavanaugh is infatuated by Helena's great beauty as if she were Helen of Troy, but fails to win any of her interests. He finally snaps and forces her to live with him by amputating first her legs, and then later her arms. And as this goes on, they soon begin a close bond. Helena reveals the Cavanaugh's true self. That he doesn't really love her as he thinks. That his infatuation is no more than a hindrance to what it means to love and sweep a woman off her feet. She even teaches him confidence and improves his sexual attraction and self. In the end, it's all a dream in the doctor's mind. Helena, in a slight coma from the incident earlier in the film, might or might not have that same dream connection with the doctor, but that will be a mystery of its own.
Dr. Nick Cavanaugh could also be another version of Dr. Jacoby. The infatuation is seemingly obvious when Dr. Jacoby did have a professional (and possibly sexual) connection with Laura Palmer before her death. Studying her extensively and indulging in her dreams. This may be more right on the nose than BOB, though BOB has a more powerful desperation and desire for Laura. Dr. Cavanaugh also has a similar air of awkwardness and shyness as another one of Laura's flames, Harold Smith, the introvert and homebody who wrote her diary entries and plants perfect orchids.
Boxing Helena ends somewhat on a positive note, while Twin Peaks is obviously much darker. Could David Lynch and his daughter be like the Yin and Yang of these two different films? Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me was released in 1992 while Boxing Helena was released in 1993, a year after. Since Jennifer Lynch wrote The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer in 1990, I wonder if that sparked some influence in writing Boxing Helena. And since Sherilyn Fenn starred as Audrey Horne in Twin Peaks, Jennifer might've thought of Helena as a possible replica of Audrey herself, leading her to cast Sherilyn perfectly for the role. And we also can't deny this one fact - the Dream World is a component of both the Twin Peaks/Lynchian Universe and Boxing Helena. Furthers the question: Who is the Dreamer?
Thank you for reading this article. Feel free to share your thoughts, theories, and debates in the comment section below. If interested, there is Twin Peaks... From Another Place group on Facebook and Discord to join. Also, feel free to check out my Twin Peaks: Chasing A Blue Rose fanfic series prequel, Twin Peaks: The Birdwatcher, published here and on Archives Of Our Own. Thanks again!!
See you in the trees.
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