The
sky has never been the limit. We are our own limits. It's then about
breaking our personal limits and outgrowing ourselves to live our best
lives.
— Unknown
The strengths and weaknesses of any character is his or her strengths and weaknesses. Those characteristics are either physical, emotional, cultural, environmental, chemical or mental.
What were the personal limitations of the main characters?
Jack's potential seems to have been met when he became a highly qualified spinal surgeon. However, his personal and emotional state was in question based upon his failed marriage and strained relationship with his father. As a result, Jack had no strong support group of family or friends.
Kate's potential seems to have never been met. She was a tomboy turned tom cat. She never made much of her life. She had no career. She had no real job. She was self centered and looked to an easy way to charm herself out of difficulties. The time she lashed out of her status quo, she blew up her house and father, which did not lead to any personal growth but a long criminal record. She was a loner who would rather run than stand up for his actions.
Locke's personal growth was stunted as a boy. He was intelligent enough to become a professional but he wanted to be liked more by his peers than to accomplish anything for himself. As a result, he wandered through his life in meaningless jobs. He never broke through his personal limits because his self-induced depression led him to fantasy diversions. He was a loner.
Hurley's personal growth was like Locke's. It was stunted as a young boy when his father left the family. He was raised by a religious mother. Unlike Locke, Hurley accepted what he was told to do. But he was shy, overweight, introverted and not good at anything in particular (academics, sports, arts, etc.) Hurley was basically stuck in a fast food worker minimum wage rut. He seemed to have accepted his limitations because he rarely tried to stand up for himself. He was a loner.
Sawyer's personal growth also ended when his parents died. His family life after his parents' deaths is unclear, but Sawyer's deep rooted revenge ethic morphed into the adult con man whom he had hated as a child. He did not have any earth shattering dreams or ambitions. He was self-centered, self-reliant but extremely lonely. He maintains his loner status even on the island.
Sayid seemed to have detoured when he joined the wrong crowd, the Iraqi Republican Guard. In a closed dictatorship run by madmen, it is hard to imagine that a young boy would have the ability to name his own development course and career path. As a result of being a soldier, the dark side of Sayid's character came out. He did what he had to do. That meant torture and murder. That meant that he became a human tool to do other men's dirty work. His own personal goals and aspirations were killed long before he came to the island. He was also a loner amid the group on the island.
By far, Jin broke his personal limitations of being a poor fisherman to marrying a wealthy heiress, Sun. He outgrew his limited education to become a respected person in society. But his success was tempered by the fact that Jin also became a tool for a power man, his father-in-law. Jin wanted wealth, respect and power - - - which he achieved, but at the personal cost of any emotional stability in his marriage. As a result, Jin housed an inner bitterness that his early dream had turned into a waking nightmare.
Only Jin had the hope of outgrowing his situation by growing together with Sun. The rest of the above characters did not have anyone to help them on any path of self-discovery or change. Jack, Kate, Hurley, Sawyer, Locke and Sayid were all destined by their pasts to live out meaningless lives alone. So the one thing that the series allegedly resolved was this deep loner status of these characters. The island was the opportunity for them to "find" someone to re-direct them on a better path to a more fulfilling life.
Maybe that is the one lesson from the end: in order to break one's personal limitations, you need another person to share your pain, sorrow and dreams.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Saturday, September 14, 2013
TIME TRAVEL RULES
The component of time travel in the LOST story line was probably one of the most debated elements to the series. Many considered it a "jump the shark" script moment. Others thought that it could lead to The Answers of the Island's mysteries.
Even though LOST is fictional, writers and physicists have discussed "realistic" attitudes toward the genre of time travel in literature. In any time travel story, one needs a solid starting point to explain the trigger or reason for the time travel. For example, in the novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, which tells the story of Henry DeTamble, a man with a rare genetic disorder that causes him to skip around in time. Or a widely seen film series, Back to the Future, in which a tricked-out DeLorean must reach 88 mph with a massive jolt of energy to jump into the past.
If you can never change history, this would mean that choices in the present set in concrete that could never be changed. Concurrently, one could argue that time travel itself would do nothing to change the future because the past is irrevocable. Nothing you would do in the past would be applicable when you returned to the present since the past had not changed. If you use the wisdom, knowledge or events of the past to make current decisions, one could also say that choice was influenced by the experience or still random causation which may or may not have happened anyway.
4. There are limits to a person's free will.
If one cannot change the past, the same would seem to be true in time travel to the future. This would mean that the time history line is already be written - - - fate, predetermined by the universe, and not by any human decision. Future events are predetermined in the single universe theory.
People must succumb to their destiny even if you don't know what the future will bring; it certainly seems like you've got free choice in your life actions. But if you traveled in time to see the future, the time traveler has already seen what his destiny is, then the future is already written. The future is then locked in stone. Making that self-consistent future play out is one of the great challenges of time-travel fiction.
Theorists compare this to the grandfather paradox. The pool ball example is cited as a paradox. If you shoot a pool ball into a time machine and it returns just a moment before you make the shot, it would block your original shot thereby preventing the original action (shot) from entering the time machine in the first place. But since the ball made it to the time machine means that it will return without interrupting the shot (such as coming back at a slightly different angle.) As a result, pool balls are forced to succumb to their destiny, so can people. Time travelers may have a feeling of free choice where none really exists.
It seems that LOST broke all four of these fundamental time travel rules. LOST showed us a parallel or alternative sideways universe. There was no explanation of when the island time machine was created when our Losties began to time skip from the 1950s to the 1970s back to the present. The frozen donkey wheel was thought to have been the mechanism to "hide" the island or move it in space, but not necessarily in time. The wheel being stuck (causing the skips) would mean that Locke may not have been able to get back down the well to a relevant time period (because he was alternatively skipping) that would allow time to return to normal. This time skip only affected a few but not all of the people alive in the same place as the time travelers. The time travelers went back in time before they were born. Daniel was killed by his mother which should have been a paradox where Daniel would have never been born or arrived on the island. And the concept of free will is nullified in time travel to the future since things are set in stone. None of the time travelers can change their fate. There was no free will vs. faith choice. The events in flashback 1974 could not have influenced or changed the island present. But it seemed it did.
And that is the problem with the LOST time travel arc. It is a mess. If you are going to promulgate a non-standard time travel theory, you need to clearly explain its rules so it makes some logical sense. You can have a series that breaks or changes these rules. For example, Doctor Who proposes multiple independent universes. The Doctor's machine, TARDIS, can displace time and space. He can influence and change outcomes of events both past and future (so it seems) but there are certain "fixed" points in time that even he cannot alter. But the key piece of the story is that the Doctor has special wisdom of a Time Lord who is the master, guardian, gatekeeper and overlord to the time continuum. That gives that series the mythological structure to fly off on acceptable time adventures.
LOST's time travel arc was disappointing on all levels. It did not take into consideration standard time travel methodology. It failed to explain how it worked. It made huge inconsistencies in how it affected individual time travelers and the people around them in an illogical fashion. And worst of all, the time travel story line had no impact on the ending.
Even though LOST is fictional, writers and physicists have discussed "realistic" attitudes toward the genre of time travel in literature. In any time travel story, one needs a solid starting point to explain the trigger or reason for the time travel. For example, in the novel, The Time Traveler's Wife, which tells the story of Henry DeTamble, a man with a rare genetic disorder that causes him to skip around in time. Or a widely seen film series, Back to the Future, in which a tricked-out DeLorean must reach 88 mph with a massive jolt of energy to jump into the past.
Physicists have many theories about how time travel should work. In 2009, a Toronto Star article indicated that physicists theorize a way to exploit Einstein's theory of general
relativity to come up with "practical" models of time machines. Kip
Thorne, in Black Holes & Time Warps, describes how wormholes can be successfully used to travel back in time, while in Time Travel in Einstein's Universe,
J. Richard Gott does the same with gargantuan cosmic strings –
threadlike concentrations of matter of almost unimaginable density and
length – moving at close to the speed of light.
Quality fiction, like science itself, still needs to abide by a few fundamental ground
rules. Time travel needs a foundational base in order to have viewers or reader's to "buy in" to the premise.
Generally speaking, literary guides come up with the following fundamental rules.
1. We are in only one universe.
Experts point out that there's no evidence to support the notion that parallel universes exist. More importantly, Einstein's theory of general relativity – the branch of physics that might make time travel possible – doesn't take kindly to the idea. Every solution to Einstein's equations involves just a single universe.
On the flip side, in 1957, physicist Hugh Everett proposed what has become known as the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics was one of the great breakthroughs of the 20th century, and it predicted, among much else, that the motions of electrons and other small particles are fundamentally random. Everett, then at the Pentagon, wondered whether the universe wasn't branching off into two nearly identical copies each time one of these random events occurred. Since there are lots of particles in the universe and they move around and interact very quickly, these parallel universes would multiply almost without limit.
The problem with the parallel universe concept in fiction is that the events in the main universe time line become irrelevant or less compelling because it does not matter what action the character does, the parallel universes will balance things out. Human beings believe that they have one body, one mind, one heart and one soul. We do not have a core belief that we are concurrently "living" in multiple universes.
2. You cannot go back in time to a time "before" your time machine was created.
Generally speaking, literary guides come up with the following fundamental rules.
1. We are in only one universe.
Experts point out that there's no evidence to support the notion that parallel universes exist. More importantly, Einstein's theory of general relativity – the branch of physics that might make time travel possible – doesn't take kindly to the idea. Every solution to Einstein's equations involves just a single universe.
On the flip side, in 1957, physicist Hugh Everett proposed what has become known as the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics was one of the great breakthroughs of the 20th century, and it predicted, among much else, that the motions of electrons and other small particles are fundamentally random. Everett, then at the Pentagon, wondered whether the universe wasn't branching off into two nearly identical copies each time one of these random events occurred. Since there are lots of particles in the universe and they move around and interact very quickly, these parallel universes would multiply almost without limit.
The problem with the parallel universe concept in fiction is that the events in the main universe time line become irrelevant or less compelling because it does not matter what action the character does, the parallel universes will balance things out. Human beings believe that they have one body, one mind, one heart and one soul. We do not have a core belief that we are concurrently "living" in multiple universes.
2. You cannot go back in time to a time "before" your time machine was created.
In Einstein's universe, space and time are curved and very
closely related to each other. This means that traveling through time
would be much like traveling through a tunnel in space – in which case
you'd need both an entrance and an exit. As a time traveler, you can't
visit an era unless there's already a time machine when you get there – the "
an off-ramp" required for any time destination.
This time-machine
construction clause is one of the most often overlooked of the rules of
time travel. The movie Terminator proposed a single historical line (or loop) with no alternate universes. Machines along the time loop would act like stations on a subway. The Time Traveler's Wife is more clever as the main character "is the time machine," his time travel is limited because he can't visit
any time before he was born.
In time travel fiction, you need some real guideposts or barriers in which the characters must travel in order to make the concept believable to the average reader.
3. The standard paradox: You can't go into the past and kill your own grandfather
In time travel fiction, you need some real guideposts or barriers in which the characters must travel in order to make the concept believable to the average reader.
3. The standard paradox: You can't go into the past and kill your own grandfather
If one goes back into time and kills a grandparent or parent, then the normal time line would be altered so you would not have been born, which means you
couldn't have killed your grandfather, which (logically) means that you
will be born. This "grandfather
paradox" is hard to resolve.
In 1985, Igor Novikov of the University of Moscow used quantum mechanical arguments to develop what has become known as the "self-consistency theorem." Quantum randomness must obey well-established laws, and Novikov showed that the probability of producing a different future with a time machine was zero. The theory is that you might "try" to alter past events, but time itself will not allow you to change any history. All of your attempts would be thwarted by the rules of the universe. You would be the coyote to the road runner.
In 1985, Igor Novikov of the University of Moscow used quantum mechanical arguments to develop what has become known as the "self-consistency theorem." Quantum randomness must obey well-established laws, and Novikov showed that the probability of producing a different future with a time machine was zero. The theory is that you might "try" to alter past events, but time itself will not allow you to change any history. All of your attempts would be thwarted by the rules of the universe. You would be the coyote to the road runner.
4. There are limits to a person's free will.
If one cannot change the past, the same would seem to be true in time travel to the future. This would mean that the time history line is already be written - - - fate, predetermined by the universe, and not by any human decision. Future events are predetermined in the single universe theory.
People must succumb to their destiny even if you don't know what the future will bring; it certainly seems like you've got free choice in your life actions. But if you traveled in time to see the future, the time traveler has already seen what his destiny is, then the future is already written. The future is then locked in stone. Making that self-consistent future play out is one of the great challenges of time-travel fiction.
Theorists compare this to the grandfather paradox. The pool ball example is cited as a paradox. If you shoot a pool ball into a time machine and it returns just a moment before you make the shot, it would block your original shot thereby preventing the original action (shot) from entering the time machine in the first place. But since the ball made it to the time machine means that it will return without interrupting the shot (such as coming back at a slightly different angle.) As a result, pool balls are forced to succumb to their destiny, so can people. Time travelers may have a feeling of free choice where none really exists.
It seems that LOST broke all four of these fundamental time travel rules. LOST showed us a parallel or alternative sideways universe. There was no explanation of when the island time machine was created when our Losties began to time skip from the 1950s to the 1970s back to the present. The frozen donkey wheel was thought to have been the mechanism to "hide" the island or move it in space, but not necessarily in time. The wheel being stuck (causing the skips) would mean that Locke may not have been able to get back down the well to a relevant time period (because he was alternatively skipping) that would allow time to return to normal. This time skip only affected a few but not all of the people alive in the same place as the time travelers. The time travelers went back in time before they were born. Daniel was killed by his mother which should have been a paradox where Daniel would have never been born or arrived on the island. And the concept of free will is nullified in time travel to the future since things are set in stone. None of the time travelers can change their fate. There was no free will vs. faith choice. The events in flashback 1974 could not have influenced or changed the island present. But it seemed it did.
And that is the problem with the LOST time travel arc. It is a mess. If you are going to promulgate a non-standard time travel theory, you need to clearly explain its rules so it makes some logical sense. You can have a series that breaks or changes these rules. For example, Doctor Who proposes multiple independent universes. The Doctor's machine, TARDIS, can displace time and space. He can influence and change outcomes of events both past and future (so it seems) but there are certain "fixed" points in time that even he cannot alter. But the key piece of the story is that the Doctor has special wisdom of a Time Lord who is the master, guardian, gatekeeper and overlord to the time continuum. That gives that series the mythological structure to fly off on acceptable time adventures.
LOST's time travel arc was disappointing on all levels. It did not take into consideration standard time travel methodology. It failed to explain how it worked. It made huge inconsistencies in how it affected individual time travelers and the people around them in an illogical fashion. And worst of all, the time travel story line had no impact on the ending.
Friday, September 13, 2013
THE FUTURE
The best way to predict the future is to create it.
— Dr. Forrest C. Shaklee
After the pilot episode, the story engine was simple. There were only two things that needed to be accomplished by the 815 passengers: survival and rescue.
Survival was complicated because there were a diverse group of passengers, each with their own secrets and faults, who would not work well together. They had landed in a mysterious place which made no perceptive sense (the smoke monster's roars and polar bears).
Rescue was only on the mind of a few people (Michael and Jin). The rest first believed that they would be rescued in a few days. But once a week had past, Jack realized that no one was coming to rescue them. He had to bring together those whose hopes of rescue were dashed with those who who more concerned with their own survival.
LOST had two conclusions set up at the end of the pilot. The 815 people would either live or die on the island. The 815 people would either be rescued or live out their lives on the island as castaways.
How did those primarily conclusions work out?
Plenty of people lived and died on the island. A few people got rescued (a couple even twice) but we would learn that the island was a trap, a snow globe, an extraordinary place where the island visitors were pawns in a vague, ancient game between two supernatural powers.
No was was retrieved from the island without deep scars. No one was truly "saved" from the dangers of the island confines. The reason is that the story engine took a sudden series ending U-turn into a parallel universe axis which had little bearing on the original crash and survival story most people thought was the premise for the show.
If one tries to connect these diverse realities, one notion is that all the island events somehow influenced the sideways world in such a fashion to create "the happy ending." But the sideways world did not involve the 815 passengers having to suffer through the crash, the island tortures, the hardships or even the emotional turmoil of life and death struggles with opponents. The sideways world was for the most part a plain vanilla, milquetoast, nice alternative reality. The question is then how or why did the sideways dream/fantasy world come into existence?
Was it the creation from the dreams and life's promises of the passengers in the three minutes from the time the plane broke a part to the passengers falling to the sea and ground? Was it created as everyone's life "flashed before their mind" in the moments before almost certain death? Christian said the sideways reality was created by everyone. It had no past, present or future; it was just "now." It was a Polaroid moment in fixed time or collective memory. When Christian said the people in the sideways church all were dead, and that some died before and after Jack, he did not put an actual time frame on that statement. It could have been seconds to minutes - - - or the feeling of an eternity when you are the highest anxiety levels when your mind knows that you are going to die when the plane hits the ground.
In those final moments before impact, the sideways world had to be created by some supernatural force. As the actors and many critics found, the writers resolution that turned to a "spiritual ending" reinforces the idea that the main characters perished on the island. But before the characters perished, they dreamed of their dreamed of what their lives would have been - - - what could have been - - - as a means of coming to terms with their peril.
The plane crash was the crossover point between human existence and the spiritual world. There is no other logical conclusion to make common sense of the relationship between the island and the sideways world. In some ways it is Wizard of Oz in reverse. Instead of human Dorothy being swept away into a fantasy world, it was the passengers souls being trapped on a real island unable to cope with their own deaths . . . so they continued to live on as if they were "alive." For some, this was a chance to live their dreamed futures. For others, it was a chance to become something better than they were before the crash; soul searching so to speak.
This concept does not go over well with a majority of original LOST viewers. They still believe what the TPTB stated in the first year that the show was not about purgatory. But in a show filled with character lies, half-truths, emotional manipulations and confidence games, TPTB had a biased, vested interest to keep the series going as long as possible; to keep the viewers in the dark with mysteries as long as possible.
The sideways world dream reality (the second chance for the dead passengers) makes sense from its own internal construction. If we believe in the backstories of the 815 passengers during the island time, then the sideways world does not fit into that past. For example, in the sideways world Jack was not married to Sarah but to Juliet. Jack was divorced, but in the sideways world he has a son named David. In the island time, Juliet is unmarried. Her lover was killed by a strange bus accident. As a result, she was whisked away to the island - - - and away from the most important person in her life, her sister (who does not appear in the sideways story line).
There are major story inconsistencies in the sideways story arc based on just those factors alone. One could say that the sideways world was "the truth," and the island and its backstories were the dream alternative of the sideways souls living out a trite existence in purgatory. In the sideways world, Ben is a meek teacher. But in the island realm, he is a ruthless, powerful leader (something he dreamed about in his confrontation with his principal). In the sideways world, Locke is a crippled substitute teacher. But in the island realm, he is the outback survivalist leader. In fact, in the sideways world all of the characters seem to be good people. In the island realm, their inner demons are unleashed.
So how could sideways souls kept in a suburbanite purgatory story loop be transported to the island? Their Flight 815 landed safely in LA. How could their current memories be overridden by the harsh trauma of the island events when they could not remember them in the first place?
Another answer follows the ancient Egyptian belief that upon death, a person's spiritual existence is split into various components to journey into the after life planes. The ba and ka are separated and have to travel a part until a point where they are reunited in paradise or destroyed at the moment of judgment. This parallel religious belief does mirror the possible parallel after life story lines of LOST. The evidence of this possibility was clearly represented in the temple, statue and hieroglyphs shown throughout the series.
The bottom line is that dead souls, at some point, dreamed of a better existence for themselves. They dreamed of a better future, one lost during their real life time. They were able in a supernatural world to live parts of their lost dreams as a means of coming to terms of their own individual deaths. It was only when they came to terms with their death (and the regrets of their lives) did they awaken to a higher spiritual plane.
After the pilot episode, the story engine was simple. There were only two things that needed to be accomplished by the 815 passengers: survival and rescue.
Survival was complicated because there were a diverse group of passengers, each with their own secrets and faults, who would not work well together. They had landed in a mysterious place which made no perceptive sense (the smoke monster's roars and polar bears).
Rescue was only on the mind of a few people (Michael and Jin). The rest first believed that they would be rescued in a few days. But once a week had past, Jack realized that no one was coming to rescue them. He had to bring together those whose hopes of rescue were dashed with those who who more concerned with their own survival.
LOST had two conclusions set up at the end of the pilot. The 815 people would either live or die on the island. The 815 people would either be rescued or live out their lives on the island as castaways.
How did those primarily conclusions work out?
Plenty of people lived and died on the island. A few people got rescued (a couple even twice) but we would learn that the island was a trap, a snow globe, an extraordinary place where the island visitors were pawns in a vague, ancient game between two supernatural powers.
No was was retrieved from the island without deep scars. No one was truly "saved" from the dangers of the island confines. The reason is that the story engine took a sudden series ending U-turn into a parallel universe axis which had little bearing on the original crash and survival story most people thought was the premise for the show.
If one tries to connect these diverse realities, one notion is that all the island events somehow influenced the sideways world in such a fashion to create "the happy ending." But the sideways world did not involve the 815 passengers having to suffer through the crash, the island tortures, the hardships or even the emotional turmoil of life and death struggles with opponents. The sideways world was for the most part a plain vanilla, milquetoast, nice alternative reality. The question is then how or why did the sideways dream/fantasy world come into existence?
Was it the creation from the dreams and life's promises of the passengers in the three minutes from the time the plane broke a part to the passengers falling to the sea and ground? Was it created as everyone's life "flashed before their mind" in the moments before almost certain death? Christian said the sideways reality was created by everyone. It had no past, present or future; it was just "now." It was a Polaroid moment in fixed time or collective memory. When Christian said the people in the sideways church all were dead, and that some died before and after Jack, he did not put an actual time frame on that statement. It could have been seconds to minutes - - - or the feeling of an eternity when you are the highest anxiety levels when your mind knows that you are going to die when the plane hits the ground.
In those final moments before impact, the sideways world had to be created by some supernatural force. As the actors and many critics found, the writers resolution that turned to a "spiritual ending" reinforces the idea that the main characters perished on the island. But before the characters perished, they dreamed of their dreamed of what their lives would have been - - - what could have been - - - as a means of coming to terms with their peril.
The plane crash was the crossover point between human existence and the spiritual world. There is no other logical conclusion to make common sense of the relationship between the island and the sideways world. In some ways it is Wizard of Oz in reverse. Instead of human Dorothy being swept away into a fantasy world, it was the passengers souls being trapped on a real island unable to cope with their own deaths . . . so they continued to live on as if they were "alive." For some, this was a chance to live their dreamed futures. For others, it was a chance to become something better than they were before the crash; soul searching so to speak.
This concept does not go over well with a majority of original LOST viewers. They still believe what the TPTB stated in the first year that the show was not about purgatory. But in a show filled with character lies, half-truths, emotional manipulations and confidence games, TPTB had a biased, vested interest to keep the series going as long as possible; to keep the viewers in the dark with mysteries as long as possible.
The sideways world dream reality (the second chance for the dead passengers) makes sense from its own internal construction. If we believe in the backstories of the 815 passengers during the island time, then the sideways world does not fit into that past. For example, in the sideways world Jack was not married to Sarah but to Juliet. Jack was divorced, but in the sideways world he has a son named David. In the island time, Juliet is unmarried. Her lover was killed by a strange bus accident. As a result, she was whisked away to the island - - - and away from the most important person in her life, her sister (who does not appear in the sideways story line).
There are major story inconsistencies in the sideways story arc based on just those factors alone. One could say that the sideways world was "the truth," and the island and its backstories were the dream alternative of the sideways souls living out a trite existence in purgatory. In the sideways world, Ben is a meek teacher. But in the island realm, he is a ruthless, powerful leader (something he dreamed about in his confrontation with his principal). In the sideways world, Locke is a crippled substitute teacher. But in the island realm, he is the outback survivalist leader. In fact, in the sideways world all of the characters seem to be good people. In the island realm, their inner demons are unleashed.
So how could sideways souls kept in a suburbanite purgatory story loop be transported to the island? Their Flight 815 landed safely in LA. How could their current memories be overridden by the harsh trauma of the island events when they could not remember them in the first place?
Another answer follows the ancient Egyptian belief that upon death, a person's spiritual existence is split into various components to journey into the after life planes. The ba and ka are separated and have to travel a part until a point where they are reunited in paradise or destroyed at the moment of judgment. This parallel religious belief does mirror the possible parallel after life story lines of LOST. The evidence of this possibility was clearly represented in the temple, statue and hieroglyphs shown throughout the series.
The bottom line is that dead souls, at some point, dreamed of a better existence for themselves. They dreamed of a better future, one lost during their real life time. They were able in a supernatural world to live parts of their lost dreams as a means of coming to terms of their own individual deaths. It was only when they came to terms with their death (and the regrets of their lives) did they awaken to a higher spiritual plane.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
11 WORDS
I re-read a couple of posts from 2010 in regard to the "legacy of LOST." One had the positive outlook that LOST would spur on more "intellectual" science-fiction-fantasy shows, which are risker to produce but more rewarding to an audience if done well. The other one had a negative view because the ending of the series so was disjointed in the "banal" non-denominational church to the events on the island to be a major fail.
How did LOST wind up at two extremes in viewpoints from the same ending?
Was it like the critical poster thought that LOST had so many intertwined elements that the show could have been the greatest of all time if those main story features were central to the ending of the show. The last episodes negated the five years of previous loyal devotion to unraveling the mysteries, answering the questions, or speculating on future events. Character development is a great ideal, but characters can only ride the wave of good story telling in order to be great characters.
So was LOST's plot, premise and story tangents so random as to make the average viewer head scratch?
I devised a simple experiment. I would go to the web to find 11 random words to see if the results matched the LOST story, themes, plots or premise cues. Yes, this sounds like the old joke that you can fill a room with monkeys banging out letters on typewriters and get a movie script in the end.
So without comment, here are the results of the random word experiment:
vituperate
Blame or insult (someone) in strong or violent language
orotund
(of the voice or phrasing) Full, round, and imposing.
(of writing, style, or expression) Pompous; pretentious
averred
State or assert to be the case: "he averred that he was innocent of the allegations".
Allege as a fact in support of a plea
opined
Hold and state as one's opinion: ""The man is a genius," he opined".
radiance
Light or heat as emitted or reflected by something: "the radiance of the sunset".
Great joy or love, apparent in someone's expression or bearing
hieroglyphic
Writing consisting of hieroglyphs
august
Respected and impressive: "she was in august company".
exigencies
An urgent need or demand
conflagration
An extensive fire that destroys a great deal of land or property
squatted
Crouch or sit with knees bent and heels close to or touching the buttocks or the back of thighs: "I squatted down in front of him".
Crouch down in such a way and rise again while holding (a specified weight) at one's shoulders: "he can squat 850 pounds".
squall
A sudden violent gust of wind or a localized storm, esp. one bringing rain, snow, or sleet.
Verb:
(of a baby or small child) Cry noisily and continuously
How did LOST wind up at two extremes in viewpoints from the same ending?
Was it like the critical poster thought that LOST had so many intertwined elements that the show could have been the greatest of all time if those main story features were central to the ending of the show. The last episodes negated the five years of previous loyal devotion to unraveling the mysteries, answering the questions, or speculating on future events. Character development is a great ideal, but characters can only ride the wave of good story telling in order to be great characters.
So was LOST's plot, premise and story tangents so random as to make the average viewer head scratch?
I devised a simple experiment. I would go to the web to find 11 random words to see if the results matched the LOST story, themes, plots or premise cues. Yes, this sounds like the old joke that you can fill a room with monkeys banging out letters on typewriters and get a movie script in the end.
So without comment, here are the results of the random word experiment:
vituperate
Blame or insult (someone) in strong or violent language
orotund
(of the voice or phrasing) Full, round, and imposing.
(of writing, style, or expression) Pompous; pretentious
averred
State or assert to be the case: "he averred that he was innocent of the allegations".
Allege as a fact in support of a plea
opined
Hold and state as one's opinion: ""The man is a genius," he opined".
radiance
Light or heat as emitted or reflected by something: "the radiance of the sunset".
Great joy or love, apparent in someone's expression or bearing
hieroglyphic
Writing consisting of hieroglyphs
august
Respected and impressive: "she was in august company".
exigencies
An urgent need or demand
conflagration
An extensive fire that destroys a great deal of land or property
squatted
Crouch or sit with knees bent and heels close to or touching the buttocks or the back of thighs: "I squatted down in front of him".
Crouch down in such a way and rise again while holding (a specified weight) at one's shoulders: "he can squat 850 pounds".
squall
A sudden violent gust of wind or a localized storm, esp. one bringing rain, snow, or sleet.
Verb:
(of a baby or small child) Cry noisily and continuously
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
WOULD IT WORK TODAY?
Could LOST be sold to network television today?
Maybe. JJ Abrams still gets his shows picked up off the pilot heap each year.
Science Fiction TV-shows airing in 2013 as well as those in pre-production:
Warehouse 13.
This show starring Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelley is well into its fourth season but critics find the plots and characters muddled and uninspired so the series limps along.
Person of Interest.
Critics have found some upside to the stories of Mr. Reese (James Caviezel) and Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson) when they contrast the realism and action sequences to that of other sci-fi efforts such as Alphas or Revolution. However, the science fiction elements are thin and inconsistent to be a solid sci-fi show.
Continuum.
Some critics believe the only current hard-core Science Fiction series airing at the moment is Continuum. It’s relatively short first season was tightly written though it had a hard time deciding whether it would be procedural in nature akin to Person of Interest or more of a serial drama such as Revolution as a mixture of Sliders and Total Recall.
Revolution.
Expectations for this series was high, but it's plot has been weak, its mythology underdeveloped and its characters bland. Former LOST cast member Elizabeth Mitchell plays Rachel Matheson whose character has changed from damsel in distress to a harder, action figure. Abrams is the producer of the series, but it has no resemblance to Lost when it comes to the quality of narrative or driving story lines.
Tron: Uprising.
This anime show on Disney XD has good overall quality but the ratings have been quite abysmal. The criticism is that episodes tend to jump the shark to keep the action going.
Haven.
Haven is more of a ‘supernatural’ show than science fiction, an issue that most networks consider to be the same type show/audience. BBC America has its own show called ‘Supernatural.’ Haven has a lot of mystery and mythology building behind which was thematic of LOST. But again, the series fails to connect any dots or explain itself in a coherent fashion.
Dr Who.
Dr. Who is the longest running science fiction series in television history. This season marks the 50th Anniversary. As a British show, it's American revival on BBC America has drawn in the Comic-con crowd into the stable mythology of the show about the last Time Lord saving planets and species from disasters and monsters. For fans of the series, it is the British cousin to Star Trek series.
There are other shows on the fringe of pure sci-fi, including Fringe, Arrow, Orphan Black, Being Human and other Abrams projects such as Defiance and Human.
The problem with selling a long serial science fiction series is that viewers are less and less engaged in viewing series as a collective fan base. They have shorter attention spans. The internet, tablet games, web surfing, on-line gaming and texting divert attention required to really watch and digest complex shows (with highly theoretical elements such as quantum physics, time travel, etc) such as LOST. In this weakened attention span of viewers, many networks (including SyFy) have defaulted to the reality show format. One, it is cheaper to produce. Two, people seem to like one shot episodes that have resolution at the end so they don't have to be lost if they miss an episode or two in a season.
The other alternative/fad in the entertainment industry is the franchise brand. Networks are more comfortable throwing out a series based on something well known like a famous comic character or old movie (such as Tron or Star Wars) because their is an audience that may gravitate toward it based upon past experience. Most of these reboots are weaker, diluted creative projects but that is the standard for most television series.
Further, the changing dynamic of how people consume their entertainment (video streaming, binge viewing, time shifting DVR) makes it difficult for a network to commitment a series for several seasons. Network executives are shuffled in and out of power more quickly these days. Project loyalty is tenuous at times.
So if LOST was pitched as a Survivor Meets Science Fiction Mystery series today, I don't know if it would get green lighted since so many current science fiction programs fail to deliver the basic solid sci-fi story telling that most fans of Twilight Zone, Star Trek, etc. are used to and expect. Sci-fi shows historically have a lower viewer base than a regular sit-com. It is a tougher sell even if the market is trending toward fantasy super hero franchises. And even if the first season was made today, I don't know if new fans would have the time and energy to make it into a cultural icon.
Maybe. JJ Abrams still gets his shows picked up off the pilot heap each year.
Science Fiction TV-shows airing in 2013 as well as those in pre-production:
Warehouse 13.
This show starring Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelley is well into its fourth season but critics find the plots and characters muddled and uninspired so the series limps along.
Person of Interest.
Critics have found some upside to the stories of Mr. Reese (James Caviezel) and Mr. Finch (Michael Emerson) when they contrast the realism and action sequences to that of other sci-fi efforts such as Alphas or Revolution. However, the science fiction elements are thin and inconsistent to be a solid sci-fi show.
Continuum.
Some critics believe the only current hard-core Science Fiction series airing at the moment is Continuum. It’s relatively short first season was tightly written though it had a hard time deciding whether it would be procedural in nature akin to Person of Interest or more of a serial drama such as Revolution as a mixture of Sliders and Total Recall.
Revolution.
Expectations for this series was high, but it's plot has been weak, its mythology underdeveloped and its characters bland. Former LOST cast member Elizabeth Mitchell plays Rachel Matheson whose character has changed from damsel in distress to a harder, action figure. Abrams is the producer of the series, but it has no resemblance to Lost when it comes to the quality of narrative or driving story lines.
Tron: Uprising.
This anime show on Disney XD has good overall quality but the ratings have been quite abysmal. The criticism is that episodes tend to jump the shark to keep the action going.
Haven.
Haven is more of a ‘supernatural’ show than science fiction, an issue that most networks consider to be the same type show/audience. BBC America has its own show called ‘Supernatural.’ Haven has a lot of mystery and mythology building behind which was thematic of LOST. But again, the series fails to connect any dots or explain itself in a coherent fashion.
Dr Who.
Dr. Who is the longest running science fiction series in television history. This season marks the 50th Anniversary. As a British show, it's American revival on BBC America has drawn in the Comic-con crowd into the stable mythology of the show about the last Time Lord saving planets and species from disasters and monsters. For fans of the series, it is the British cousin to Star Trek series.
There are other shows on the fringe of pure sci-fi, including Fringe, Arrow, Orphan Black, Being Human and other Abrams projects such as Defiance and Human.
The problem with selling a long serial science fiction series is that viewers are less and less engaged in viewing series as a collective fan base. They have shorter attention spans. The internet, tablet games, web surfing, on-line gaming and texting divert attention required to really watch and digest complex shows (with highly theoretical elements such as quantum physics, time travel, etc) such as LOST. In this weakened attention span of viewers, many networks (including SyFy) have defaulted to the reality show format. One, it is cheaper to produce. Two, people seem to like one shot episodes that have resolution at the end so they don't have to be lost if they miss an episode or two in a season.
The other alternative/fad in the entertainment industry is the franchise brand. Networks are more comfortable throwing out a series based on something well known like a famous comic character or old movie (such as Tron or Star Wars) because their is an audience that may gravitate toward it based upon past experience. Most of these reboots are weaker, diluted creative projects but that is the standard for most television series.
Further, the changing dynamic of how people consume their entertainment (video streaming, binge viewing, time shifting DVR) makes it difficult for a network to commitment a series for several seasons. Network executives are shuffled in and out of power more quickly these days. Project loyalty is tenuous at times.
So if LOST was pitched as a Survivor Meets Science Fiction Mystery series today, I don't know if it would get green lighted since so many current science fiction programs fail to deliver the basic solid sci-fi story telling that most fans of Twilight Zone, Star Trek, etc. are used to and expect. Sci-fi shows historically have a lower viewer base than a regular sit-com. It is a tougher sell even if the market is trending toward fantasy super hero franchises. And even if the first season was made today, I don't know if new fans would have the time and energy to make it into a cultural icon.
GATEWAYS
We
are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided
each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is
all gates, all opportunities.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Many LOST fans were sent on their own personal voyages of discovery, pushed along by the tangential winds of the story clues, island mysteries and plot twists. Along my path, I learned much about ancient Egyptian culture to the point of interpreting hieroglyphs on background objects as part of fan discussions between episodes. I also learned that the Internet community can galvanize around a show to have intellectual to emotional discussions about fictional characters in fictional realities. It was a nostalgic return to the old college late night bull session.
The mysteries of the series opened gateways to research, plot dissection, speculation, theories and projections from die hard fans. It spawned a few cottage industries and writers publishing their own LOST manifestos. But from today's perspective, there is no avid Internet show discussion board anywhere close to the peak of the LOST years.
Just like minor skirmishes before major Civil War battles fade into the footnotes of history, so has the LOST communities and fan threads. But just as the fan base has moved on to other things, the main character actors have faded slowly into the background as well. One would have imagined at the height of LOST hysteria in six critically acclaimed seasons, the actors would have launched into more high profile careers. But that was not the case.
Matthew Fox (Jack Shephard): He went to do a play after the series shut down; he was no eager to get back into television roles. His claim to fame was a drunken altercation with a Cleveland bus driver during a film shoot.
Terry O'Quinn (John Locke): He was reportedly set to team up with Michael Emerson (a.k.a. evil genius Ben Linus) on a pilot called "Odd Jobs," which never made it into production. He also had a sci-fiction horror drama set in NYC which was cancelled after one season. Emerson plays a quieter version of Ben in a current television series.
Josh Holloway (James "Sawyer" Ford): He had a role in 'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.' He next project out this month is a movie about break dancing, which looks like an odd choice in viewing the trailer.
Evangeline Lilly (Kate Austen): She starred with Hugh Jackman in 'Real Steel.' And she is currently cast in the next Hobbit movie.
Jorge Garcia (Hugo "Hurley" Reyes): He has had a few guest appearances on TV, and was a cast member on Alcatraz, a sci-fi series that was cancelled in its first season.
Daniel Dae Kim (Jin Kwon): He is a cast member on CBS' reboot of "Hawaii Five-0."
Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson): He appeared in various projects including the Nicolas Cage vigilante thriller 'The Hungry Rabbit Jumps' and Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") in the dark comedy "Cooler" and James Caviezel in the crime drama 'Transit.'
Dominic Monaghan (Charlie Pace): He hosts a adventure nature series for BBC America.
Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume): He has made a few guest appearances on TV dramas.
Naveen Andrews (Sayid Jarrah): He appeared 2011 film drama 'Hullo.'
None of the main cast members of LOST has moved into the lead role in either a major film or ground breaking television/cable series. But that is the nature of the entertainment business. There are steady work as character actors and then more hit or miss work for those who believe they should headline. Headliners are only as good as their box office/ratings.
The LOST series probably did open up casting doors for the main actors for future projects. But fans of LOST seem not to have migrated with the actors to view their new ventures. In some respects, the LOST actors have been stereotyped in their LOST character roles. Some have speculated that the ending of the series may have soured fans and executives on them (classic blame the messenger situation). But this is not unusual for high profile television actors to find it difficult to find further high profile work in the industry.
Many LOST fans were sent on their own personal voyages of discovery, pushed along by the tangential winds of the story clues, island mysteries and plot twists. Along my path, I learned much about ancient Egyptian culture to the point of interpreting hieroglyphs on background objects as part of fan discussions between episodes. I also learned that the Internet community can galvanize around a show to have intellectual to emotional discussions about fictional characters in fictional realities. It was a nostalgic return to the old college late night bull session.
The mysteries of the series opened gateways to research, plot dissection, speculation, theories and projections from die hard fans. It spawned a few cottage industries and writers publishing their own LOST manifestos. But from today's perspective, there is no avid Internet show discussion board anywhere close to the peak of the LOST years.
Just like minor skirmishes before major Civil War battles fade into the footnotes of history, so has the LOST communities and fan threads. But just as the fan base has moved on to other things, the main character actors have faded slowly into the background as well. One would have imagined at the height of LOST hysteria in six critically acclaimed seasons, the actors would have launched into more high profile careers. But that was not the case.
Matthew Fox (Jack Shephard): He went to do a play after the series shut down; he was no eager to get back into television roles. His claim to fame was a drunken altercation with a Cleveland bus driver during a film shoot.
Terry O'Quinn (John Locke): He was reportedly set to team up with Michael Emerson (a.k.a. evil genius Ben Linus) on a pilot called "Odd Jobs," which never made it into production. He also had a sci-fiction horror drama set in NYC which was cancelled after one season. Emerson plays a quieter version of Ben in a current television series.
Josh Holloway (James "Sawyer" Ford): He had a role in 'Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.' He next project out this month is a movie about break dancing, which looks like an odd choice in viewing the trailer.
Evangeline Lilly (Kate Austen): She starred with Hugh Jackman in 'Real Steel.' And she is currently cast in the next Hobbit movie.
Jorge Garcia (Hugo "Hurley" Reyes): He has had a few guest appearances on TV, and was a cast member on Alcatraz, a sci-fi series that was cancelled in its first season.
Daniel Dae Kim (Jin Kwon): He is a cast member on CBS' reboot of "Hawaii Five-0."
Harold Perrineau (Michael Dawson): He appeared in various projects including the Nicolas Cage vigilante thriller 'The Hungry Rabbit Jumps' and Jim Parsons ("The Big Bang Theory") in the dark comedy "Cooler" and James Caviezel in the crime drama 'Transit.'
Dominic Monaghan (Charlie Pace): He hosts a adventure nature series for BBC America.
Henry Ian Cusick (Desmond Hume): He has made a few guest appearances on TV dramas.
Naveen Andrews (Sayid Jarrah): He appeared 2011 film drama 'Hullo.'
None of the main cast members of LOST has moved into the lead role in either a major film or ground breaking television/cable series. But that is the nature of the entertainment business. There are steady work as character actors and then more hit or miss work for those who believe they should headline. Headliners are only as good as their box office/ratings.
The LOST series probably did open up casting doors for the main actors for future projects. But fans of LOST seem not to have migrated with the actors to view their new ventures. In some respects, the LOST actors have been stereotyped in their LOST character roles. Some have speculated that the ending of the series may have soured fans and executives on them (classic blame the messenger situation). But this is not unusual for high profile television actors to find it difficult to find further high profile work in the industry.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
DREAMS OF BAD ROBOTS
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
— Eleanor Roosevelt
Fionnula Flanagan played Eloise Hawking in only 7 LOST episodes. As discussed previously, her character seemed to have complete knowledge of everything both on and off the island, including the unique island properties and time travel.
She also guest starred in Star Trek:TNG in the episode called "Inheritance." She played a scientist, Juliana Tainer, on a planet which has its core that is cooling which would cause the death of all the inhabitants. The Enterprise is sent to the planet to find a solution. Juliana claims to be the former wife of Data's creator, Professor Soong.
Data can only find one Juliana in his memory, a Juliana O'Donnell. She explains that protests from her mother caused them to elope. She explains that his early memories were wiped and replaced with memories of the colonists and he was about to be reactivated when the Crystalline Entity attacked.
During the episode, Data observes remarkable qualities about Juliana, and asks Dr. Crusher to examine her medical records. That is interrupted when Data is called to the planet to repair the plasma infusers, the solution to the core cooling problem. Data and Juliana complete their task and return to the transport point, but find the pattern enhancers have fallen down a cliff. They must jump to safety. When Data jumps, he takes Juliana over the cliff with him. Data lands safely, but Juliana is knocked unconscious and her arm becomes detached from her torso. Data observes a network of circuitry and it becomes apparent that Juliana is an android.
Juliana is unaware that she is an android. After the Crystalline Entity's attack, Juliana was injured so Professor Sooong created a new android and used synaptic scanning to place Juliana's memories into it. After the real Juliana died, Soong activated the android and she awoke believing she was human. She later chose to leave Soong and he let her go (after installing the chip), sadly admitting that the real Juliana would have left him too. Soong pleads with Data to let her have her humanity.
Data replaces the chip. When he closes Juliana's head, she awakens. He tells her that she fell from the cliff and broke her arm, but Dr. Crusher has repaired it, and everything is fine. Data kept the secret of Juliana's humanity.
There are similar elements to this story and the LOST saga. The island survivors were attacked by a smoke monster. Many of them were wounded or killed. Their humanity was put into question: how did they view themselves as persons of faith or science.
This raises a new theory and premise to the show. Just in this Star Trek episode, what if the main characters thought they were human but were not. This goes beyond the idea that the 815 passengers became spirits after the plane crash caused them all to die. What if all these "humans with personal issues" were actually defective robots. Instead of Dorothy teleported to a fantasy world of Oz, these androids were sent to the island, a fantasy world that mimicked the humanity that they were supposed to have been programmed with; a Westworld reconditioning camp for computerized beings.
Human beings are in essence highly complex organic computer systems. It is easy to transfer those elements into a science fiction story world. What are the dreams of androids who don't know they are computer units? What are their fears? What happens when their prime programming gets corrupted? Can they be saved? Or do they get tossed away to be recycled?
If the LOST characters were androids being shipped away from their society, it would be a brand new point of view for the series.
Fionnula Flanagan played Eloise Hawking in only 7 LOST episodes. As discussed previously, her character seemed to have complete knowledge of everything both on and off the island, including the unique island properties and time travel.
She also guest starred in Star Trek:TNG in the episode called "Inheritance." She played a scientist, Juliana Tainer, on a planet which has its core that is cooling which would cause the death of all the inhabitants. The Enterprise is sent to the planet to find a solution. Juliana claims to be the former wife of Data's creator, Professor Soong.
Data can only find one Juliana in his memory, a Juliana O'Donnell. She explains that protests from her mother caused them to elope. She explains that his early memories were wiped and replaced with memories of the colonists and he was about to be reactivated when the Crystalline Entity attacked.
During the episode, Data observes remarkable qualities about Juliana, and asks Dr. Crusher to examine her medical records. That is interrupted when Data is called to the planet to repair the plasma infusers, the solution to the core cooling problem. Data and Juliana complete their task and return to the transport point, but find the pattern enhancers have fallen down a cliff. They must jump to safety. When Data jumps, he takes Juliana over the cliff with him. Data lands safely, but Juliana is knocked unconscious and her arm becomes detached from her torso. Data observes a network of circuitry and it becomes apparent that Juliana is an android.
Juliana is unaware that she is an android. After the Crystalline Entity's attack, Juliana was injured so Professor Sooong created a new android and used synaptic scanning to place Juliana's memories into it. After the real Juliana died, Soong activated the android and she awoke believing she was human. She later chose to leave Soong and he let her go (after installing the chip), sadly admitting that the real Juliana would have left him too. Soong pleads with Data to let her have her humanity.
Data replaces the chip. When he closes Juliana's head, she awakens. He tells her that she fell from the cliff and broke her arm, but Dr. Crusher has repaired it, and everything is fine. Data kept the secret of Juliana's humanity.
There are similar elements to this story and the LOST saga. The island survivors were attacked by a smoke monster. Many of them were wounded or killed. Their humanity was put into question: how did they view themselves as persons of faith or science.
This raises a new theory and premise to the show. Just in this Star Trek episode, what if the main characters thought they were human but were not. This goes beyond the idea that the 815 passengers became spirits after the plane crash caused them all to die. What if all these "humans with personal issues" were actually defective robots. Instead of Dorothy teleported to a fantasy world of Oz, these androids were sent to the island, a fantasy world that mimicked the humanity that they were supposed to have been programmed with; a Westworld reconditioning camp for computerized beings.
Human beings are in essence highly complex organic computer systems. It is easy to transfer those elements into a science fiction story world. What are the dreams of androids who don't know they are computer units? What are their fears? What happens when their prime programming gets corrupted? Can they be saved? Or do they get tossed away to be recycled?
If the LOST characters were androids being shipped away from their society, it would be a brand new point of view for the series.
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