Cast: Louise Bonner

LouiseBonnerLeeGrant

Sex	Female	Quote: "Someone is in trouble … something bad is happening."
Age	70s
Address	1612 Havenhurst, L.A.
Occupation	Former actress, widow?
Fashion style	Black dress, black veil
Relationship	Coco, Aunt Ruth
Doppelganger	Cookie, Woman in #12?, Bum?

Cassandra archetype

Cassandra (or Greek oracle Pythia), was giving enigmatic warnings about future events, without being really heard. This strange lady is only saying "someone is in trouble", then she is stopped in her prediction by Coco, who takes her back to her apartment.


Louise Bonner	Log Lady in Twin Peaks

Louise seems to be in the tradition of other 'psychically sensitive' Lynch characters... characters that see things and speak in omens. As such, I think she is very closely related to Dan (the first one to see the Winkie's bum). Since all the characters within Diane's dream represent (among other things) projections of her fears and desires, it's not much of a stretch to imagine Louise putting voice to this splitting, just as Dan puts voice to the same thing earlier on. And perhaps, when Louise mentions 'that one' in her room, the SHE that won't leave, she too is talking about the man behind Winkie's (whom we know is played by a woman and symbolizes Diane's dark side). She's obviously seen things before (Coco: 'sometimes she's wrong'), so I don't think it's a stretch to conclude from this that what she's describing could be a vision or perhaps better yet, a visitation from the Winkie's entity.

So, instead of being a manifestation of the Winkie's bum, I think Louise Bonner is perhaps more of a medium ~ one of those characters (like the Giant and Log Lady from TP) who bridges this world/dimension with that other one we only get glimpses of every now and then... a prophet who can sense evil/darkness (which explains why the Winkie's bum might be visible to her as with Dan). - (Neely O'Hara)

To understand the identity of Louise Bonner we need to unravel her symbolism. Since she is wearing all black she has power of some sort. Since she is acting like a medium, she must be a powerful one. Who then is she channeling? It's not Aunt Ruth, because she came to the apartment expecting to speak to Aunt Ruth. Since Louise is in a dream world, the other world to communicate with would be the real world of Diane Selwyn. Like the arrows on the side of the Winkie's, I think Diane Selwyn is trying to give important information to our characters, but this time through Louise. "Someone is in trouble," refers both to the Rita persona and to Diane Selwyn who is descending into a suicidal depression. Clearly when Louise says, "No it's not" she's referring to the fact that Betty is not Diane's real name. You might say that Diane realizes that the fantasy is taking a turn for the worse, and she is trying to wake up before the things end horribly. There is a truth waiting to be discovered that would destroy the innocence of the Betty character, perhaps for good, and with Betty gone, any hope of holding on to something to live for would be gone as well. Of course, Betty still thinks her hope lies in connecting with the Rita persona, even though that was never the right path for her. And the Rita persona's doom is coming, as we can see by the look of terror on Rita's face after Louise has delivered her premonition. Just as the grandmother probably wanted Diane out because of the infidelity, so too does Diane's vindictive side want to completely erase Camilla and Rita from existence because of Camilla's betrayal of the love-struck Diane. - (Alan Shaw)

Louise Bonner is dressed in black, in what appear to be mourning clothes - she symbolizes Diane's remorse and guilty conscience (as is Dan - but I think Louise is a stronger, more urgent presence). She may even represent bad memories. Perhaps when she says "That one won't leave my room" etc., Louise (as Diane's guilt) is referring to her feelings of being haunted by Camilla, and being unable to shake her from her memory. By "room", she actually means "head". - (woodlouse)

Ruth's relationship to Louise Bonner evidences the idea that Ruth is aware that Betty is not Betty while also demonstrating her attempts to deconstruct Diane's fantasy. During Louise's brief scene, she and Betty have the following conversation:

Louise: "Someone is in trouble. Who are you? What are you doing in Ruth's apartment?"
Betty: "She's letting me stay here. I'm her niece. My name's Betty."
Louise: "No it's not. That's not what she said. Someone is in trouble, something bad is happening."

Coco interrupts their dialogue but before Louise departs she looks in the doorway, notices Rita and says: "No, she said someone else was in trouble." Louise challenges Betty's identity by suggesting that Ruth mentioned to her that Betty is not actually Betty. Ruth sends Louise to demonstrate her awareness of Rita's presence within her house, her knowledge of Betty's real identity, and her insight into the currents of Rita's situation. - (Jordan and Kelly Chambers)

In my opinion, this is why we saw the Beatrice Cenci painting again right before Betty came to the door. Louise is now referring to the incest, and I believe she is taking on the role of Diane's mother figure, like Lorraine did. And Louise is wearing black, like Lorraine was before putting on the blue dress. In the Beatrice Cenci story, the mother's name began with an "L," Lucrezia. So I believe that both Louise's and Lorraine's name begins with an "L" for that reason, and I believe that their long blonde hair is to show you that they are related to Diane, although they do not entirely represent her character. And the mother figure's anger ultimately drives out Diane, just as Adam was driven out of his home when he was representing Diane trying to go back home. Louise Bonner is unhappy that Betty is there, because as Diane's mother figure she had always wanted her out ever since she found Diane in her bedroom. - (Alan Shaw)

Did anyone ever view Coco and Louise as ... past lovers? The way Coco looked at Betty uneasily when Louise grabbed her hand and began to talk about "that one," it just seemed to be more than a wish to not freak out her friend Ruth's niece. It seemed like there was far more to the relationship between Louise and Coco. Something Coco wanted to hide. - (woolfspersona)

The nature and timing of Louise's appearance has ALWAYS reminded me of the Spanish street flower lady in 'A Streetcar Named Desire' - who comes to Blanche's door calling "flores para los muertos" (flowers for the dead) just as Blanche's entire world is falling apart, when all of her illusions are beginning to disintegrate... her appearance is so reminiscent of Louise's warning/declaration: "something bad is happening!". - (Neely O'Hara)

Thread: Rita's Ouija Board - (blu)