in the end, it's not about the island
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
just watched the final episode of LOST. i cried like a baby, which i guess is what one does when a six-year relationship ends. LOST itself is a living, breathing entity b/c of its creator's approach to storytelling. the story itself is alive, producing viewer/fan created and maintained sites (like Lostapedia) and a slew of ongoing conversations regarding every aspect of the story, from the individual characters, to the metaphors/imagery, to the nature and purpose of the island itself. in this LOST continues its life long after 10:30 pm Central Standard Time on Sunday, May 23, 2010. though our relationship ends (no more weekly Tuesday night meetings or Sunday night season finales) the story lives in the ongoing conversations, debates, and dissections that will continue for the foreseeable future.
this living, breathing story was, in the end, not about a power struggle between Jacob and Esau, Widmore and Linus, Sawyer and Jack, or Jack and Locke, or even about the island itself. no, in the end the story was about the struggle between the good and evil seen through the eyes of a man named Dr. Jack Shepherd. and i kinda feel like i did when a friend shared the revelation with me years ago, that Star Wars is really about the struggle between good and evil seen through the eyes of two droids named R2D2 and C3PO. since i was 5, i believed that Star Wars was about blowing up the Death Star or defeating Darth Vader but it was really about the extraordinary adventures of two very ordinary droids. and just like at the end of Star Wars, we see everyone gathered together, celebrating the end of their adventure and the triumph of good over evil.
Jack's journey didn't begin on Oceanic 815. this flight, like the rebel cruiser we first find C3PO and R2D2 on, is just a part of that journey. it is where OUR journey with Jack, the other passengers, and the other inhabitants of the island begins. looking back the stories of each of these people were told in light of their relationship to Jack, each one important due to their connection to the reluctant, anxiety-ridden doctor. knowing this, we look back on the entire series and see this before us from the very beginning. the past of each of these characters has elements shared with the good doctor: father/parent issues, identity issues, feelings of abandonment and imprisonment, control issues, self-destructive tendencies, self-aggrandizing one moment and self-loathing the next, issues of grief over losing a loved one/loved ones, the feeling of personal responsibility in losing said loved one/loved ones, and issues of losing one's self. they all share these issues with the pivotal character and it is in his resolution of these issues, his letting go of his own brokenness and his embracing of wholeness that lead us to the end. and in the end, the Jack lying on the floor of the bamboo jungle next to Vincent is remarkably different and infinitely more liberated than the Jack lying on the floor of the bamboo jungle next to Vincent we were introduced to in the beginning. from the very beginning, we have seen the story through the eyes of Jack and the story ends with him as well, taking his final journey surrounded by those he loved and who connected him with through something greater than himself, but without the singing and dancing ewoks.
though we are ultimately left closer to knowing and understanding Dr. Jack Shepherd, we are left no closer to understanding or knowing the island, which really is alright because in the end the island was just a part of that journey. the island is an enigmatic character, if you will, among a cast of enigmatic characters tv has never seen before and will most likely never see again. i mean that. never see again. you could re-create a Cosmo Kramer (just look at practically every sitcom post-Seinfeld) but you cannot recreate a Hurley, Echo, Sawyer or Lapidus. the island was just as singular of a character as the aforementioned, an uncredited actor in the greater play of the life of Jack Shepherd. what was the island, you ask? was it what Jacob and Esau/MIB's mother says it was? was it what Locke says it was? was the island what Widmore believed it to be or what the Dharma initiative believed to have discovered? the answer is simply, "yes." the island is what it is to each person who experiences it. like all lasting and great institutions or locations, it is different things to different people. for example, millions of people have seen the beauty and wonder of Yellowstone National Park. but ask each of these millions of people what Yellowstone is and they will all tell you something different. for some, a beguiling, bewildering, beautiful expanse of land, for others a living, breathing entity, for still others a personal hell. or take for example the organized Christian church. for some it is place of healing and wholeness, a place to experience unending love and grace. for others it is a place of hypocrisy and brokenness. the island is what the island is and what happens there, happens just like it does anywhere else in the natural world. it is, as fantastical and unbelievable as it seems, a part of Jack's reality and a pivotal piece in his journey to find his true self. the real act of faith the series creators and writers ask us to take part in is to accept the island as it is and not attempt to unpack and dissect it through reason and science. as Jack says to Desmond, we can look for shortcuts and easy explanations but those never work. just look where shortcuts get folks like Farraday (shot), Juliet (dead at the bottom of a well), Walt (kidnapped by the others while attempting to escape by raft), and Locke (thrown off a cliff). no, Cuse and Lindeloff have constructed a loop-hole proof story to ensure that the pursuit of shortcuts will only lead to deeper problems for the LOSTies and those watching their exploits. speaking of Cuse and Lindeloff, i consider them two of the greatest postmodern storytellers of their generation, answering every question of "either/or?" with a resounding "both/and!"
so, in the end, it's not about the island. and for those seeking a television series filled with easy answers and explanations, this is not the series you're looking for.
just watched the final episode of LOST. i cried like a baby, which i guess is what one does when a six-year relationship ends. LOST itself is a living, breathing entity b/c of its creator's approach to storytelling. the story itself is alive, producing viewer/fan created and maintained sites (like Lostapedia) and a slew of ongoing conversations regarding every aspect of the story, from the individual characters, to the metaphors/imagery, to the nature and purpose of the island itself. in this LOST continues its life long after 10:30 pm Central Standard Time on Sunday, May 23, 2010. though our relationship ends (no more weekly Tuesday night meetings or Sunday night season finales) the story lives in the ongoing conversations, debates, and dissections that will continue for the foreseeable future.
this living, breathing story was, in the end, not about a power struggle between Jacob and Esau, Widmore and Linus, Sawyer and Jack, or Jack and Locke, or even about the island itself. no, in the end the story was about the struggle between the good and evil seen through the eyes of a man named Dr. Jack Shepherd. and i kinda feel like i did when a friend shared the revelation with me years ago, that Star Wars is really about the struggle between good and evil seen through the eyes of two droids named R2D2 and C3PO. since i was 5, i believed that Star Wars was about blowing up the Death Star or defeating Darth Vader but it was really about the extraordinary adventures of two very ordinary droids. and just like at the end of Star Wars, we see everyone gathered together, celebrating the end of their adventure and the triumph of good over evil.
Jack's journey didn't begin on Oceanic 815. this flight, like the rebel cruiser we first find C3PO and R2D2 on, is just a part of that journey. it is where OUR journey with Jack, the other passengers, and the other inhabitants of the island begins. looking back the stories of each of these people were told in light of their relationship to Jack, each one important due to their connection to the reluctant, anxiety-ridden doctor. knowing this, we look back on the entire series and see this before us from the very beginning. the past of each of these characters has elements shared with the good doctor: father/parent issues, identity issues, feelings of abandonment and imprisonment, control issues, self-destructive tendencies, self-aggrandizing one moment and self-loathing the next, issues of grief over losing a loved one/loved ones, the feeling of personal responsibility in losing said loved one/loved ones, and issues of losing one's self. they all share these issues with the pivotal character and it is in his resolution of these issues, his letting go of his own brokenness and his embracing of wholeness that lead us to the end. and in the end, the Jack lying on the floor of the bamboo jungle next to Vincent is remarkably different and infinitely more liberated than the Jack lying on the floor of the bamboo jungle next to Vincent we were introduced to in the beginning. from the very beginning, we have seen the story through the eyes of Jack and the story ends with him as well, taking his final journey surrounded by those he loved and who connected him with through something greater than himself, but without the singing and dancing ewoks.
though we are ultimately left closer to knowing and understanding Dr. Jack Shepherd, we are left no closer to understanding or knowing the island, which really is alright because in the end the island was just a part of that journey. the island is an enigmatic character, if you will, among a cast of enigmatic characters tv has never seen before and will most likely never see again. i mean that. never see again. you could re-create a Cosmo Kramer (just look at practically every sitcom post-Seinfeld) but you cannot recreate a Hurley, Echo, Sawyer or Lapidus. the island was just as singular of a character as the aforementioned, an uncredited actor in the greater play of the life of Jack Shepherd. what was the island, you ask? was it what Jacob and Esau/MIB's mother says it was? was it what Locke says it was? was the island what Widmore believed it to be or what the Dharma initiative believed to have discovered? the answer is simply, "yes." the island is what it is to each person who experiences it. like all lasting and great institutions or locations, it is different things to different people. for example, millions of people have seen the beauty and wonder of Yellowstone National Park. but ask each of these millions of people what Yellowstone is and they will all tell you something different. for some, a beguiling, bewildering, beautiful expanse of land, for others a living, breathing entity, for still others a personal hell. or take for example the organized Christian church. for some it is place of healing and wholeness, a place to experience unending love and grace. for others it is a place of hypocrisy and brokenness. the island is what the island is and what happens there, happens just like it does anywhere else in the natural world. it is, as fantastical and unbelievable as it seems, a part of Jack's reality and a pivotal piece in his journey to find his true self. the real act of faith the series creators and writers ask us to take part in is to accept the island as it is and not attempt to unpack and dissect it through reason and science. as Jack says to Desmond, we can look for shortcuts and easy explanations but those never work. just look where shortcuts get folks like Farraday (shot), Juliet (dead at the bottom of a well), Walt (kidnapped by the others while attempting to escape by raft), and Locke (thrown off a cliff). no, Cuse and Lindeloff have constructed a loop-hole proof story to ensure that the pursuit of shortcuts will only lead to deeper problems for the LOSTies and those watching their exploits. speaking of Cuse and Lindeloff, i consider them two of the greatest postmodern storytellers of their generation, answering every question of "either/or?" with a resounding "both/and!"
so, in the end, it's not about the island. and for those seeking a television series filled with easy answers and explanations, this is not the series you're looking for.
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