Twin Peaks and King's "The Stand"
Bryan Trussler
Has anyone ever done a comparison of Twin Peaks with Stephen King's
The Stand??
Just got to thinking about it yesterday. I've not read the book (not
even 1% of its thousands of pages) but I watched the miniseries
faithfully. The demon character in The Stand dressed a lot like BOB in
TP -- jeans and jean jacket. Always looking shabby. In The Stand, the
demon's alter ego and familiar is a raven. In TP, BOB's familiar is an
Owl.
So here's the question: how much of this similarity is in The Stand in
the book? Was the filming of The Stand influenced by Twin Peaks? Or
was Twin Peaks influenced by the novel version of The Stand?
Infobahn Consulting
E-mail: ad...@i-bahn.com
Web: http://www.i-bahn.com/web/
Joshua Kamm
> Has anyone ever done a comparison of Twin Peaks with Stephen King's
> The Stand??
>
> Just got to thinking about it yesterday. I've not read the book (not
> even 1% of its thousands of pages) but I watched the miniseries
> faithfully. The demon character in The Stand dressed a lot like BOB in
> TP -- jeans and jean jacket. Always looking shabby. In The Stand, the
> demon's alter ego and familiar is a raven. In TP, BOB's familiar is an
> Owl.
>
> So here's the question: how much of this similarity is in The Stand in
> the book? Was the filming of The Stand influenced by Twin Peaks? Or
> was Twin Peaks influenced by the novel version of The Stand?
>
I think that both Lynch and King are taken by the American dream, albeit
in different manifestations, perhaps results of the fact that they live on
different ends of the same country. King loves rock and roll, fully
American characters, and American idealism. Lynch loves cherry pie, fully
American characters, and American idealism. King's bad guy is a laconic
character that wears denim and uses a bird as an alternate form. Lynch's
bad guy is a laconic character that wears denim and use uses a bird as an
alternate form. King often deals with characters who do not normally
interact, and brings them together, usually through some difficult
situation. Lynch often deals with characters who normally interact, and
rips them apart, throwing a wedge of secrets and lies in between them.
Hmm...you may be on to something.
__
A work of art is the trace of a magnificent struggle.
--Robert Henri
Joshua "pri...@primenet.com" Kamm
Inferno
> In article <33213133...@news.mgl.ca>, br...@i-bahn.com wrote:
>
> Has anyone ever done a comparison of Twin Peaks with Stephen King's
> The Stand??
>
> Just got to thinking about it yesterday. I've not read the book (not
> even 1% of its thousands of pages) but I watched the miniseries
> faithfully. The demon character in The Stand dressed a lot like BOB in
> TP -- jeans and jean jacket. Always looking shabby. In The Stand, the
> demon's alter ego and familiar is a raven. In TP, BOB's familiar is an
> Owl.
>
> So here's the question: how much of this similarity is in The Stand in
> the book? Was the filming of The Stand influenced by Twin Peaks? Or
> was Twin Peaks influenced by the novel version of The Stand?
That's where the similarities stop. Randall Flagg was the Devil.
There's no way around that. BOB is an evil spirit working for "the good"
of the Black Lodge. I've watched The Stand 3 times and have enjoyed it,
however, I don't see how you can compare the 2 beyond the BOB/Flagg
connection.
The Stand's opposing forces were Flagg (the Devil) vs. Mother Abigail
(a servant of God). Twin Peaks' opposing forces were BOB/WE vs.
Cooper/Briggs/Margaret.
I can see what you're trying to get at, but I just don't see the
connection.
Tydirium Multimedia
Having read both versions of the book, I can say that while the
comparions you have made are certainly valid, the similarities stop
there... unless you want to point out the most basic possible fact, which
is that they both depict the conflict of good vs evil, light vs dark, but
that describes 99% of all literature and film! :-)
In article <33213133...@news.mgl.ca>, br...@i-bahn.com wrote:
> Has anyone ever done a comparison of Twin Peaks with Stephen King's
> The Stand??
>
> Just got to thinking about it yesterday. I've not read the book (not
> even 1% of its thousands of pages) but I watched the miniseries
> faithfully. The demon character in The Stand dressed a lot like BOB in
> TP -- jeans and jean jacket. Always looking shabby. In The Stand, the
> demon's alter ego and familiar is a raven. In TP, BOB's familiar is an
> Owl.
>
> So here's the question: how much of this similarity is in The Stand in
> the book? Was the filming of The Stand influenced by Twin Peaks? Or
> was Twin Peaks influenced by the novel version of The Stand?
>
>
>
>
> Infobahn Consulting
> E-mail: ad...@i-bahn.com
> Web: http://www.i-bahn.com/web/
--
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http://www.suba.com/~tydirium/
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1 block west of Damen on Belmont /// 11-6 daily
Bryan Trussler
>> In article <33213133...@news.mgl.ca>, br...@i-bahn.com wrote:
>>
>> Has anyone ever done a comparison of Twin Peaks with Stephen King's
>> The Stand??
>>
>> Just got to thinking about it yesterday. I've not read the book (not
>> even 1% of its thousands of pages) but I watched the miniseries
>> faithfully. The demon character in The Stand dressed a lot like BOB in
>> TP -- jeans and jean jacket. Always looking shabby. In The Stand, the
>> demon's alter ego and familiar is a raven. In TP, BOB's familiar is an
>> Owl.
>>
>> So here's the question: how much of this similarity is in The Stand in
>> the book? Was the filming of The Stand influenced by Twin Peaks? Or
>> was Twin Peaks influenced by the novel version of The Stand?
Inferno wrote:
> That's where the similarities stop. Randall Flagg was the Devil.
>There's no way around that. BOB is an evil spirit working for "the good"
>of the Black Lodge. I've watched The Stand 3 times and have enjoyed it,
>however, I don't see how you can compare the 2 beyond the BOB/Flagg
>connection.
> The Stand's opposing forces were Flagg (the Devil) vs. Mother Abigail
>(a servant of God). Twin Peaks' opposing forces were BOB/WE vs.
>Cooper/Briggs/Margaret.
> I can see what you're trying to get at, but I just don't see the
>connection.
Tydirium wrote:
Having read both versions of the book, I can say that while the
comparions you have made are certainly valid, the similarities stop
there... unless you want to point out the most basic possible fact,
which is that they both depict the conflict of good vs evil, light vs
dark, but that describes 99% of all literature and film! :-)
Bryan replies:
Well, I wasn't running very far with it. Wasn't trying to, really. I
was searching for evidence of *influence* -- not outright plagiarism.
And I see influence in that Randall and BOB wore very similar worldly
attire (ye olde jeans and jean jacket) and had birds as their
familiars or totem beasts -- the raven and the owl. TP and the Stand
appeared on the small screen within a few years of one another and I
feel confident that the combo of totem bird with jean jacket on the
roster of world literature demon motifs is probably very rare.
Mirjam Visser
Bryan Trussler <br...@i-bahn.com> wrote:
>
>Has anyone ever done a comparison of Twin Peaks with Stephen King's
>The Stand??
>
>Just got to thinking about it yesterday. I've not read the book (not
>even 1% of its thousands of pages) but I watched the miniseries
>faithfully. The demon character in The Stand dressed a lot like BOB in
>TP -- jeans and jean jacket. Always looking shabby. In The Stand, the
>demon's alter ego and familiar is a raven. In TP, BOB's familiar is an
>Owl.
Interesting. I've seen The Stand, and the way you look at it there are some
similarities.
--
M.J. Visser Don't worry, be happy!
mir...@vulcan.xs4all.nl
jc
If you've only seen that awful TV series, read the book. It looks
like alot of pages, but it's great reading and it will go by real
fast.
In particular, the TV miniseries version BADLY botched the trip
through the tunnel. Read the book, it is vastly superior to the
movie.
Tydirium Multimedia
>Read the book, it is vastly superior to the
> movie.
Isn't that always the case? :-)
S. Hamm
On Mon, 10 Mar 1997, Tydirium Multimedia wrote:
>
> >Read the book, it is vastly superior to the
> > movie.
>
> Isn't that always the case? :-)
The Firm was a better movie than it was a book.
S.
--------------------------------Susan Hamm-----------------------------
Whistler: I want peace on Earth and goodwill towards men.
NSA Agent: *We* are the United States government. We don't do that sort
of thing! -Sneakers
Mrs. White: Men are like Kleenex: Soft, strong, and disposable. -Clue
----------------...@u.washington.edu----------------------
Rick Karhu
> That's where the similarities stop. Randall Flagg was the Devil.
> There's no way around that. BOB is an evil spirit working for "the good"
> of the Black Lodge. I've watched The Stand 3 times and have enjoyed it,
> however, I don't see how you can compare the 2 beyond the BOB/Flagg
> connection.
Allow someone who has read the book of The Stand twice now to clarify
something that the TV series couldn't make clear. Randall Flagg was *not*
the Devil. He was a manifestation of evil. If you want to define that as
the Devil, then you are entitled to that opinion, but no where in King's
1000+ page masterpiece does it state or imply that Flagg is the Devil in
the Christian sense of that idea. Unless I missed something big, there is
nothing to back up that statement. In fact, King uses one section of The
Stand to get into Flagg's head and show us around a little, and it is there
that you learn that Flagg really doesn't know what he is, in fact. He
knows he's an instrument of sorts and has been granted special abilities,
but he isn't entirely certain of his own origin, nor is he entirely certain
of his own past. He is like a puppet.
When I think of similarities between Randall Flagg and bad guys on TP, I
think of Leland Palmer, not BOB. Leland didn't entirely understand what
was happening to him, nor did he entirely understand what he had done in
his past, but he was vaguely aware of the fact that he was an instrument of
some unseen power. Exactly like Flagg.
> The Stand's opposing forces were Flagg (the Devil) vs. Mother Abigail
> (a servant of God). Twin Peaks' opposing forces were BOB/WE vs.
> Cooper/Briggs/Margaret.
The Stand's opposing forces make more sense when you consider what I've
just said. Flagg and Mother Abigail are basically pawns (yes, with their
own freewill, but they are still pawns) to bigger forces.
> I can see what you're trying to get at, but I just don't see the
> connection.
I agree with you on that. The Stand is an old-fashioned sort of morality
tale, almost along the lines of the story of the ark in the Old Testament
while Twin Peaks is more of a character-centered story like The Iliad,
where the development of the main character (Cooper in TP and Achilles in
The Iliad) is the central interest.
Oh... my rambling alarm just went off ;-)
--Rick Karhu (Inks...@nas.com)
"The only difference between me and a madman
is that I am not mad." --Salvador Dali 8-}|
Spare Bricks -- http://www.nas.com/~inkswamp/sparebricks.html
zel...@earthlink.net
Another TP-Stand connection:
Mark Frosts's 6 Messiahs is very similar to The Stand- at least up to
the ending.
Neil Pepper
jc wrote:
>
> If you've only seen that awful TV series, read the book. It looks
> like alot of pages, but it's great reading and it will go by real
> fast.
>
> In particular, the TV miniseries version BADLY botched the trip
> movie.
I strongly suggest that if anyone reads the book who hasn't already to
skip the entire ending. It is dreadful - like all of S. King's book
endings. IMO in all of his books, King thinks up a cool idea, dribbles
about it for about 500 pages, then gets bored with the concept or runs
out of inspiration and rushes out a crap ending.
Hmmm... I have a lot of built up anger towards S. King novels - I have
wasted too much of my life reading the bloody things hoping they would
improve.
Jasja van Leeuwen
On Mon, 10 Mar 1997, S. Hamm wrote:
> On Mon, 10 Mar 1997, Tydirium Multimedia wrote:
>
> >
> > >Read the book, it is vastly superior to the
> > > movie.
> >
> > Isn't that always the case? :-)
>
> The Firm was a better movie than it was a book.
> S.
No it wasn't!
;-)
Hasta
Jasja
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Jasja van Leeuwen | "Life is like a sewer. What you get out
AMSTERDAM - THE NETHERLANDS | of it depends on what you put into
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