Culture

What Made Twin Peaks’ Denise Such a Radical Trans Character on TV

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At a time when trans characters on TV and film were killers, villains, or just mocked, the equality accorded to David Duchovny’s Denise in ‘Twin Peaks’ stood out.

articles/2017/04/30/what-made-twin-peaks-denise-such-a-radical-trans-character-on-tv/170430-allen-david-duchovny-twin-peaks-tease_sa2fic
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“OK.”

That’s how Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) reacts in the second season of Twin Peaks when his former colleague Dennis Bryson (David Duchovny) reintroduces herself to him as Denise—not “Wow!” or “Huh?” but a prosaic, matter-of-fact “OK.”

Later that day at a wedding reception, Cooper slips up and calls the...

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