The series has influences and/or parallels to works of literature and cinema as diverse as: Watership Down, The Wizard of Oz, The Brothers Karamazov, and Lord of the Flies ("sucks to your ass-mar"). For the purposes of this discussion, though, I am going to draw comparisons to three pop-culture epics:
The Star Wars Saga
Stephen King's The Stand
The Harry Potter Series (the books)
Each is a sprawling saga with a huge cast of richly-drawn characters, a complex mythology, overflowing with religious imagery and themes of: good vs. evil, redemption, and self-determination vs destiny. Sounds a lot like a certain island adventure I know. They also have another attribute shared with Lost...damned good storytelling. If you're a fan of Lost it is impossible not to enjoy these three.
Star Wars and The Stand are both major influences on Lost...references to both permeate Lost. Harry Potter is less of a direct influence, but has similar themes to Lost and spawned comparable fan analysis and debate. Also, prior to the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof wrote an op-ed piece in the NY Times entitled, "The Boy Who Died" that included the following passage: "She (JK Rowling) can't whack Harry because there are rules that must be followed when it comes to how one ends a grand mythology. Good triumphs over evil. Hope overcomes despair. Paper covers rock. Harry wins. Voldemort loses. The Ewoks sing."
Back during Lost's original pilot, Locke explains Backgammon to Walt as "Two players. Two sides. One is light, one is dark." I think it would be foolish to overlook this as anything but an analogy for the epic struggle we are witnessing on Lost. In Star Wars there is the Dark Side of The Force, balanced with the implied "light side", as well as the battle waged between the rebels and the Empire. In The Stand, there are two groups of post-apocalyptic survivors, one following Mother Abigail (the representation of good) and the other following Randall Flagg ("The Dark Man"). In Harry Potter, the battle lines are drawn between Harry and the Order of the Phoenix and Lord Voldermort and the Death Eaters.
Locke explaining Backgammon
The interesting thing is that in each of these examples, the epitome of evil is clear: Darth Vader (or arguably The Emperor), Randall Flagg, and Voldemort are the bad guys. They wear black, they offer the weak power to follow them, and they kill the innocent. Conversely, Lost has bucked this convention, shrouding the identify of the villain in mystery. Clearly, the likely candidates are Benjamin Linus or Charles Widmore (you could also make an argument for Richard Alpert, Jacob, or Christian Shepherd....although wouldn't it be fantastic if someone like Bernard turned out to be the villan?). But which one is the bad guy?
Lost has blurred the line between good and evil. If Ben or Widmore is the villain, does that make the other one a force of good? If you remember back to the season 2 finale, when Ben is letting Michael and Walt leave the island, Michael asks Ben, "Who are you people?". To which Ben replies, "We're the good guys Michael..." Now coming from Ben, you need to take that with a grain of salt, but it is an intriguing line none-the-less. Both Ben and Widmore are cold, calculating bastards. It is hard to imagine either one truly being on the side of good, even if they think they are. Both may believe themselves to be on the side of right. But an unwavering belief in one's convictions can lead you to down a dark path (just ask Anakin Skywalker).
We're the good guys Michael
What about a hero? Luke Skywalker, Stuart Redman, and Harry Potter each represent the hero, respectively, in the comparative pieces I’ve listed above. In Lost, you could make an argument for several characters: Sawyer (nahhh....more Han Solo), Charlie (nope, he was modeled after The Stand’s Larry Underwood), Kate or Sayid (Mikhail once described them as “flawed...because you are angry, and weak, and frightened”...a great Jedi once said: “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”) There really is only one choice: everyone’s favorite tattooed spinal surgeon, Jack Shephard.
Jack has his demon’s, but they are internal, like Harry Potter's. He is a reluctant leader, like Stuart Redman. He has daddy issues, like Luke Skywalker. But he is the leader of the Oceanic survivors....he is the “shepherd”. I’ve postulated before that I believe Jack to be Jacob. Beyond the obvious similarities in first name, Jacob could be described as the “shepherd” of The Others. Additionally, Judeo-Christian and Islamic teachings, all contain references to “Jacob’s ladder”....a bridge between the worlds of God and Man. I speculated in my last blog entry that the island was an entrance to the underworld or afterlife. I think Jacob and his ladder, play well with this interpretation. Note that Christian (Jack’s father, with a not too subtle name) and Claire (Jack’s half-sister) have both been seen in Jacob’s cabin. Maybe Jack is the one to shepherd (or Shephard if you prefer), the dead into the next world (“see you in another life brotha”).
Jacob
In epics of good vs. evil, there is often a Christ-figure. By the time we made it through the last Harry Potter novel, Harry’s role as a Christ-figure could not be more clear (I won’t go into the details in case you haven’t read the series). In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi says to Vader, "If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can imagine." Vader then does indeed light-saber him and Obi-Wan disappears into the Force only to reappear as Luke’s spiritual guide. Obi-Wan dies to save the world from evil...just as Christians believe Christ died for the sins of man. In Lost, if you had asked back in the first couple of season who the Christ figure was, I would have said Walt. But as the series has progressed, we’ve learned that others are “special” too. I think it is clear that recent episodes have cemented Locke as the Christ-figure. His death and resurrection are the perfect Christ parallels. He dies to get everyone back to the island (the entrance to the underworld....or perhaps opening the gates to heaven).
Another theme related to the religious symbolism, is redemption. In Return of the Jedi, Vader finally makes amends for his evil deeds by killing the Emperor. You could make an argument that this one act does not make up for decades of mass murder...but many religions believe that all sins can be forgiven. Similarly, in Harry Potter, Snape is a figure who seeks redemption, if not in the eyes of others, at least in his own soul. In The Stand, Larry Underwood, is the character of redemption....atoning for his drug addiction and becoming a member of the new society. As I mentioned earlier, Larry is a parallel character to Charlie on Lost. But Charlie isn’t the only character the island brings redemption to: Kate (murderer and fugitive), Sawyer (con man), Sayid (torturer), Jin (ashamed of his roots), Sun (infidelity), etc. In fact you could make an argument that each of the Seven Deadly Sins are represented in the Oceanic 815 survivors:
Lust – Sun or Boone
Gluttony - Hurley
Greed - Sawyer
Sloth – Charlie or Shannon
Wrath – Kate or Sayid
Envy - Jin
Pride – Jack or Michael
Once on the island, each of these characters transcends these “sins” and finds redemption there. Think of each of these characters and try to find one who has not found more happiness and meaning to their life on the island than in the real world.
Sinners one and all
The last theme of the great epic that I’ll touch on is choice. As Dumbledore once told Harry, “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are...it is our choices.” In all of these stories one could debate self-determination vs. destiny as the driver for a character. But I would say that self-determination fulfills a character’s destiny. It is Vader’s choice to turn to the Dark Side, but if he does not make this choice, he can’t fulfill his destiny as “the chosen one” to be the one to destroy the Emperor and return balance to The Force. In The Stand, survivors must choose between the hope of Mother Abigail and power of Randall Flagg. Lost’s characters must also make choices to fulfill their destiny. Locke chooses to leave the island to save it. The Oceanic 5 choose to return to the island. They have their choices, but are their choices ones made of free will or are they just fulfilling a predetermined destiny? Or maybe they are doing both.
In this entry, the examples I’ve used are three great works of popular fiction: the film series that reinvented the science fiction film genre, the best work of the most popular horror writer of the last 50 years, and the book series that elevated children’s literature to never before seen heights. All of them employ the common themes of epic mythological sagas. The greatness of Lost, is that it too embraces, yet toys with, these mythological archetypes....taking them in new and different directions. Long after Lost is complete, I believe it will be viewed as a seminal work....taking television to places never gone before.
I know I talked about writing a couple of blog entries this week, but this one took a lot out of me. I’m going to take a break and relax until next week’s episode, “Nameste”....you know it is gonna be great.
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