IN the Wizard of Oz, the main characters were seeking something important in their lives: a heart, courage or a brain. The journey to resolve a character deficits was part of the LOST process.
What was the one thing lacking in each of the main character's make-up? What was the one thing that they were desperately looking for?
Locke: family.
Hurley: courage.
Kate: responsibility.
Ben: control.
Jack: true love.
Sayid: purpose.
Shannon: acceptance.
Charlie: sacrifice.
Michael: direction.
Walt: parental love.
Sun: acknowledgement.
Jin: wealth.
Claire: understanding.
Boone: protector role.
Sawyer: accountability.
Did the series give the main characters opportunities to find what they were looking for? Yes.
Did all of the main characters achieve what they were looking for? No.
Character motivations are powerful tools in story telling. But they mirror the motivations of real people in real life. Series like LOST should give the viewer pause to ask the powerful questions:
What was the one thing lacking in each of your
make-up? What was the one thing are you desperately looking for? What is your wish?
Showing posts with label wishes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wishes. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 14, 2016
Friday, February 28, 2014
A JINN THEORY
This is a Jin theory, but not a character based one.
Ancient cultures had beings called jinns who bridged between the human realm and the spiritual realm. They were described both as beneficial and evil. But in most instances, they came to people as messengers.
In Arabian and Muslim folklore jinns are ugly and evil demons having supernatural powers which they can bestow on persons having powers to call them up. In the Western world they are called genies.
Legend has it that King Solomon possessed a ring, probably a diamond, with which he called up jinns to help his armies in battle. The concept that this king employed the help of jinns may have originated from 1 Kings 6:7, "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought there, so there was neither hammer nor axe nor and tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building."
In Islam, jinns are fiery spirits (Qur'an 15:27) particularly associated with the desert. While they are disruptive of human life, they are considered worthy of being saved. A person dying in a state of great sin may be changed into a jinni in the period of a barzakh, separation or barrier.
The highest of the jinns is Iblis, the prince of darkness, or the Devil. The jinns were thought by some to be spirits that are lower than angels because they are made of fire and are not immortal. They can take on human and animal shapes to influence men to do good or evil.
They are quick to punish those indebted to them who do not follow their many rules.
In the "Arabian Nights" jinns or genies came from Aladdin's Lamp.
There are several myths concerning the home of the jinns. According to Persian mythology some of them live in a place called Jinnistan. Others say jinns live with other supernatural beings in the Kaf, mystical emerald mountains surrounding the earth.
There are many traits of genies in the show:
1. the smoke monster could represent a fire spirit and in the end, MIB was not immortal.
2. the events on the island were important to bridge the character's sideways lives, so the island could be considered a barrier world where jinns would occupy and help humans.
3. jinns don't follow rules and neither did the characters or the show's writers.
4. characters made several references to the Devil in the show, including towards Jacob.
5. the smoke monster could take on human and animal shapes like a jinn.
6. the island characters such as Jacob, MIB, Alpert, all tried to shape the castaways to do good or evil.
Throughout LOST, there were messengers in the form of flash back visions of things on the island, dead people giving characters information or direction, but at other times the past visions turned violent like with Eko's talk with his dead brother, Yemi, who turned into the smoke monster.
In Western fairy tales, a Genie in a bottle could mean a smoke like creature with intelligence and magical powers to grant wishes. The island could have been that bottle. It's "cork" was released and then re-set to capture the smoke monster apparently in human form. And the island in many respects did grant the characters wishes - - - such as Locke being able to become an outback hunter and leader; to Jack reconciling with his father. The island could have been one great second chance granted by Jacob, a jinn, to his candidates.
Ancient cultures had beings called jinns who bridged between the human realm and the spiritual realm. They were described both as beneficial and evil. But in most instances, they came to people as messengers.
In Arabian and Muslim folklore jinns are ugly and evil demons having supernatural powers which they can bestow on persons having powers to call them up. In the Western world they are called genies.
Legend has it that King Solomon possessed a ring, probably a diamond, with which he called up jinns to help his armies in battle. The concept that this king employed the help of jinns may have originated from 1 Kings 6:7, "And the house, when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought there, so there was neither hammer nor axe nor and tool of iron heard in the house, while it was in building."
In Islam, jinns are fiery spirits (Qur'an 15:27) particularly associated with the desert. While they are disruptive of human life, they are considered worthy of being saved. A person dying in a state of great sin may be changed into a jinni in the period of a barzakh, separation or barrier.
The highest of the jinns is Iblis, the prince of darkness, or the Devil. The jinns were thought by some to be spirits that are lower than angels because they are made of fire and are not immortal. They can take on human and animal shapes to influence men to do good or evil.
They are quick to punish those indebted to them who do not follow their many rules.
In the "Arabian Nights" jinns or genies came from Aladdin's Lamp.
There are several myths concerning the home of the jinns. According to Persian mythology some of them live in a place called Jinnistan. Others say jinns live with other supernatural beings in the Kaf, mystical emerald mountains surrounding the earth.
There are many traits of genies in the show:
1. the smoke monster could represent a fire spirit and in the end, MIB was not immortal.
2. the events on the island were important to bridge the character's sideways lives, so the island could be considered a barrier world where jinns would occupy and help humans.
3. jinns don't follow rules and neither did the characters or the show's writers.
4. characters made several references to the Devil in the show, including towards Jacob.
5. the smoke monster could take on human and animal shapes like a jinn.
6. the island characters such as Jacob, MIB, Alpert, all tried to shape the castaways to do good or evil.
Throughout LOST, there were messengers in the form of flash back visions of things on the island, dead people giving characters information or direction, but at other times the past visions turned violent like with Eko's talk with his dead brother, Yemi, who turned into the smoke monster.
In Western fairy tales, a Genie in a bottle could mean a smoke like creature with intelligence and magical powers to grant wishes. The island could have been that bottle. It's "cork" was released and then re-set to capture the smoke monster apparently in human form. And the island in many respects did grant the characters wishes - - - such as Locke being able to become an outback hunter and leader; to Jack reconciling with his father. The island could have been one great second chance granted by Jacob, a jinn, to his candidates.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
DESIRES
The
starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in
mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small fire makes a
small amount of heat.
— Napoleon Hill
Many characters had strong feelings of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. Ben informed Locke that the Island was a metaphoric "magic box" where wishes could be granted. In Locke's mind, he wanted to have a showdown with his father. He believed the island granted him that wish.
But desires can also include emotional feelings, sexual wants or an acceptance to belonging to someone else. Kate had numerous sexual relationships during the series but was left with an unfulfilled desire for lasting happiness.
Desire could also be the quest for status or achievement. Charlie always wished to be a rock star, and for one fleeting year he lived his dream. But that dream collapsed quickly under the trappings of stardom. On the opposite end, Hurley tried to run away from his fame and fortune.
Maybe opposites do attract like magnets. Charlie wanted the fame and fortune but Hurley despised it. On the island, they became good friends. Kate was always looking to run away from her problems while Jack ran head first into problems in order to solve them. The same could be true with Sawyer and Juliet. Even people in a close relationship had polar opposite beliefs. Rose was a realist on her cancer fate, while Bernard was a dreamer looking for a medical miracle in any corner of the planet. Sayid did the dangerous, hard, dirty work while Shannon was the rich girl who would not lift a finger to help another person.
Some people believe the whole story was just about the main characters finding their "soul mates."
This generalization has too many exceptions. Rose and Bernard were already soul mates before coming to the island. Locke and Boone never found their soul mates because they were alone in the end church.
Was the final bonding moment commonality? The reason Charlie gravitated towards Claire and her baby was that Charlie was alone in the world. He wanted to have a family, his own family. But his drug addiction and fleeting fame made it impossible for him to correct his path. Claire was also on a downward path. Her car accident destroyed her family relationships with her mother and sister. Her boyfriend dumped her. She wanted to have her own stable family life, but thought she could not do it alone.
The one common trait Hurley and Libby had was that they were both institutionalized at a mental hospital. It was strange that Hurley never recognized Libby from their time together in the same day room at Santa Rosa when the Tailies were reunited with the beach survivors. And we really have no motivations or desires from Libby that matches what Hurley was thinking or feeling about his life.
Then again, one would be hard pressed to find anything in common between Jack and Kate or Sawyer and Juliet. Medical professionals whose oath is to do no harm are matched in the after life with murderous criminals. Were Kate and Sawyer the best Jack and Juliet could do?
Maybe a closer analogy is that the island's wishing well was more like an internet dating/match site. There may be some good matches, but most of the output data is just random pairings.
Many characters had strong feelings of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen. Ben informed Locke that the Island was a metaphoric "magic box" where wishes could be granted. In Locke's mind, he wanted to have a showdown with his father. He believed the island granted him that wish.
But desires can also include emotional feelings, sexual wants or an acceptance to belonging to someone else. Kate had numerous sexual relationships during the series but was left with an unfulfilled desire for lasting happiness.
Desire could also be the quest for status or achievement. Charlie always wished to be a rock star, and for one fleeting year he lived his dream. But that dream collapsed quickly under the trappings of stardom. On the opposite end, Hurley tried to run away from his fame and fortune.
Maybe opposites do attract like magnets. Charlie wanted the fame and fortune but Hurley despised it. On the island, they became good friends. Kate was always looking to run away from her problems while Jack ran head first into problems in order to solve them. The same could be true with Sawyer and Juliet. Even people in a close relationship had polar opposite beliefs. Rose was a realist on her cancer fate, while Bernard was a dreamer looking for a medical miracle in any corner of the planet. Sayid did the dangerous, hard, dirty work while Shannon was the rich girl who would not lift a finger to help another person.
Some people believe the whole story was just about the main characters finding their "soul mates."
This generalization has too many exceptions. Rose and Bernard were already soul mates before coming to the island. Locke and Boone never found their soul mates because they were alone in the end church.
Was the final bonding moment commonality? The reason Charlie gravitated towards Claire and her baby was that Charlie was alone in the world. He wanted to have a family, his own family. But his drug addiction and fleeting fame made it impossible for him to correct his path. Claire was also on a downward path. Her car accident destroyed her family relationships with her mother and sister. Her boyfriend dumped her. She wanted to have her own stable family life, but thought she could not do it alone.
The one common trait Hurley and Libby had was that they were both institutionalized at a mental hospital. It was strange that Hurley never recognized Libby from their time together in the same day room at Santa Rosa when the Tailies were reunited with the beach survivors. And we really have no motivations or desires from Libby that matches what Hurley was thinking or feeling about his life.
Then again, one would be hard pressed to find anything in common between Jack and Kate or Sawyer and Juliet. Medical professionals whose oath is to do no harm are matched in the after life with murderous criminals. Were Kate and Sawyer the best Jack and Juliet could do?
Maybe a closer analogy is that the island's wishing well was more like an internet dating/match site. There may be some good matches, but most of the output data is just random pairings.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
