The Owls are not What They Seem

Historically, the concept of the doppelganger has been associated and used in many contexts. Etymologically, the term comes from German, literally translated as double-goer. The idea of the double has managed to intrigue many writers and filmmakers. David Lynch, who frequently applies this concept in his oeuvre, uses cinema as a vehicle for examining and exploring these fractured identities. Yet, the figure of the doppelgänger in his films is not merely the other self, also a distorted reality. Take Lost Highway, filmed in 1997. Fred Madison and Pete Dayton are not two different people, but two realities of their own. The film’s soundtrack is also quite important for setting the mood of the concept. ‘Song to the Siren’ by This Mortal Coil plays a few times throughout the film. In a scene where Fred and Renee making love, this specific song plays in the background. Later, towards the end of the film, the song appears again during the scene with Alice and Pete. It is particularly crucial for Fred’s case of duality. David Lynch comments on Lost Highway as a ‘psychogenic fugue’(1997, Filmmaker) He also noted that the presence of the double thus becomes an existential trap, in which the self must confront the other self.

One cannot talk about doppelganger and not mention the unforgettable Twin Peaks. It was thought to be the strangest work appeared in television, with its surreal elements from Black Lodge to owls. We can mention several doppelgängers’ appearance in Twin Peaks such as Laura Palmer, Agent Dale Cooper, and Caroline Earle. These characters are identical copies of each other but shares no characteristics with the person. Rather, they are often portrayed as ‘the’ malevolent or sinister self. In Twin Peaks, these entities are called Shadow Selves.  Hereupon, we can make a reference to Edgar Allan Poe’s poem Silence.

There are some qualities—some incorporate things,

 That have a double life, which thus is made

A type of that twin entity which springs

 From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade.

There is a two-fold Silence—sea and shore—

 Body and soul. One dwells in lonely places,

 Newly with grass o’ergrown; some solemn graces,

Some human memories and tearful lore,

Render him terrorless: his name’s “No More.”

He is the corporate Silence: dread him not!

 No power hath he of evil in himself;

But should some urgent fate (untimely lot!)

 Bring thee to meet his shadow (nameless elf,

That haunteth the lone regions where hath trod

No foot of man,) commend thyself to God!

Edgar Allan Poe(1840)

Poe mentions ‘’twin entity which springs/From matter and light, evinced in solid and shade.’’ Just like black and white, Poe’s vision of double mirrors metaphysical binaries.