SPLENDORA ISSUE #01 SLANG

CONTENTS

p my Sup, b? r whats u se, short fo Phra bitch? h me, With you, wit rt for with ave homework Sho . I still h I cant go to do. it with Just bring as all... All or She w in Im all r the term like. As ent fo A replacem to mean says or ems Usually se as all, Are you mad ew said. H ll No way, nd I was a t me? a a bout? u talking a hat are yo w As if! y EXAMPLE: rase immortalized b ht! Ph Yeah rig ss. e in Cluele Silverston Alicia

min Bangin/Slam . Has it going on Bounce bounce To leave lets Brutal ns bad That Bacically mea utal dogg movie was br Chillin ., you doing O.K It means that or your fine. Crib ent, dorm, House, apartm dwelling Crunk ited hyped up/exc

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So Is Your Face It doesnt really mean anything, you just say when someone else says something mean to you like, Oh, my god her pants are so ugly today Then you say So is your face. Dont go there! Someone has just hit a touchy subject and the other person doesnt appreciate them getting in their business. So Traditionally used as intensifying adverb for lone adjectives, usage expanded to intensify whole clauses, predicates, phrases, etc. Usage may have gained popularity on TVs Friends. (Chandler: That is so not the opposite of taking somebodys underwear!...Joey, jokingly: So didnt know that, but you should have seen your faces) Get a room What you say to two or more people whose public displays of affection seem too inappropriate or risque. (i.e., make what youre doing private, not so public) Junk One of two words in the world which applies as a substitute to every single noun in the English language. The other word being shit. It is used liberally in any/all conversations. Example: Damn, man, did you see that junk yesterday? Man, I was all up IN that junk! That junk was TIGHT NOT! Used as a function word to stand for the negative of a preceding group of words Episode I, the Phantom Menace was great... NOT. Dip or Lets Dip Verb; To leave. EXAMPLE: Hang up the phone and lets dip. See you guys later, we have to dip. Beans Means money Let me borrow 2 beans for the soda.

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Psyche not, just kidding; used at the end of a sentence yea i did all my homework. psyche!! Quit Icing My Grill Phrase used when someone gets in your face and speaks to make you look bad Salty To make someone angry. eg. Back off, Im getting hella salty Score! You got something you wanted or you did really The Shit The best or that was the greatest. Shwing If you see a hot chick you would say shwing while humping mid air. Step Off Get out of my face, leave me alone Stylin Cool hair or clothes. TMI Too much info! Talk to the Hand Im not listening to you/Im not talking to you! To Hate, Hater To disapprove of someone or something Trippin Going off; overly critical of something or someone. Like telling your mom Quit trippin over my tattoo Fugly Fucking ugly

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TWIN PEAKS FIRE WALK WITH ME ( 19 9 2 )

JOHN KENNETH MUIR

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To aggressively analyze and interpret a David Lynch film is to invite agitation. On one hand, many critics suggest the artists movies are dense and impenetrable; that they are weird just for the sake of weirdness. Therefore, no possible interpretation for what occurs on screen exists, and the interpreter is simply partaking in a wild goose chase. Or worse, being self-indulgent. Reviewing Lynchs Lost Highway (1997), for instance, one of my favorite critics, Roger Ebert, admitted Ive seen it twice, hoping to make sense of it. There is no sense to be made of it. To try is to miss the point. What you see is all you get. Yet, David Lynchs films are so abundant with symbolic representation; so rife with abstruse dream sequences; so criss-crossed with narrative alleyways, and so thoroughly dominated by opaque characterizations that they virtually cry out for contextualization and analysis. To leave such treasure troves of figuration uninterpreted or unexamined is to abandon a half-solved puzzle. Contrarily, to delve into the mysteries of David Lynchs cinema is to grow nearer the mind (and dream state...) of a most singular American film artist. For me, the temptation to dive in is...well...irresistible.

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Sometimes, audiences, scholars and critics have also been willing to take that giant leap of faith and gaze -- unblinking and unbowed -- at the secrets and enigmas presented in Lynchs twisting, tricky narratives. Many of Lynchs productions, such as Blue Velvet (1984), are indeed held in high critical esteem. But at the same time, other Lynch films have not met with the same aggressive intellectual curiosity. Exhibit A: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) a prequel to the popular TV series; a movie produced a year after the program was canceled. As you may recall, the movie was booed at the Cannes Film Festival, and New York Times critic Vincent Canby suggested Its not the worst movie ever made; it just seems to be. Its 134 minutes induce a state of simulated brain death, an effect as easily attained in half the time by staring at the blinking lights on a Christmas tree. Jay Scott at Torontos Globe and Mail called Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me a disgusting, misanthropic movie, and compared a viewing of the film to cocaine-induced paranoia.

To many critics, the layered, perplexing Fire Walk with Me is but as blank as a fart, to quote one of the films quirkier characters. Yet taken at simple face value, Fire Walk With Me is a disquieting exhumation of the underneath in America. In the film, we encounter homecoming queen and Twin Peaks resident Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee). We follow her through her harrowing last week on this mortal coil, and see that this typical teenager is anything but. If the movie feels like a case of cocaine-induced paranoia, that is likely intentional. Because Laura is indeed experiencing a cocaineinduced paranoia throughout much of the movie. Shes a junkie (and the film depicts Laura snorting coke on several occasions; as well as participating in a drug deal gone wrong.) Thus the films lurid, jittery, unpleasant shape perfectly reflects the pieces content. We seem to be viewing the film from inside a drug fever. Quit Trying to Hold on So Tight...Im Gone: Laura Palmer as Victim of Incest David Lynchs films work on different metaphorical layers, and one thematic layer of Fire Walk with Me involves a truly unpleasant topic: incest. Beautiful Laura Palmer -- the envy of every girl at Twin Peaks high school -- is the victim of incest. She has been the victim of sexual molestation by her father, Leland Palmer (Ray Wise), for several years.

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THERES NO TOMORROW; IT WILL NEVER GET HERE

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DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?

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Unable to cope with this monstrous reality, Lauras shattered mind has come to visually re-interpret her fathers nocturnal bedroom visits as the home invasions of a swarthy stranger, a monster named Bob. Laura informs her psychiatrist, Harold ,that Bob is real. Hes been having me since I was twelve. Furthermore, she notes he comes through my window at night...hes getting to know me. He wants to be me...or hell kill me. And sure enough, one day, Laura arrives home from school early and sees Bob prowling around in her bedroom. As if sniffing her out. Its a terrifying scene: we suddenly register the unexpected intruder in a place of safety and comfort, and almost physically blanch at his presence. Scared, Laura runs out of the house, terrified, only to see not the Evil Bob emerge after her...but rather her beloved father, Leland. He is the Monster of Her Id. In another disturbing scene, Bob slips inside the Palmer house through Lauras window at night. In electric blue moonlight, he seduces her. In the throes of their mutual passion, Laura suddenly sees that the stranger is actually her father, Leland, and nearly goes mad at the revelation. Again, this is the thing she is trying to bury under mountains of cocaine; in alcohol. The betrayal of a trusted loved one. How does a the typical victim deal with persistent sexual abuse and incest? According to author Ken Chisholms article on the subject, Some of the

social maladjustments arising from incest are alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution and promiscuity. Consider these factors in relationship to Laura Palmer. We already know she is addicted to cocaine. We already know she drinks. But Laura is also sexually-involved with at least two boyfriends at school: the temperamental Bobby (Dana Ashbrook) and JamesDean-ish James Hurley (James Marshall). She seems to pingpong back and forth between them. And, as prescribed above, prostitution is part of Lauras life too. We learn in Fire Walk With Me that (as in the series before...), Laura has been selling her body both at One Eyed Jacks and at the films sleazy Bang Bang Bar. In other words, a history and pattern of incest leads to selfdestructive behavior on the part of the victim. It leads to the destruction of -- and disassociation from -- the healthy ego. This is also evident in Fire Walk with Me. Your Laura disappeared, Laura informs James blankly, feeling unworthy and undeserved of his authentic, romantic love. Its just me now, she explains, feeling ashamed and guilty over her behavior. At one point, late in the film, even Lauras guardian angel seems to abandon her, vanishing from a painting in her bedroom. Its thus clear that Laura blames herself for her fathers behavior, and consequently that she views herself as ugly and corrupted. She isnt the golden girl anymore, shes tarnished.

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This self-hatred becomes especially plain during the moment when Laura confides in her psychiatrist Harold about Bobs visits. Suddenly, the film cuts to a nightmarish view of Laura as an ivory white crone; one with alabaster skin, yellowed teeth, scarlet gums and blackened lips. She looks like a terrible, corrupted monster: an outward reflection of her low self-esteem. This is how she sees herself. Later in the film, we see Leland Palmer -- suffering his own personal hell of guilt and shame -- imagining himself in identical terms, right down to the black lips. This is the form of the bad conscience made manifest. Those who endure incest and sexual abuse also, over time, may experience night terrors, hallucinations or insomnia. Laura is not immune from these symptoms either. She lives through terrifying nightmares, especially ones that involve a creepy painting. On that painting is rendered a half-open door; and in Lauras dream she mindlessly treads though that door into the evil world of the Black Lodge. A place were garmonbozia (pain and suffering) is eaten like creamed corn, and her suffering will provide a feast. She is, literally, the Devils candy. And she knows it.

Laura is aware that she is a moth driven to the flame (a woman consigned to Hell...) and again and again, Fire Walk With Me brings up the idea of fire in connection to Laura. Donna Hayward (Moira Kelly) asks Laura a weird question. If you fall in outer space, do you think youd slow down after a while, or go faster and faster? Lauras telling answer is that she would go faster and faster...without knowing it, and then spontaneously burn up. No angels could save her... because theyre all gone. The world is devoid of angels. Again, this answer appears to be a metaphor for Lauras increasingly fast life (a life made even more jittery and fast by the cocaine): dating two boys; scoring drugs; acting as a prostitute... trying desperately to escape her real life and the sexual abuse. In the end, however, no matter how fast she goes, Laura will still be consumed by flame; destroyed. The Log Lady (Catherine E. Coulson) tells Laura -- in an important, if brief, scene that When this kind of fire starts, it is very hard to put out. The tender boughs of innocence burn first, and the wind rises, and then all goodness is in jeopardy. Once more, youve got to contextualize this remark in terms of the incest: the act which has made the self-loathing Laura change from golden girl to promiscuous drug abuser and prostitute. In the execution of that bad behavior, the first victim is Lauras innocence...her childhood. The second is her goodness (and now she cant even volunteer to

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HE SAYS HE WANTS TO BE ME, OR HELL KILL ME.

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feed the hungry in the meals on wheels program...). The third victim...is existence itself. Laura understands this. She realizes she is headed nowhere...fast. Another frequent quality of incest victims is a protective impulse; an overriding need to save or rescue younger siblings from the life-destroying behavior that has ruined them. In Fire Walk with Me, Donna goes to the Bang Bang Bar with Laura. Donna drinks alcohol, takes drugs, and seduces a john. When Laura witnesses Donnas craven behavior -- the tender boughs of innocence about to burn -- she is roused to act. Unable to save herself, Laura does the next best thing: she rescues naive Donna. Afterwards, Laura warns Donna cryptically dont wear my stuff, an indication that Donna has tried on Lauras lifestyle. But it doesnt fit Donna; and Laura doesnt want Donna to be like her. Theres No Tomorrow; It Will Never Get Here: The Spirit World in Fire Walk With Me A central question regarding Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me involves the rogues gallery in the Black Lodge. This gallery includes Bob, The (backwardstalking) Man from Another Place (Michael Anderson) and the One-Armed Man. They dwell in that sitting room (the velvetlined room with zig-zag floor). Are they real? Or imaginary? Are they sentient, or symbolic? Is Leland an all-too human sexual abuser? Or is he an unlucky man possessed by an evil spirit? Who do we blame for the incest: the spirit (Bob) or the body (Leland)? In a sense, it doesnt matter a whit. It is immaterial. When criminals commit terrible acts, they often claim the devil made them do it, right? Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me may suggest a universe of Hell (in the form of the Black Lodge) and Heaven too (in the form or Ronette Pulaskis and Lauras individual guardian angels), but it never suggests that Leland is innocent.

There may be a monster cowering inside him; but there is a monster cowering inside all abusers, isnt there? If evil dwells in the human psyche, then it dwells in the human psyche...and we must combat it. Leland never does that. He murders Teresa Banks, and eventually he murders his own daughter, Laura, because he is so consumed of the evil spirit. Thats what makes him a villain. That really was something with the dancing girl, wasnt it? What exactly did all that mean? Encoded in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is a self-commentary on David Lynchs approach to symbolic story telling. Early in the film, FBI agent Sam Stanley (Kiefer Sutherland) and Agent Chester Desmond (Chris Isaak) are tasked by Lynchs deaf FBI chief with the investigation of Teresas murder. After briefing them in very general terms, Lynchs character then maddeningly introduces the two agents to Lil a woman in a red dress wearing a blue rose. He says, in essence, that she represents the case that the men have embarked upon. Then, in a bewildering moment, the strange Lil dances up to the two agents, grimaces -- revealing a sour face -- and makes a fist. Then, Lil is never seen or heard from again as a living, breathing, human character. But soon after this scene, Desmond and Stanley interpret her presence. They analyze her facial expressions. They note the color of her dress. They register the presence of the blue rose, and ponder the meaning of her balled fist. On one hand, this is Lynchs oddball humor, acknowledging the Twin Peaks aficionados propensity for analyzing every little thing.

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WELCOME TO CANADA

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FANTASTIC FADS OF THE NINETIES

We tend to define decades by fads and fashions. You might look back on a favorite TV show with nostalgia, or cringe at your fashion choices. The 1990s are no different. It seems, at first glance, like a bland decade, destined to be little more than the decade after the 80s. Even those who grew up in the 90s can be hard pressed to pinpoint the decades character in a single word or phrase. That may be by design: Its easy to see the 90s as a transitional period. Consider the world of the early 21st century -- the ubiquity of the Internet, the diversity of styles, the things that are acceptable and mainstream that were once on the fringe. Many of those things began as fads of the 90s. It was the decade that rang out the end of the 20th century and all its cultural upheavals, all while ushering in the 21st century with a host of technological innovations. Of course, some fads just faded and fizzled. For people who lived in the 90s, those fads are still with them. Even if they never wore their clothes backwards, they laughed at the idea that some people did. From piercings to flannel, 90210 to grunge, here are 10 of the biggest 90s fads. They helped shape your world, like it or not.

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GRUNGE
Grunge was both a musical style and a fashion choice. The music was generally defined by heavy guitars and overwrought, angsty lyrics; the fashion by flannel shirts, combat boots, muted colors and an overall blue collar aesthetic. If those elements seem a bit vague, thats because grunge was as much a rejection of other fads as a specific fad itself. In the 1980s, popular rock music was dominated by flamboyant bands with teased hairstyles, neon spandex stage costumes, slick music production and a party-all-the-time attitude, like L.A.-based bands Mtley Cre and Poison. An eventual backlash was inevitable, and it came initially from the Seattle music scene. There, a small indie record label called Sub Pop signed edgy bands like Mudhoney and Nirvana. Nirvanas unexpected jump to mainstream success defined grunge and the Seattle sound as a whole. Indeed, many of the bands who are lumped together under the grunge label (Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden) have little in common other than their home city, a love of heavily distorted guitars and dark lyrics about serious topics. They all painted a stark contrast to the glam rock and hair metal that had come before, however. Of course, that meant that it wasnt long before you could buy fashionably grungy flannel in every mall in America..

TATTOOS & PIERCINGS

The grunge revolution brought about an increased interest in nonmainstream music, underground scenes, and a resurgence of punk rock. Some of the hallmarks of these scenes and styles were tattoos and aggressive body piercings. Initially, they were ways for people to set themselves apart from the mainstream. Like grunge itself, it didnt take long for the mainstream to co-opt these underground fashions. It isnt necessarily correct to call them fads, because they never quite faded away the way pet rocks did in the 70s. Tattoos and piercings were so thoroughly absorbed into mainstream culture that today theyre far more acceptable than they were 15 years ago. There are limits, of course. More extreme forms of facial piercing and obvious (or offensive) tattoos can definitely reduce employment opportunities. But there are plenty of school teachers and doctors with tattoos and piercings, and most of them are children of the 90s.

THE MACAERNA
If tattoos and piercings challenged social norms, the Macarena was a fad with little long-term impact, aside from an intensely annoying tune that stuck in your head for days. Like The Twist from several decades earlier, Macarena was a simple song with a silly eponymous dance that exploded in popularity in the mysterious way that fads do. A catchy tune from Spanish group Los del Rio, Macarena became a worldwide phenomenon in 1996, smashing records by staying at number one on Billboards Hot 100 chart for an astonishing 14 weeks [source: Billboard]. The jovial, bouncy song (that repeats itself over and over and over again) had its own dance, making it two fads in one. The Macarena had a convoluted journey to pop success. First written in 1992, its popularity spread gradually through Spanish-speaking countries. A remix with English vocals by the Bayside Boys is the version that became a worldwide sensation. The dance is easy for anyone to learn, requiring a few simple arm movements and a jubilant jump. Los del Rio remains popular in its home country, but the Macarena had played itself out by 1997, rendering the song and the two men behind it only a distant memory in America.

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THE WAIF LOOK

While they werent exactly fullfigured, 1980s supermodels like Cindy Crawford were zaftig compared to the half-starved, heroin-chic look embodied by models like Kate Moss, who weighed in at barely 100 pounds (45.3 kilograms). The heroin-chic aesthetic -gaunt bodies, as well as hollow, vacant eyes with dark circles beneath -- was pushed by certain fashion photographers, notably Davide Sorrenti, who died of a heroin overdose himself. Calvin Klein ads featuring Kate Moss brought heroin chic the most attention, enough so that the public took the fashion industry to task for promoting unhealthy bodies and glamorizing drug use. Even then-President Bill Clinton weighed in with disapproval. While the specific heroin chic trend has long since faded, fashion and pop culture magazines still alter photos of models to make them look unnaturally thin, despite constant outcry to depict models with realistic, healthy bodies.

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HYPERCOLOR T-SHIRTS
Clothing manufacturer Generra created these fad-ready T-shirts in the late 80s, but they really caught on in 1991. The shirts were dipped in temperature-sensitive pigment known as thermochromic leuco dyes. Heat changes caused the leuco dye to turn colorless temporarily, allowing the base color of the shirt to show through. For example, a yellow shirt dyed with blue leuco dye would appear green. Heated areas of the shirt would therefore appear yellow, since the blue dye becomes colorless. Thats why most hypercolor shirts reveal a lighter color rather than a darker one when heated. For the most part, the heat-activated color change was brought about by the wearers own body heat, resulting in a semi-random pattern on the shirt. A friend could easily leave a hypercolor handprint, as well. Unfortunately, excessive heat ruined the leuco dyes, so washing your hypercolor shirt in hot water would permanently undye it. This fragility no doubt contributed to the fads quick fade Generra went bankrupt in 1992.

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HIP HOP FASHION

Rappers such as The Fresh Prince, Kid N Play, and Left Eye of TLC sparked a trend in wearing brightly colored, baggy clothing and baseball caps. Teens flocked to malls to recreate the look, with a little help from fashion lines like Karl Kani, Cross Colours and FUBU. Gangsta rappers took the trend farther, imitating prison inmates forced to wear ill-fitting pants with no belts allowed -wearing pants sagged well below the waist was a fashion statement and gave wearers a slouching gait, along with some street cred due to a loose association with prison culture. That particular fad has not faded in the least. A bizarre offshoot of the baggy clothes trend was the habit of wearing clothes backwards. This was primarily a gimmick for young rap duo Kris Kross, but it did catch on briefly -- very briefly -- after the groups debut album hit big in 1993. Another 90s trend within hip hop, a focus on material wealth, affected fashion as well. It became popular for a while to keep the tags on newly purchased designer clothes to show off the ostensibly high price, thus proving your success. Ironically, hip hop fashion has become big business since the 90s, as clothing lines like Phat Farm, Baby Phat and Rocawear have raked in hundreds of millions of dollars..

GANGSTA RAP
Lets be clear: Hip hop music is by no means a 90s phenomenon. It has its roots in 1970s urban culture and broke through to mainstream success in the 80s. In the 90s, though, rap was heavily commercialized, just like rock music had 20 years before. On one hand, MC Hammer achieved massive success with the single U Cant Touch This, a palatable, pop version of hip hop that didnt feel out of place on Top 40 radio. At the same time, edgier, socalled gangsta artists such as NWA, Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur became household names and sold millions of albums. If grunge was the inevitable response to commercialized rock, then gangsta rap was probably the inevitable response to pop hip hop. In rejecting dance-oriented songs in favor of slice of life vignettes that depicted the violent world of inner city life and chestthumping machismo, gangsta rap artists created a gritty, often controversial form of hip hop that ruled the 90s. Although its been decried for glamorizing drugs and violence and encouraging misogynistic attitudes over the years, gangsta rap hasnt gone away. Despite fading record sales, it continues to have a pervasive influence on urban culture.

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TEEN TELEVISION
Virtually any popular TV show is a fad, since they all fade away eventually -- if theyre not outright cancelled. Several 1990s TV shows really defined the decade, though. You cant talk about the trends of the time without acknowledging the enormous influence these shows had on the kids coming up at the time -- especially since the decade offered more opportunity to see themselves on screen than ever before. Beverly Hills 90210 was a soap opera about affluent teens at a posh California high school. It debuted in 1990 and its 10-season run perfectly bookended the decade. Ask anyone who grew up in the 90s who Brenda and Dylan were and youll surely get a passionate reply. The show dealt with topical issues like drug use, teen suicide and abortion, but its breezy peek into the lives of privileged teens gave way to shows like Gossip Girl and The O.C. Saved by the Bell was Beverly Hills 90210s little sister. While the shows are unrelated, Saved by the Bell covered similar themes, but was aimed at a younger audience. The cast members are perhaps better known for their postBell exploits than for the merits of the show itself, and certain infamous moments (like Jessie Spanos amphetamine freakout) have become YouTube classics. While Buffy the Vampire Slayers run extended beyond the 90s, it debuted in 1997, and the first seasons are its finest. It perfectly exemplifies another 90s trend: girl power. The heroine of the show is a high school student gifted with superpowers she must use to fight vampires and demons. The popularity of supernatural teen drama, manifested today in the Harry Potter and Twilight series, can be traced back to Buffy..

BEANIE BABIES
Beanie Babies are simple, inexpensive plush toys filled with small beans instead of cotton stuffing. They became a fad in the mid-90s when manufacturer Ty began retiring certain designs. This created a collectors frenzy, since a few early Beanie Babies had become highly sought-after and valuable post-retirement. At one point, you could find racks of Beanie Babies in virtually every store -- whether the store normally sold plush toys or not -as everyone tried to cash in on the craze. Collectors scoured shelves looking for that one rare Beanie. Of course, a fad like that will always burn itself out. A collectors craze causes the manufacturer to make huge amounts of subsequent toys to satisfy demand. Collectors buy them up thinking they will increase in value. Since rarity is determined partly by supply, the huge production runs render later toys worthless. Disillusioned collectors leave the hobby, and the market collapses (a very similar situation happened to comic books in the 1990s as well). Today, you can still find the occasional sad pile of sun-faded Beanie Babies collecting dust in store windows..

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INTERNET CHAT ROOMS

Today we text and tweet with impunity, but in the 90s, text-based real-time computer communication (in the form of chat rooms or instant messaging) was new technology for most people. Internet chat rooms had been developed as early as 1980 by Compuserv, and users of internet bulletin board servers could engage in a form of nearly realtime chat once instant messaging spread to the masses in 1997. Thats when America Online opened up its AOL Instant Messenger program to everyone -whether they were AOL subscribers or not. Thus did the terms buddy list, IM me! and away message enter the American lexicon. Late 90s instant messaging users could scarcely imagine that theyd be able to accomplish the same thing today from their smartphones, but the ubiquity of real-time communications in the 90s certainly paved the way for our current comfort with perpetual internet contact. No matter where you are, all your friends are only a Facebook update away.

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GROUNDHOG DAY & NARRATIVE THEORY

THOMAS DURRANT

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HE APPEARS TO BE HAPPY

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But in another sense, Lil -- and Desmonds explanation of Lil -- is the audiences primer to successfully reading or interpreting the figurations of this movie. Following Desmonds example, the viewer is meant to weigh characters and events symbolically. We are supposed to see Bob as Lauras safe interpretation of her fathers criminal, unacceptable behavior. We are supposed to understand the drug use and prostitution as a victims escape from guilt and shame. Even the passing of Theresas ring we are to comprehend as a legacy of death, carried from one victim to the next. And the creamed corn? Human pain and suffering as the food of the gods. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me is really The Tragedy of Laura Palmer and the Tragedy of Small Town America. The golden girl -- the cheerleader beloved by all -- is actually a secret victim of sexual abuse...and no one sees it. Or no one cares to see it. This is the roiling underneath that Lynch so frequently expose in his films, and it was never more relevant, perhaps, than in the early 1990s when this film was made. These were the early years after the notorious 1989 Glen Ridge rape case (wherein popular football jocks raped a retarded girl with a baseball bat and broom); these were the years of the Spur Posse. Suburbias shameful secrets were spilling out into the tabloid culture in creamed-corn torrents. Perhaps an entire American generation of teenagers was actually fire walking with us; possessed by darkest impulses. What remains profound about Laura Palmers tragedy today is that, in the end, David Lynch grants the character a small measure of contentment. The guardian angel she believed she

lost during her last, brutal hours on Earth, returns anew (in the afterlife) to heal her pain; even as good Dale Cooper lands a comforting, supportive arm on her shoulder. Our last view of the cheerleader is of Laura smiling. In life, Laura was relentlessly victimized...her goodness burned away by lifes ugliness. In deaths sitting room, of all places, peace is finally at hand. Although this may seem decidedly bleak, it is also Lynchs balancing of the spiritual world. It may be a place of garmonbozia -- death and suffering -- but it isnt populated merely by the likes of Bob and the Man From Another Place. The winged celestial being is there too, the seraph, and that means that forgiveness is at hand. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me isnt misanthropic. In Laura Palmer, theres sympathy for the victim of abuse. Even in Leland Palmer, theres sympathy for the devil. If we do live in a dream, as one character suggests in the film, then it is also up to us to shape that dream, and always keep Bob at bay.

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An exact definition of narrative can be considered as the depiction in the medium of film of a series of events in cause and effect relationship occurring in time. Loosely speaking film narrative is a story constructed from production and story elements. Story telling in film is dependent on production processes more than other forms such as literature poetry, song, or a theatre production. Production elements of camera, sound, editing, lighting, acting, cinematography or mise-en-scene combine with story elements of character, setting, plot, cause and effect, and structuring of time. Although to be able to understand narrative, one has to consider what structures narrative film itself. Narrative is made up of a number of key elements which, when bound together, create a series of logical events that are interpreted and communicated to the viewing audience of a film. Two of these key elements are story and plot. The story is the events of the film explicitly presented diegetically. Diegetic factors such as events, characters, objects, settings, and sounds that contribute to the events can be ones that are shown on screen or those which are implied, in terms of David Bordwell it is: The set of all the events in a narrative, both the ones explicitly presented and those the viewer infers

Whilst the plot places these diegetic events in a certain order, whether it be chronological or non-chronological. This can also include non-diegetic material such as things that we see and hear on the screen but that come from outside the world of the story. For example; background music, titles and credits or voiceover commentary from an omniscient narrator. To put it simply:Everything visibly and audibly present in the film before usincludingall the story events that are directly depicted Groundhog Day is unique in its narrative structure. In the film, a single day the Groundhog Day of the title - is repeated over and over yet only the films protagonist, Phil, is able to notice and change his actions each day. Every event repeats and every other character repeats their actions, unless influenced by Phil. The day becomes predictable, to Phil and the films spectators, allowing Phil to repeat his day until it is perfect, and making the spectator look forward to each change that Phil creates. The film is much more predictable than a film with a traditional linear narrative. In Groundhog Day Phil is the only variable. In traditional films of classical Hollywood narrative, there are many variables, probably even some that the audience could never predict.

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MAKES THE LACK OR DESIRE KNOWN

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THINK ITLL BE AN EARLY SPRING?

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Groundhog Day engages its audience in a game of sorts: Whats going to happen next? The audience knows that every event must be within certain boundaries, so its possible to predict how each day will turn out. In terms of Bordwell At any given moment, we can ask if the viewer knows more than, less than, or as much as the characters do. However wonderfully or miserably each day turns out, the audience knows that Phil will wake up on February 2nd, so theres a sense of safety. Because Phil always wakes up on Groundhog Day, his character is allowed to do absurd things that would kill or ruin the life of the lead character in a traditional linear narrative. The films structural restrictions allow for creative freedom. Richard Barsem suggests two other elements of Narrative in the form of Hubs and Satellites5. Hubs are major plot points or events in the film structure which force characters to choose among or between different paths, while Satellites are nonessential, minor plot points or events which add complexity and texture to the characters.

For example, the self realisation of Phils predicament as he experiences Groundhog Day and all its events repeating itself for the first time would be considered a Hub. While Phil discovering what Ritas favourite drink is and ordering it for himself the next repeated day, in order to impress her would be considered a Satellite Todorov states that An ideal narrative begins with a stable situation which is disturbed by some power or force. There results a state of disequilibrium; when a force is directed in the opposite direction, the equilibrium is re-established. In this respect Groundhog Day follows the ideal narrative. It begins with Phil living his life as normal, despite treating others with a lack of respect and is self-centred, he appears to be happy; thus being the Equilibrium.

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The beginning of the time loop and Phils attempts to break it and escape from it would be considered to be the Disequilibrium. Finally, the ending of the time loop and the beginning of Phil and Ritas relationship are the New Equilibrium. On the surface, Ground Hog Day holds a Classical Hollywood Narrative, although upon closer inspection and analysis it holds some complex and unusual concepts. Perhaps most unusual is the films lack of a primary and physical antagonist. Vladimir Propp theorised that all narratives have seven broad character roles that drive it forward. These seven narrative roles are:

1. The Villain: Also the antagonist, they struggle against the hero and are usually at binary opposites. 2. The Donor: They prepare the Hero or provide the hero with an object that has magical qualities. 3. The Helper: They aid the hero in their quest. 4. The Princess and Her Father: Gives the task to the Hero, identifies the false hero, and marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that the princess and the father cannot be clearly distinguished. 5. The Dispatcher: The character who makes the lack, or desire, known and sends the hero off on their quest. 6. The Hero or Victim: Also the protagonist, the one in which the narrative follows, they react to the donor and eventually weds the princess. 7. False Hero: Takes credit for the heros actions or attempts to marry the princess.

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CHAIN OF EVENTS IN CAUSE-EFFECT REL ATIONSHIP

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ALLOWS FOR THEIR RULES TO BE CHANGED WITHIN THE NARRATIVE

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In Groundhog Day, the Hero is clearly defined in the character of Phil, although he is also represented as a victim of the time loop as it increasingly wears him down, which is evident of him killing himself in a variety of different methods. The role of the Princess is also clearly defined in Rita, who is Phils object of desire and she is sought by him throughout the narrative of the film. However, this is the limit of Propps Narrative Role theory in Groundhog Day. The only discernable Villain throughout the film is time itself. Phil struggles with time as he desperately attempts to escape its grasp from the loop. What also makes the film more unique is that the metaphysical antagonist, in the form of time, takes on multiple narrative roles. Time can be observed as The Donor, as it provides Phil with the magical object in the form of the time loop. Phil uses this object to continue to learn more about Rita, helping as many as the townspeople as possible and in bettering himself by learning piano and how to speak French, in this respect time can also be seen as The Helper. It can also be noticed as The Dispatcher and as The Father as it helps Phil realise how he feels about Rita and therefore simultaneously giving Phil the task and dispatching him on his quest to obtain her. The film uses a great number visual and aural signifiers and motifs that lend clarity and unity to its narrative and to communicate with the audience

that time has repeated itself; We shall call any significant repeated element in a film a motif. Aural signifiers include the clock radio turning on and playing the song I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher, accompanied by the two radio DJs commenting ahead of the annual days events. Repeated lines of dialogue such as: Phil? Phil Connors? Phil Connors, I thought that was you! and Think itll be an early Spring? all communicate to the audience - when placed in chronological order - that Phil can choose whatever reaction or action he desires as time and space is self contained within these 24 Hours. However, when the first of these motifs is immediately absent, it instantly communicates to the spectator that the loop is broken and it is February 3rd the day after Groundhog Day. As time and space are self contained within the 24 hours of February 2nd within the town of Punxsutawney, here Phil is able to act upon desire and do as he pleases without any concern of consequence. Information or action which leads to no effect or resolution until later in the film is largely absent, as he manages to steel, offend and attack others without the need to worry about any consequences that may occur, however grave they may be. Although it becomes apparently that his predicament can be used to his advantage and all of his actions throughout the film and the many times the day has repeated itself accumulate upon the definitive Groundhog Day, which ends up being the

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greatest day in Phils life, while simultaneous being the worst in the many circumstances that have come before it. This confining of time and space can be evident in another narrative unique film; Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The film follows Joel and his relationship with Clementine. After two years of being together they fall out of love and Joel discovers a company that claims to able erase all memories of a specified person, object or event from a persons mind. Joel decides to have all his memories of Clementine erased, however during the procedure and inside Joels mind he discovers his memories of Clementine are being erased in reverse order, and as he experiences the earlier, happier times with her, he becomes aware that he wants to stop the procedure and keep the memories, and begins to fight the mind wipe by trying to hide Clementine in deep memories of his mind. Joels actions are all determined within the confines of his own mind as he goes from memory to memory desperately trying to save Clementine from being erased from his life. Although not having

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THE BAD MEMORIES OF CLEMENTINE

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the repetitive use of time to better himself, like Phil, Joel uses all the bad memories of Clementine to start a new potentially better relationship with her, which is how the film ends. Like Groundhog Day, Eternal Sunshine has numerous motifs and frames of reference. One of these is reality, which is shown in the group of scenes at the beginning and the end of the narrative, while the rest of the scenes can be broadly classified as to be taking place in Joels head, but can be also divided into different kinds of memories. For example; ones in which Joel gets to relive as if they were really happening memories which Joel narrates in a voiceover and memories in which Joel watch take place and with which he can interact. This shows that Joel can alter the causes and effects within the time and space of his own mind. Bordwell theorised that We can consider a narrative to be a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time and space this is evident in traditionally linear film narratives. However if the area of space is reduced and confined as well as the concept of time, then this allows for their rules to be bent and changed within the narrative to the advantage or disadvantage of the protagonist.

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