"Lost" Horizons part 2

Just as a preface here, I always find it interesting how my "tomorrows" rapidly turn into "next weeks"! Oh well, life marches on.

I was talking about the relationships of various characters on the show "Lost". For me, one of the most fascinating is that of Jack and Locke. Jack is a very practical, no nonsense doctor whose main motivation is to survive on the island and make life as liveable as possible for the other crash survivors. He thinks in very logical terms and acts according to basic laws of nature. He seeks out food and water and shelter. He tends to the medical needs of the others, he negotiates disputes and tries to marshal resources for various tasks. Even though he is personally a bit of a loner, he does try to include at least some of the others in his decision making process and elicits their opinions on matters they might be knowledgeable of. Jack didn't really want to be any type of leader, but after the way he performed just after the crash, everyone on the island just seems to naturally look at him as one, and ironically, it was his rival, Locke, who convinced him that if everyone else treated him as a leader, then he must be one.

Locke spent most of the initial period on the island in seclusion. He sat alone on the beach, talking to almost no one, carrying out whatever private agenda he had. He may well have been still coming to grips with the miracle that he could actually walk again. Later, he ventured into the jungle and began hunting wild boar for himself and the others. He began to see the whole ordeal as a kind of blessing, a "gift" from the island to them, if only they could interpret it and accept it. He recruited Boone as a kind of protege, and shortly thereafter they found the hatch. Locke is a terribly secretive man, keeping his thoughts and motivations mostly to himself. It's not clear whether this is because he doesn't trust anyone else or because he doesn't think they are ready to achieve the "level" of understanding he has about the island. After Boone's accidental death, John revealed the hatch to the others, after having his hand forced by Sayid. Even after all he and Jack have been through since venturing into the hatch, discovering what it contains and delving into it's mysteries, it's clear that Locke does not fully trust Jack or perhaps anyone else. He is a strange man; noble in some ways, presumptuous and arrogant in others. It's never quite clear whether John is a visionary who knows a lot more about the island than the others or a slightly deranged zealot who is so desperate to believe in something he has constructed a whole religion out of his experience on the island.

Obviously, Jack and Locke, two natural leaders, were made to clash. Jack trusts what he sees and hears, and Locke has some sort of bizarre faith that propels him to take risks that Jack, a much more practical man, never would. Jack did not want to venture into the hatch but did so only because he was worried about Kate, who agreed with Locke that it was worth the chance to discover what secrets the hatch held. Jack does not believe it's necessary to push the button on the computer that Desmond told them was necessary to avoid some catastrophic incident. John, for whatever reason, believed Desmond's story and set up shifts in order to ensure the codes get entered correctly and on time. Jack tends to be more impetuous and proactive than John too. When Ana Lucia shot and killed Shannon, Jack immediately decided to take up arms and and position of strength, while Locke advised caution. Jack is, paradoxically, more practical but also more passionate. Locke is heavily invested in a kind of Buddhist pose where you don't react strongly to anything, and you only dole out information to people as you judge that they need to hear it and can deal with it. I guess to sum it up, Locke is more of a spiritual leader and Jack is more akin to a field general.

Most of the conflict between these two boils down to the fundamentally different way they view their experience. To Jack, they are simply a group of airplane crash survivors trying to exist in a new environment. He knows that the island is full of mysteries, but he doesn't obsess over them and doesn't feel any need to know a "grand scheme"; he just wants to get everyone through the next day and hopefuly, at some point, find some way home. Locke feels that their entire experience is fated in some way, that they were selected to be there for specific reasons and that it's their job to discover what's going on on the island and what it means. He seems to be on an extended mystical journey into the heart of the island and its inherent mysteries. He often talks about the island as if it's a living entity. He's talked to both Charlie and Boone about "what the island wants", as if it has some form of consciousness. And when he faced the "guardian" of the island, he did not flinch, but rather, on two separate occasions, seemed to welcome its presence. We still do not know what happened during that first encounter, but whatever it was, it didn't seem to frighten him. Jack has had some experience with paranormal occurrences on the island, too. He has seen his father on different occasions, but apparently did not conclude from those instances that the island was anything more than an island. More than likely, he has convinced himself that those encounters were either halllucinations or a kind of "waking dream". That may be all he has allowed himself to believe.

For all their conflict, Jack and Locke have several things in common. Both have serious father issues. Jack seems to be haunted by his father's legacy, wanting to measure up to the kind of brilliant doctor his dad was but also tormented by his father's obvious imperfections, i.e. alchoholism, emotional remoteness. It often seems as if Jack can't decide whether he loves or hates his father, and it's probably a combination of both ultimately. Jack is a perfectionist, trying perhaps to "make up" for his dad's weaknesses and failures. He sets impossibly high standards for himself and in doing so sets himself up for eventual disappointment when like any other human being, he can't be perfect. The fact that he tries is noble, but the fact that he has a hard time dealing with his imperfection is unhealthy.

Locke's father issues are even more complex. Raised in an orphanage, Locke's biological father returned only to use him to secure a kidney from him. After that, his father had nothing more to do with him. So Locke is dealing with betrayal on an awful scale, both from his father and from his mother who was paid to secure his involvement in the scheme. He seems to have been searching his whole life for some purpose. He has worked in a series of jobs that were obviously beneath his intelligence, has floated in and out of strange, unhealthy relationships and has more than likely read a lot of books about self-improvement and philosophy. He was paralyzed from the waist down in an as yet unrevealed accident, and ever since seems to have become obsessed with the ideas of self-reliance and spiritual discovery. He becomes enraged and somewhat irrational when faced with a situation where he needs help from others. In this respect, he and Jack are much alike. Neither one of them are very adept at asking for or receiving help.

Despite their differences, Jack and Locke do recognize the leadership potential in the others. They begrudingly share authority over the hatch and do, at least occasionally, ask the counsel of the other in making decisions. But mistrust remains. They have continually sought to outflank the other on the issue of the prisoner Ray and were so worried about each other that they allowed Sawyer to sneak in and make a power play which gave him possession of all the guns. If the survivors are to thrive in this new world, it's becoming more and more apparent that Jack and Locke need to somehow get beyond their one upsmanship and work together. If not, their continued clashes will be exploited again and again by the likes of Sawyer and others. And their internal battles will consume so much of their time they will neglect the true struggle against the "others". Already there is conflict over how to approach that situation; Jack has decided to start an "army" against them (though there is no evidence he's begun that process) while Locke doesn't really seem to have a stance other than disagreeing with Jack's.

The essence of any good drama is the clash of two opposing forces. In the case of "Lost", we have lots of forces clashing; fate vs. free will, activism vs. passivism, selfishness vs. altruism, community vs. isolation, acceptance vs. struggle, faith vs. logic. Jack and Locke exemplify these clashes, and on a deeper level, the way in which those opposing forces interact and bump up against each other to produce a kind of "third way" toward meaning and purpose. They are both deeply fascinating characters and their interplay is truly one of the highlights of this very special show.

"Lost" Horizons

Until about a month ago, I had never bought a DVD collection in my life. I was kind of against the whole concept of "owning" movies or television shows, and I am certainly against paying that much for them, particularly when you can usually just tape them as they are broadcast on TV.

I made an exception for "Lost", the ABC-TV series that is now midway through its second season. I had seen about 75% of the first season shows, but there were a few plot details I was not clear on, and things I had missed. So I swallowed my pride and plunked down the $45.00 for the first season set.

I'm glad I did.

I have always been a sucker for the plot that tosses several widely different personalities together in a dangerous situation that tests all the characters resolves and makes them interact and learn from each other and about themselves. "Lost" does this to a T; from the driven, heroic and father obsessed Jack to the tortured, self loathing but craven Sawyer to the mystical, Zenn-like (yet somehow equally tormented) miracle man John Locke to the damaged frightened but tough Kate, along with many others, "Lost" succeeds at this theme in spades. The survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together (most of the time) in order to exist on an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean. Their daily struggle to find food, water and shelter and to avoid the various dangers of the island is the story of "Lost", but on a deeper level its the varying ways in which the survivors approach their dilemmas that is more satisfying dramatically. Each character approaches his new situation from the prism of their own experiences, most of which have been filled with tragedy, disappointment and pain. In this way, the "Lost" island is kind of like a furnace in which the survivors will be tested, their perspectives forged. They will either break or become stronger as a result of their ordeals.

I also have always enjoyed shows that contain a gradually unravelling mystery. The most notable example of this was Chris Carter's "The X-Files", which lasted nine seasons and went off the air in 2002. Part of the appeal here is just the "gee whiz" factor, I admit; it's fun to try to figure out what's going on and play connect the dots and try to piece together the mysteries that the island represents. But again, the appeal goes deeper. As we are learning about the island, so too are the characters, and we identify with their frustration at the slowness of the lessons they learn and the maddening way in which life reveals itself to us. Just as the survivors struggle with trying to discover what makes their environment tick ("what it's all about") so too do all of try to navigate the often confusing and seemingly contradictory patterns of our daily lives. Like them , we are all just students in the classroom of life and castaways that are basically feeling our way in the dark. Like the survivors, we are all thrown into situations that we don't really don't understand, over which we have little control. Our only real hope in this existential maze is the comfort of knowing that everyone else, no matter how different they may seem on the surface, is in the same metaphorical boat as we are. Together, we can feel our way along in the darkness, learning, growing, surviving and hopefully moving toward some greater understanding of what our journey is all about.

More specifically, I live for the little confrontations and clashes that occur amongst the varying personalities of the show. Jack and Sawyer remind me so much of two brothers who are so fundamentally unlike on the surface, but share some basic inner conflicts; insecurity, issues of identity. It's always interesting to watch them fight their begrudging affection for each other; in certain very subtle scenes their true feelings reveal themselves. Jack offers Sawyer, whom he supposedly loathes, a gun on his raft voyage, obviously revealing some measure of trust and concern for the man. And Sawyer, despite all his cocksure sarasm and outward mocking of Jack, finds himself telling Jack that his father was indeed proud of him, as he knows he may well never see Jack again if the voyage goes badly. Similarly, when Jack beats the tar out of murderous Ethan, Sawyer is the first to congratulate him, chiming in with "Way to go, Doc! Winner by a knockout!" And when Sawyer returns injured and near death, Jack is obviously concerned about his welfare beyond a "professional" duty. Of course, once Sawyer is well again, their old animosities bubble up again; their mutual affection for Kate and markedly different ways of approaching life seem to insure that no matter how much they may actually respect each other, they will probably never be what one could term "friends".

Tomorrow: Jack and Locke