Wild Palms
Without doubt one of the most singularly unusual television
shows in the history of the medium, Wild
Palms (obliquely referencing the Faulkner novel from which its
title is taken) is an ultra-paranoid political thriller that takes
place in world clearly reminiscent of David Lynch, whose own
unique foray into television, Twin
Peaks, concluded its broadcast two years before this was aired
in 1993 and was an obvious inspiration for the dream like ambience on
display here. It is important to keep Lynch in mind when watching
this series, the 6-episode entirety of which is available on this low
priced two-disc DVD, to fully appreciate and enjoy it. Like
Lynch's work, Wild Palms is
not overly worried about verisimilitude. That the action is
supposed to take place in the year 2007 adds to the fun of watching it
today.
In 1993 the world wide web was in its infancy and the ideas of what the
future of the this new medium would hold were informed more by the
works of science fiction author William Gibson (who makes a brief cameo
appearance early on) than by the reality on the ground, and are a bit
laughable to watch now a mere fourteen years in the future.
What is not laughable, however, is the creepy ultra-politicized world
of the future that is painted in Wild
Palms.
There is more than a whiff of accuracy here. The story employs a
staple of science fiction technique by taking aspects of ancient
history and tarting them up to make them look like a prophecy of what's
to come. In this case, the vicious internecine
inter-family/tribal warfare that Wild Palms
postulates as our future appears to be inspired by the bloodthirsty
struggles for power
that took place between and amongst the aristocracy of Europe -- both
temporal and religious -- as that continent consolidated its ascending
power between the 14th and 17th centuries; perhaps, specifically, that
involving the Borgias
(Rodrigo Borgia became Pope Alexander VI exactly 500 years before this
series was made, the year Columbus discovered America), but with Los
Angeles in place of Rome and Scientology instead of
Catholicism. Doing this is not without a point, however, as
it may be argued that the United States is currently going through an
equivalent phase in its history and
that is precisely when history is liable to repeat itself -- or, if not
repeat, then, at least, rhyme. Thus are all prophecies based, to
a degree, in a comprehension of history.
At
times, the screenplay seems
to be striving for the effects of the great Greek tragedies of
Aeschylus (although clearly falling short of achieving true
tragedy -- this is, when all is said and done, still a television show
made in Hollywood, and so, of course, there's a "happy" ending for the
lead; but if you discount this, the fates of every other character is a
tragic one: all overreach and all are destroyed through
their overreaching by their tragic flaw, which is, in all cases either
hubris or weakness) as well as aspects of classic
Japanese samurai epics. When all is taken into consideration,
however, it is, ultimately, paranoia that is at the core of this
work. Every statement made by every character at every moment is,
either wholly or partially, false. Every action contains a
deception. The entire world is nothing more -- and nothing less -- than
a complete and utter fabrication. Everyone is living a lie.
Wild Palms is, in certain
respects, what some critics might label a
"comic book" type story, in that characters are close to caricatures --
and the casting for this show was excellent in this regard -- whose
actions are often driven more by the demands of the over-arching plot
structure than by rational self interest, and much seems patently
absurd when taken at face value. But, as with comic books, it is
a mistake to take actions at face value, but rather it is more to the
point to view all as metaphor and allegory and to look for meaning in
patterns and relations between actions rather than in the actions
themselves. (although, clearly, this distinction/definition of "comic
books" as such has long since been invalidated; it is used here simply
to refer to a certain historical aspect of comic books that has been
usefully identified by critics as a shorthand for a specific approach
to narrative). Well, Wild Palms
did in fact originate as a comic strip feature, penned by Bruce Wagner
-- the author of the screenplay -- which appeared in one of the
previous incarnations of Details magazine.
For the intersection of dream life and political reality there has
never been a television show produced in the United States -- and few if any cinematic works -- to
rival this one. Wild Palms
brings to mind Buñuel's oeuvre to find works of equivalent
interest in this regard, such as Viridiana
and The Discreet Charm of the
Bourgeoisie.
Robert Loggia's performance as a ruthless nightmare combination of
corporate CEO (of media company no less), US Senator and religious
zealot must be singled out as an amazing tour de force embodiment of
all that is scary in the halls of power.
copacetic
price
- $19.77
NEW
STUFF!
¡NEW! copacetic search
prices and
availability
current as of 22 April 2006