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“Who killed Laura Palmer?” – Kvinnlig representation, trauma och blick i David Lynchs Twin Peaks

Eliasson, Ida LU (2026) FIVK10 20252
Film Studies
Abstract
This essay examines the film character Laura Palmer from the television series Twin Peaks and
the feature film Fire Walk With Me. The purpose of this essay is to discuss how the character
Laura Palmer differs between the series and the film. How does she change from being an object
to a subject, and how do we see a change between the series and the film? This is done in
dialogue with Laura Mulvey's text Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. I will use other
previous research to see how and why Laura is represented in different ways and how they relate
to Mulvey's text. I will use Laura Mulvey's text to help answer my research questions. The
research questions to be answered are: How does the representation of Laura in Fire Walk With... (More)
This essay examines the film character Laura Palmer from the television series Twin Peaks and
the feature film Fire Walk With Me. The purpose of this essay is to discuss how the character
Laura Palmer differs between the series and the film. How does she change from being an object
to a subject, and how do we see a change between the series and the film? This is done in
dialogue with Laura Mulvey's text Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. I will use other
previous research to see how and why Laura is represented in different ways and how they relate
to Mulvey's text. I will use Laura Mulvey's text to help answer my research questions. The
research questions to be answered are: How does the representation of Laura in Fire Walk With
Me change in relation to the series? And how does Twin Peaks break the traditional male gaze by
giving Laura a subjective inner life? The analysis will use feminist film theory to arrive at the
answers to the research questions. This theory is relevant to the essay, which deals with how a
female character is represented. The analysis will refer to and discuss other central books and
texts in feminist film theory. The method used is qualitative, this method is used to describe and
interpret. The questions posed in the essay have been answered with the help of literature and
Laura Mulvey's text, which addresses the male gaze. Mulvey's text was used to show how the
male gaze and voyeurism fit Laura as an object. The second part of the essay answers the second
research question, which was to explain how Fire Walk With Me breaks the traditional male gaze
by giving Laura a subjective inner life. This analysis has examined how this is shown in the
series, the film, and Laura's diary. The analysis has contributed to a developed understanding of
Laura Palmer as a character, but also of feminist film theory. With Laura Mulvey as a basis,
feminist theories have been presented and discussed. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Eliasson, Ida LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
“Who killed Laura Palmer?” – Female representation, trauma, and the gaze in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks
course
FIVK10 20252
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Twin Peaks, David Lynch, feministisk filmteori, Laura Mulvey.
language
Swedish
id
9222829
date added to LUP
2026-02-17 11:28:16
date last changed
2026-02-17 11:28:16
@misc{9222829,
  abstract     = {{This essay examines the film character Laura Palmer from the television series Twin Peaks and
the feature film Fire Walk With Me. The purpose of this essay is to discuss how the character
Laura Palmer differs between the series and the film. How does she change from being an object
to a subject, and how do we see a change between the series and the film? This is done in
dialogue with Laura Mulvey's text Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. I will use other
previous research to see how and why Laura is represented in different ways and how they relate
to Mulvey's text. I will use Laura Mulvey's text to help answer my research questions. The
research questions to be answered are: How does the representation of Laura in Fire Walk With
Me change in relation to the series? And how does Twin Peaks break the traditional male gaze by
giving Laura a subjective inner life? The analysis will use feminist film theory to arrive at the
answers to the research questions. This theory is relevant to the essay, which deals with how a
female character is represented. The analysis will refer to and discuss other central books and
texts in feminist film theory. The method used is qualitative, this method is used to describe and
interpret. The questions posed in the essay have been answered with the help of literature and
Laura Mulvey's text, which addresses the male gaze. Mulvey's text was used to show how the
male gaze and voyeurism fit Laura as an object. The second part of the essay answers the second
research question, which was to explain how Fire Walk With Me breaks the traditional male gaze
by giving Laura a subjective inner life. This analysis has examined how this is shown in the
series, the film, and Laura's diary. The analysis has contributed to a developed understanding of
Laura Palmer as a character, but also of feminist film theory. With Laura Mulvey as a basis,
feminist theories have been presented and discussed.}},
  author       = {{Eliasson, Ida}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{“Who killed Laura Palmer?” – Kvinnlig representation, trauma och blick i David Lynchs Twin Peaks}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}