Posts Tagged ‘lost’

SPOILER ALERT: Readers are strongly encouraged to view the entirety of the television series LOST prior to reading posts in the LOST Series. Information about the characters and storyline of the show may be revealed.

The writers of LOST are masters of at least one thing: Storytelling. The art of storytelling has been tainted throughout the years particularly by the film industry. I have yet to read a book and then watch the film version and think that the film is better. I would be interested in reading and viewing any work where you might suggest a film format as superior to the original written text [I am anticipating that at least one person (those who come to mind shall remain nameless) is wanting to comment that "The Passion of the Christ" is better than the King James authorized version of the Bible; nonetheless feel free to comment]. Though LOST was not originally a written piece transferred to a television script, I think the example of film is consistent and the show captured even more than what a book could have contained.

I specifically enjoyed the metanarrative countered and accented by the subplots of individual characters’ stories. Multiple things occurred both at the same time and at quite different times (literally). I’ll address the “flash-sideways” scenes later. The essence of the storytelling allowed the audience to be invited into the lives of the characters but but subsequently maintained a sense of mystery. The viewer never knows everything about every character. We are left with many questions. In fact, the season finale reveals characters who apparently leave the island. The audience never knows what happens to them between their departure and their deaths. We are left wondering, “What happens in their stories? How do they write their stories from this point on?”

The question is one we need to ask ourselves and ask each other, “How do you write your story from this point on?”

As I was consuming the masterful television/literary hybrid finale of Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, I checked my phone for incoming text messages and updates from Twitter. One “tweet” read, “T-minus 30 minutes until #LOST is over forever.” I quickly responded, “False: it will live on.” The television series was much more than… well… a television series. Its powerful and essential themes were captured by the magical character development and acting genius of those like Naveen Andrews, Michael Emerson, and Terry O’Quinn.

Not only will the messages, themes, and characters of LOST remain in viewers’ hearts and minds but I anticipates a prequel. A sequel would be too much. I’ll explain this is a later post entitled, “LOST: How do you write your story?” However, the period pieces were so mysterious and broad that a contextual back-story could be masterful. The characters Jacob, his nameless brother, and Richard could all be developed further with others who existed in the ancient era. The character of the island (and its/his/her attributes could also be further mystified and/or deified.

More posts in the LOST series to be published daily.

Do you ever find yourself thinking about how lost you are?

Maybe you recognize intellectually that there are some things we just can’t know. Maybe you hear someone talking about religious things and think to yourself… “Whaaaaat?” Maybe you feel like the things you do directly contradict your identity. Maybe you don’t know which way to turn next – if there is a right way, right?

For me, I recognize seasons in life when I stop just long enough to reflect on who I am and rediscover the real me – my identity. I realize that there are many things that are contributing to possessing a sense of being lost.

Sarah and I have been watching all the seasons of the television series LOST. I was hoping or am just now at least recognizing that I should have blogged as we watched. We have been so consumed by continuing to view more episodes that I have not had nearly adequate time to process all my thoughts in writing. I was able to predict relatively early in the show’s narrative that there is an element of shifting and moving through the quite fluid spacial and chronological dimensions of reality. The questions for the characters continue to be not only, “Where are we?” but also, “When are we?” and “Who are we?” I find myself empathizing with the characters’ understanding that being stranded on an island is not the greatest of problems compared to being internally lost and in need of searching to find ourselves. We are enslaved to realities that are that alter perception and skew a clear vision of self-discovery.

How can I avoid season after season after season of sensing a continuous state of being lost? How do I sift through all the competing voices that suggest how I should speak and act? How do I rediscover who I am?

A designer.
A mourner.
A creator.
A questioner.
A lover.
A thinker.
A writer.
A consumer.
A teacher.
A failure.
A mentor.
A peacemaker.

A human.
Intricately created to be who I am.

A final season of LOST may provide some plot and character closure but we, the viewer – the real subject of the narrative, continue struggling, season after season, to accept that we once were lost but may be found – by ourselves.

Found.
As is.
As me.

Are you lost?