Twin Peaks 3 (cw for minor spoilers, some transphobia)

Submitted by twovests in just_post (edited )

There's a scene with a trans lady, that goes something like this:

  • Knock on door
  • Lady walks in: "Ah, Coop!" (greeting agent Cooper)
  • Cooper: "Dennis?"
  • Lady: "It's a long story, but actually I prefer Denise if you don't mind."

Usually when I see a trans lady in mainstream shows, I'm expecting her to be the butt of the jokes. Some of the side characters are a bit taken aback and transphobic, but Agent Cooper (arguably the main character) just takes it in stride that his colleague is trans.

I wasn't expecting anything that could be considered "progressive" in Twin Peaks, so a relatively-well portrayed trans woman is a very pleasant surprise. She has a deep voice (she's played by a cis man) which might have been meant for humor but from my modern evil SJW eyes, I just see some rare and rather good representation.

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devtesla wrote (edited )

oh lord I would have warned you if I remembered that lol

edit: also that's David Duchovny lmao

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twovests OP wrote

But there is this one interaction, where Cooper accidentally deadnames Denise in a conversation and she corrects him and he says sorry and moves on.

This seemed kind of sweet, and intentional? Like, it does little to advance the plot AFAICT (except, maybe, to characterize Cooper as respecting her.)

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but Cooper's basically the coolest person on the show about Denise, and I think the audience had already been meant to see him as a role model. So something about that interaction is kind of sweet, but in a way I am way too tired to express properly.

I guess maybe I'm just feeling this way because my expectations were at the rock-bottom for the portrayal of a trans woman in a 90s show.

Agent Cooper: Rolemodel for the Cis

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