Eric Novak, Columnist
For all of you Twin Peaks aficionados, I’m sure you’ve heard the recent and terrible news.
For those of you who aren’t following Twin Peaks or have even seen it, I’ll clue you in. This past week, David Lynch has updated his Twitter with the message that he’s signing off from the franchise because Showtime wouldn’t put forth the amount of money to shoot the scripts the way he wanted.
Of course, people jumped the gun, accusing Lynch of only doing it for the money without even reading the article to see that he just needed the right amount of money to do his vision the right way. Either way, this is heart-wrenching news for fans. Lynch helped bring the show to its genesis and is generally seen as the creative genius behind the show, along with co-creator Mark Frost, who is still attached to the project.
Immediately, people began speaking recklessly, saying that there’s no Twin Peaks without Lynch and how they won’t even watch the new installment of the series without him at the helm. While dismissive, I found myself wrought with intense sadness when I heard the news.
I’m a huge fan of Lynch and the universe of his show and was filled with an indescribable sense of joy when I found out that the series was going to be rebooted by Showtime. Of course I think the show will suffer a huge blow, creatively.
Never fear, as Showtime just released a statement saying they were still trying to come to a deal and several of the stars have banded together to bring Lynch back, using the quote “Twin Peaks without David Lynch would be like…”
Madchen Amick, who plays Shelly Johnson, a character on the show posted a video on the internet of some of the stars from the show saying what Twin Peaks without David Lynch would be like, often referencing quotes from the show.
So, while hope is not completely lost, it still makes me think of how quickly we are to abandon ship whenever something happens that we don’t anticipate. Yes, shows like Twin Peaks would be much different without their creators, but why are we always so quick to jump ship without even giving it a chance?
In addition to being somewhat unreceptive to change, it seems like we are unable to give things that we haven’t even seen a chance. Obviously a show that is heavily based on the vision of its creator should give the creator the ultimate say in making the show what it should be, but that doesn’t mean the show is completely lost without him or her.
For example, Lynch only directed around six episodes of the original series, so this shows that the show can still stand without him at the helm. Sometimes, we just place too much emphasis on one person when the creative process for making something like Twin Peaks takes so many people to make a success.
As a fan of the show, I’m going to watch it, so I can give it a proper chance before praising or rejecting it. I did the same thing recently with the new Spongebob movie, despite the show’s recent disappointments. It just doesn’t seem fair to the spirit of the show to deny it its proper attention because of any indications of change, negative or not.
I’m of the mindset that most everything deserves one chance before forming a concrete opinion on the matter, so before things are even set in stone, try to keep an open mind before a complete dismissal. Let’s be reasonable, people.