LOSTOZ

For an unrelated reason, the childhood film, The Wizard of Oz, popped into my head.

Many fans have thought to find parallels of other literary works in LOST. The Hollywood saying is that nothing is ever original. I don't recall whether anyone actually made an illusions to the Oz story framework to the LOST adventure story.

It does have some of the general elements. There is a dog. There is a girl. And there are some mixed up people found in a weird, supernatural place.

As Oz is a nickname for Australia, which played a prominent setting in the series.

So whether the LOST saga is a re-telling of the Oz story is going to be a stretch. But, why not?

The easiest connection to both is the dog; Vincent as Toto. But that leads to an immediate problem. Walt was the owner of Vincent, and he left the island fairly early in the story line. Toto's owner, Dorothy, was the centerpiece character. Walt was not. But later in the series, Shannon took over care and custody of Walt.

Shannon was supposed to be a more important character in the original writer's guide. She was not the girl next store type (like Kate), but an attractive, selfish, rich snob who would have been totally out of place on the island. The idea that the island survival world would be filtered through such a character would have been okay.

Which character needed some courage? Hurley would have been a prime example of a shy, self-conscious individual who needed support to do just about anything, including asking a girl out on a date. The island would give Hurley many opportunities to learn and apply courage.

Which character needed some heart? Sawyer only held a black heart close to his vest. He did not feel for any other person; it was all a means to a con man's end. His life was solely focused on revenge for his parents deaths. The island would give Sawyer the opportunity to feel compassion and purpose.

Which character needed a brain? Locke did not think things fully through (most of the time). He had difficulty putting his ideas into reasonable action plans. He was a horrible judge of character. He rarely learned from his mistakes. The island would give Locke opportunities to learn about himself, learn to interact with other people, and learn to judge character.

So it is possible to fit LOST characters into the format of the Oz story. In fact, the original story line had Sawyer and Shannon becoming a couple, which would solve two problems: Shannon "finding" a purpose in her life, and Sawyer finding a person he could love. Hurley would find the courage to ask Libby out; and later, the courage to accept responsibility to the island protector. Locke would let his emotion override his brain's common sense, but he was the first person to figure out that the island was a magical place that needed his protection.

But the Oz story had a linear path. The gold pavers were to lead the cast to the Wizard, and for Dorothy, her wish to return home. In LOST, there was no golden road to a castle. The closest thing would have been the lighthouse and Jacob as the man behind the curtain.  But of the LostOz cast, only Hurley got to that lighthouse. And that meeting with Jacob did not give Hurley any more courage to forge ahead to confront MIB.

One could argue the golden brick road was symbolic as the characters path to heaven. Heaven (sideways world view) was the alleged end game to LOST, but not to Oz.