The
Twin Peaks Fandom Wikipedia page for
The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer lists several "inconsistencies with the rest of the franchise." Like the Wikipedia page as a whole, the list is mainly supposition.
The diary does appear to be set in 1990 instead of 1989, though the series itself has many instances that set it in 1990, such as when Audrey searches through Emory Battis' notebook.
Laura's gravestone has 1972 as her year of birth, setting the series in 1990 if we're to believe Laura was seventeen when she died. Note that flowers cover the year of her passing, indicating it might read 1990. Laura's birthday in the diary is July 22, 1972, matching the date on the stone.
In the series, Hank says he was imprisoned for 18 months. If we set the series in 1989, the year 1987 matches. According to The Secret History of Twin Peaks, Hank was hired by Josie in September of 1987.
The same spelling discrepancies appear elsewhere in Twin Peaks books, merchandise, and scripts.
The Twin Peaks Access Guide to the Town spells Battis' first name as Amory.
The script for episode four (1.004, The One-Armed Man) has at least one instance of Ms. Ferguson's first name being spelled Madeline. "James stares at Madeline. She smiles back, uncomplicated." Vol.1, Number 3 of the Twin Peaks Gazette spells her name this way as well.
The scripts for episode 8 (2.001, May the Giant Be With You), episode 9 (2.002, Coma), episode 10 (2.003, The Man Behind Glass), and episode 14 (2.007, Lonely Souls) contain instances of Ronette being spelled Ronnette.
The script for episode 10 and the script for Fire Walk With Me spell Flesh World as one word.
The Star Pics Trading cards spell Shelly's name with an E. As does The Women of Twin Peaks Card.
This is true. Seeing as how Ms. Lynch incorporated information from scripts that was not always included in the televised episodes, one wonders if early drafts of the scripts were sometimes primary sources of information. Perhaps Maddy and Donna knew one another in an early premise.
My opinion is that Laura may have not been sexually abused by BOB when he first came to her. The way Laura writes at age 12 suggests she may never have had sex. She
was still learning about her body when she experienced her first period
in August. In September, she discovered that someone, possibly several
someones, had found and read her diary. She didn't write again for over a year.
BOB could have started sexually abusing her in that time. She is somewhat
changed with her return and writes of his abuse. In this scenario, she
could have been 12 when BOB began to sexually molest her. Laura's experience with Josh and Rick (when she is 13) seems to have been her first consensual sexual encounter. She later writes, after speaking with Donna, that she was able to do things she had wondered about for so long. At the same time, Donna noticed that her friend acted as though she was sexually experienced. She even asked Laura if she'd secretly been seeing a boy.
Some of Laura's earliest memories of BOB were of playing with him in the woods. This seems to be how he initially came to her. In an entry dated June 22, 1986 (p. 57) Laura describes how BOB used to cut her. This may have been the early abuse she suffered, why she would write I hope BOB doesn't come tonight so early in the novel.
From The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer,
"He first started to play with me. We would chase each other through
the woods, and he would always find me . . . but I could never find him.
He would come up from behind me and grab my shoulders and ask me
my name. I would tell him it was Laura Palmer, and he would let go and
turn me around and laugh. When I think about it, he wasn't playing the way he should have
been. He was being very mean to me, and he was scaring me all the
time. I think he likes it when I am frightened." (p. 57)
"A memory of skipping
I was small, looking up at him
Before he told me to lie down
Or to say things
Before he told me
That opening my mouth was bad
That we had a secret
Before he began to turn me inside
out
With his dirty claws
Before I sat on the tiny hill
We used to skip
Hold hands
Talk about what we saw
He told me what to see
But I didn't see it
I have been blind
I think
Ever since the skipping stopped."
(p. 53)
A slightly conflicting poem appears on page 12, written a few days after Laura's 12th birthday. A few lines follow,
"Come out and play come play
Lie still Lie still Lie still"
When Laura is fifteen she writes that she has a memory of skipping associated with BOB before he told her to lie down, though an entry from 1984, when she was twelve, indicates he may have already told her to "lie down". Though to 'lie still' may have been connected to BOB's practice of bloodletting. From Laura's description, "In a forest of trees again and again, I have been brought down.
Surgery of a strange and indescribable nature takes place. Blood is let." and "Sometimes he would cut me between my legs, and other
times he would cut me inside my mouth. Always tiny little cuts,
hundreds of tiny little cuts."
Also true, but in this case, the story in the diary predates the film.
Laura's scenes with the grandmother and her grandson are open to interpretation. We can't know if she knew them or not based on her behavior in the film. Laura seems confused and bewildered by the pair when she encounters them outside the Double R, but that might be because she believed the grandmother to be housebound. They may have about them the energy of the Black Lodge. If it is true that Laura did not know them, again, the diary predates the film. Jennifer Lynch is not at fault, and The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer shouldn't be discredited because of a later change.
In the series, Hank says he was imprisoned for 18 months. If we set the series in 1989, the year 1987 matches. According to The Secret History of Twin Peaks, Hank was hired by Josie in September of 1987.
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