When one connects the cross Numbers on a clock face, you get the following result:
8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.
These numbers could be important because they form the basis of the formative years of a person's personal growth.
At common law, the age of 7 was deemed the age of reason. A person was expected to know the difference between right and wrong.
The age of 18 confirms adulthood. A person is emancipated from their parent's guardianship. They can join the military, make contracts, get married, etc.
How one what acts and behaves during the time between age 8 and 18 is important. What were the parental guidance? What were the environmental factors? What were the support mechanisms? Did the person learn values, goals and ethics? Did he or she fall in the wrong crowd?
Look at the people devoid of parental love and attention:
Locke.
Ben.
Sawyer (after his parents were killed).
Look at people who only had the attention of one parent:
Hurley.
Kate.
Shannon.
Walt.
Claire.
Jin.
Look at people who had a "normal" upbringing:
Jack.
Sun.
Sayid.
In the "normal" group, Jack had the upper middle class upbringing which led him to become a highly respected surgeon. He was smart, encouraged, had the means and opportunity to get a large slice of the American Dream. But in the end, was he a happy person?
Sun came from a very wealthy family. She was repressed by class status and her Korean culture. The only way she could get attention and feel independent was to rebel against her father in the worst possible way: by marrying a poor man. But even that goal did not make her a happy person.
Sayid grew up in a tight family setting in Iraq. His household was ruled by a strict father and a demanding culture. Sayid did what he had to do - - - such as butchering an animal his older brother could not do - - - which gave himself value to the group. And that need to be valuable in a group was the anchor that dragged his personal ambition and happiness down.
In many ways, the characters brought up by one parent have two common traits: loneliness and selfishness. Hurley was raised by his strict mother after his father left. She was religious and pushy, especially about his social life. That caused Hurley to eat to repress his social life. As a result, his mother enabled him to become a shy, quiet, dependent child who would never want to leave the artificial womb of her home. It is selfish to stay with a parent when, with any personal drive, you should be on your own. Claire had a similar relationship with her mother. Her mother wanted her to settle on a normal path, but Claire had a wild streak. They would fight over trivial matters. The last argument led to her mother's severe and fatal injuries.
You can add bitterness to characters like Kate and Walt. They were given a relatively carefree life, their needs being met by their mothers, but they were not very grateful. Each would act up in a controlled tantrum for attention. Then they were upset when things did not go their way, not understanding that it is the effort you have to put in yourself to get the result you want.
The characters who lost their parents early in the childhood, Ben, Locke and Sawyer, all had one driving trait: criminality. Their moral compasses did not have the bearings that parents instill in their children. Ben was beaten down daily by his alcoholic father who blamed Ben for his own shortcomings and lousy life. Locke's known abandonment was reinforced like a knife blade in his back each day he was in a foster home. Sawyer could only think of revenge after his father committed murder-suicide because of a con-man's trick on the family. Each would cross paths in the criminal world and go with its flow, including Locke - - - in seeking a "family" would have been fine living in a drug selling commune if they would accept him.
They say there is good and bad in everyone. What dominates a person's adulthood comes from what happens when a child is 8 to 18 years old. Each of LOST's main characters personalities were crystallized by events that happened in their childhoods.
Showing posts with label reason. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reason. Show all posts
Thursday, July 7, 2016
Saturday, December 14, 2013
POLAR BEARS
There are many theories about why polar bears were on the island.
The first theory was that Dharma brought polar bears to the island to manipulate their genes so they could adapt to warmer temperatures. Some believe evidence of this is contained on the Blast Door map which stated "STATED GOAL, REPATRIATION ACCELERATED DE-TERRITORIALIZATION OF URSUS MARITIMUS THROUGH GENE THERAPY AND EXTREME CLIMATE CHANGE." If Dharma was concerned about "the end of the world" through global collapse of the environment, it could have been looking to find a way for animals and humans to adapt to the massive eco-disaster as foretold by the Valenzetti Equation.
However, the gene experimentation on the polar bears seems weak considering that most American zoos have polar bear exhibits in climates well above the natural Arctic habitat.
The second theory was that Dharma was using polar bears to train them to do certain tasks. When Sawyer and Kate were locked up in the cages, Mr. Friendly told them the bears took little time figuring out how to receive fish biscuits from the cage machine.
Dharma was training polar bears to turn the frozen donkey wheel in order to move the island. The evidence of that is the polar bear (with Dharma dog tag) skeleton found in the Tunisia desert, around the same place as Ben wound up after he turned the frozen donkey wheel. We can assume that the early Dharma folks were concerned about the energy fields, as it killed at least one worker in the Orchid station. As a result, the science team conditioned the polar bear, a strong animal, to move the donkey wheel so as not to risk human life. Polar bears were chosen because they could tolerate the cold chamber where the wheel was located (which in itself is contra-indicated because the deeper one goes below the surface of the earth, the hotter it would get). But after some time, the concern over humans using the donkey wheel must have subsided as both Ben and Locke turned it and wound up okay in the desert halfway across the globe.
A third theory is more simple: polar bears were brought to the island to mess with visitor's minds. Dharma was all about mind control (see, Room 23). What is more disorienting to a visitor in a tropical jungle than being confronted by a large polar bear? The expression on Sawyer's face was priceless when he was firing rounds at the charging polar bear. It also brought to the the first major mystery, as spoken by Charlie to the fans, of "where are we?" This mystery of what was the island; where was it located; and what was its purpose is still unresolved.
But some may consider the polar bears as another writer twist of throwing something that should not belong in the normal course of events. It is a prop designed to confuse viewers with the aura of mystery but with no answers forthcoming (i.e. the theory that the writers were just making up things as they went along to keep fan interest whether it made sense or not).
The polar bears could also symbolize the main characters: people who were out of their normal place, being manipulated by forces unknown to them, and losing control over their own lives.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
REVIEW: THEORIES PART 5
The producers were adamant that the characters were not dead, they were not in purgatory, and that the events on the island were real. That is what they said outside the context of the actual show. They never explained within the show those alleged facts. They have only painted a large canvas with gray mud.
But many people believed that the characters "Had to Be on the Island for a Reason." Otherwise, what would be the point.
Supporters of this point of view try to connect the pre-island dots or interactions between the characters. Their conclusion is that all the survivors were fated, as John Locke has said, to be on the Flight 815, and to end up on the island. In other words, the island chose them to do something important.
No one has pieced together The Six Separations of Jack Shepherd but it would probably not be too difficult. Those with connections to Jack through his father included Ana Lucia as Christian's bodyguard and Sawyer as Christian's drinking buddy. The pre-island connections between castaways keep adding up. And incidents like Claire’s psychic convincing her to take the fatal flight (and playing a part in Eko getting on), Hurley making the flight despite all odds, Jack talking his way (or, his dad's body's way) on board and Sawyer getting deported lend a lot of support. But then again, it gets weak with characters like Sayid who had no connections to the US until he was deported from Australia after a botched CIA mission against his childhood friend.
The strong assumption is that every character we see seems to have had a reason for being on Flight 815 instead of other flights. But the reason why everyone had to be on the island was never stated to us.
First, we were led to believe that this was a mere survival story. "Lie together or die alone."
Then, we were led to believe that this was a rescue story with Michael's raft.
Then, we were led to believe that this was a story of conflict between the survivors and the Others, who claimed the island for themselves.
Then, we were led to believe that this was a story about human redemption in the face of cruel behavior, manipulation, threats and pain such as the conflicted decision of Jack to sacrifice himself to save others in exchange to heal Ben's condition.
Then, we were led to believe that the characters were needed to save the island from destruction, especially when it began to time skip.
Finally, we were led to believe that the characters were needed to save the world from MIB escaping the island.
Looking back, the main characters never really accomplished any of those story lines. The characters ran around the island like rats in a laboratory maze. Any accomplishments were minor and short lived. Some leaders became followers, some followers became leaders, and many ended up as mere pawns.
The producers had said "there’s a rational, scientific explanation for everything that’s happened so far," was received with a lot of skepticism when the story lines turned toward new themes such as the faith and mysticism. The reason why the characters had to be on the island is still unknown. Statements such as to "fulfill their destiny" or "redeem themselves" don't make sense in the isolation of the island. The main characters on the island did not change their behavior much. Sayid came to the island as a torturer and died a tortured man. Kate came to the island as a escapee and escaped the island as a runaway from responsibility.
Evangeline Lilly once said, "Lost is a very big metaphor for every single character's mental state of being, psychological, and emotional state of being and we're on this island to be mentally, psychologically, and emotionally found. We were all chosen specifically because we will facilitate that for one another."
If the reason the characters were brought together for "group therapy," I think that reasoning would irk fans more than the purgatory theory.
Reason is a cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event. There has to be good or obvious cause to do something: to survive, to get rescued, to work together to make a new society. The last season did not give our characters any reason to fight for or against Jacob and MIB. There was no goal or tangible reward for any character that was directly related to defeating MIB.
No logical presumptions support LOST's final conclusion. There needs to be a close connection between reason and emotion; what is right, practical, or possible. Common sense dictates that we think, understand, and then form judgments by a process of analysis entirely from facts. The fact is that we still do not know what MIB/Flocke is/was. We still do not know why MIB could be "killed" when he was never human in the first place. And the finale "gotcha!" moment with Kate shooting MIB and Jack kicking him over the cliff did not resolve any emotional attachment between Jack and Kate. She left him to die alone.
But many people believed that the characters "Had to Be on the Island for a Reason." Otherwise, what would be the point.
Supporters of this point of view try to connect the pre-island dots or interactions between the characters. Their conclusion is that all the survivors were fated, as John Locke has said, to be on the Flight 815, and to end up on the island. In other words, the island chose them to do something important.
No one has pieced together The Six Separations of Jack Shepherd but it would probably not be too difficult. Those with connections to Jack through his father included Ana Lucia as Christian's bodyguard and Sawyer as Christian's drinking buddy. The pre-island connections between castaways keep adding up. And incidents like Claire’s psychic convincing her to take the fatal flight (and playing a part in Eko getting on), Hurley making the flight despite all odds, Jack talking his way (or, his dad's body's way) on board and Sawyer getting deported lend a lot of support. But then again, it gets weak with characters like Sayid who had no connections to the US until he was deported from Australia after a botched CIA mission against his childhood friend.
The strong assumption is that every character we see seems to have had a reason for being on Flight 815 instead of other flights. But the reason why everyone had to be on the island was never stated to us.
First, we were led to believe that this was a mere survival story. "Lie together or die alone."
Then, we were led to believe that this was a rescue story with Michael's raft.
Then, we were led to believe that this was a story of conflict between the survivors and the Others, who claimed the island for themselves.
Then, we were led to believe that this was a story about human redemption in the face of cruel behavior, manipulation, threats and pain such as the conflicted decision of Jack to sacrifice himself to save others in exchange to heal Ben's condition.
Then, we were led to believe that the characters were needed to save the island from destruction, especially when it began to time skip.
Finally, we were led to believe that the characters were needed to save the world from MIB escaping the island.
Looking back, the main characters never really accomplished any of those story lines. The characters ran around the island like rats in a laboratory maze. Any accomplishments were minor and short lived. Some leaders became followers, some followers became leaders, and many ended up as mere pawns.
The producers had said "there’s a rational, scientific explanation for everything that’s happened so far," was received with a lot of skepticism when the story lines turned toward new themes such as the faith and mysticism. The reason why the characters had to be on the island is still unknown. Statements such as to "fulfill their destiny" or "redeem themselves" don't make sense in the isolation of the island. The main characters on the island did not change their behavior much. Sayid came to the island as a torturer and died a tortured man. Kate came to the island as a escapee and escaped the island as a runaway from responsibility.
Evangeline Lilly once said, "Lost is a very big metaphor for every single character's mental state of being, psychological, and emotional state of being and we're on this island to be mentally, psychologically, and emotionally found. We were all chosen specifically because we will facilitate that for one another."
If the reason the characters were brought together for "group therapy," I think that reasoning would irk fans more than the purgatory theory.
Reason is a cause, explanation, or justification for an action or event. There has to be good or obvious cause to do something: to survive, to get rescued, to work together to make a new society. The last season did not give our characters any reason to fight for or against Jacob and MIB. There was no goal or tangible reward for any character that was directly related to defeating MIB.
No logical presumptions support LOST's final conclusion. There needs to be a close connection between reason and emotion; what is right, practical, or possible. Common sense dictates that we think, understand, and then form judgments by a process of analysis entirely from facts. The fact is that we still do not know what MIB/Flocke is/was. We still do not know why MIB could be "killed" when he was never human in the first place. And the finale "gotcha!" moment with Kate shooting MIB and Jack kicking him over the cliff did not resolve any emotional attachment between Jack and Kate. She left him to die alone.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
