"Membership in the family of God is neither inconsequential or something to be casually ignored. The church is God's agenda for the world. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it." The church is indestructable and will exist for eternity. It will outlive this universe, and so will your role in it."
- Rick Warren
Friday, June 27, 2008
Some great observations about the best show on television, from C. Orthodoxy, are below.
As an aside, the best thing about Lost for me has never been the numbers, the puzzles, the hatches, the Others, or even the great interplay between fate and "coincidence". The beauty of the show has always been in the full-featured arcs of the main characters. The analysis below hits on some great transitions that the show has handled very skillfully.
*** Spoilers follow ***
Since the beginning, LOST has presented Jack and Sawyer as opposites: Jack has always been the selfless one, his only goal to ensure that his fellow castaways get home. Sawyer, on the other hand, has always been self-focused, concerned only for his own survival. Even their appearances reflected the contrast – Jack was always clean-cut and respectable, while Sawyer was gruff and uncivilized. But ever since Season Three ended with a drunk and bearded Jack, back in Los Angeles, actually hoping another plane will crash so that he might return to the island, their roles have been reversed. Throughout Season Four we’ve seen him descend from everything he stood for, most notably when he held a gun to Locke’s head and pulled the trigger in “The Beginning of the End.†Now in the two-part Season Finale we find that three years after escaping the island, he has not only become a drunk, but has abandoned Kate and Aaron, and is willing to do just about anything – even trust Ben – to get back.Of course, go read the whole thing.
Meanwhile, Sawyer has moved the opposite direction, and broken free from his old selfishness.
. . .
Now in the two-part finale, his transformation seems to be complete. In the first half, he turned Jack’s signature line (“live together or die aloneâ€) against him, by insisting that “You don’t get to die alone.†Then in the second half, he does what even Jack was unwilling to do: sacrifice himself to save the rest in the helicopter. While Jack remains silent, it is Sawyer who tells Kate he loves her then gives up his chance to escape. I love the symbolism too: his plunge into the water seems a kind of baptism, which leads to new life for himself (back on the island) and for the rest (who escape on the helicopter). Jack, meanwhile, is nothing more than a spectator to this scene, and as we have seen – he comes to dearly regret that he too did not stay behind.
In so reversing Jack and Sawyer’s roles, LOST has not only presented a powerful image of the nature and results of these two essential options – life-giving sacrifice or soul-destroying selfishness – but also emphasized the inescapably present choice between them. The decision between selfishness and sacrifice is not once for all, but a constant demand. It doesn’t matter how noble Jack was, unless he continues to be so. It doesn’t matter how selfish Sawyer was; for today he can make a new start. Virtue is never satisfied with the past, but awaits each new decision. No one can rest on their past deeds as proof of their character or hope, and no one is so far lost that they can’t find their way home. Sawyer seems to have learned that, as did Michael and Charlie and many others before them; I just hope that Jack, too, will remember it before the end.
[Hat tip: Semicolon]
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Comments on "Selflessness and Selfishness in Lost":
2. Ken Brown
- 06/28/2008 12:04 am CDT
Sayid! Yes, his arc has been going in the wrong direction as well. That's one of the things I love about LOST is that it's not just one central plot, but dozens of interacting story-lines, some moving towards redemption (however imperfectly), others away, some mysteries being solved, while others reveal yet deeper mysteries. Great show!
3. Quaid
- 06/28/2008 8:22 am CDT
Sometimes, I don't always back up and look macro at things like I should - the whole baptism angle is quite interesting . . .
Bird has a point - according to Lostpedia, there's only 2 - 3 weeks between the murder and conversion. I wonder to what extent the writers believe the murder is the impetus, or what role it plays in Sawyer's transformation, if they actually are writing his character in such a way as described in this post.
Also, the key question isn't only "Where did the island go?" but "When did the island go?" A thought occurred to me that Jack and friends might return to the island the second that it appears from its travels making the process of finding them years for the O-6, but no time for those on the island. Jack and friends will be thrilled to be back on, but the island people will be all, "Where did you get that beard?"
4. Bill
- 06/28/2008 10:11 am CDT
"One more thing ... why no word on Sayid becoming a hitman for Ben? If anything is jacked up (no pun intended), then that is!"
Well, yeah, except that Sayid is knocking off evil Widmore people who deserve it.
And Sayid freed Hurley
And Ben is good. Trust me . . . he's one of the good guys!
(also, Jack is just as much in Ben's clutches as Sayid is, in his drug-addled, bearded, "I want the planes I ride on to crash so I can get back to the island" days. Remember the conversation they had at the end of the finale?)
5. Bill
- 06/28/2008 10:18 am CDT
Also, on Sawyer: "Here's a guy who had no problem murdering Locke's dad, all for vengance"
I think he did have remorse over it. We watched "Outlaws" last night - that's the show where pre-island Sawyer gets tricked into shooting the shrimp-shack guy who he thinks is "Sawyer", but who really isn't. A key theme in that show is that Sawyer, deep down, isn't a killer (although he ends up killing someone).
Plus, Locke's dad is one of the people on that show MOST deserving of getting offed. That dude was awful.
6. Ken Brown
- 06/28/2008 11:56 am CDT
Indeed, Locke's dad was the real Sawyer! Still, I had forgotten about his murder when I wrote the post...
7. Bird
- 06/28/2008 12:39 pm CDT
Let's just count the murders ...
Sawyer -- 2
Sayid -- multiple
Jack -- 0
Yet Jack gets heat for growing a beard and popping a few aspirins! Puh-leeze! ;-)
9. Bill
- 06/28/2008 1:19 pm CDT
We've been watching the first season, which is simply flush with other Lostie redshirts.
You know, the ones Jack was going to get off the island? Every. Single. One. Of. Them?
Well, through his expert leadership, he managed to be peripheral to saving five of them. Oh, and also, of course, himself.
And, of course, when Jack "Built an army" . . . well, not exactly, but he did come up with or assent to (I forget) the plan to ambush the others at the beach at the end of S3. Of course, he wasn't one of the brave three who stayed behind to do that. But the number of Others killed with his approval at that point was pretty high. And, to their credit, the Others didn't return the favor and off Bernard, Jin, or Sayid
The Jack body count is high.
12. Bill
- 06/28/2008 5:44 pm CDT
An interesting scenario:
A room. Door is locked. Inside Jack Bauer is tied to a chair - he's to be tortured.
Sayid is the torturer.
Who walks out of the room?
I think Sayid rocks, but I've got a steak dinner on Jack being the one who walks out.
14. Bill
- 06/28/2008 6:45 pm CDT
GinH, GinH, GinH . . .
Are we talking about the same Jack? I'm talking about Jack Bauer, who has killed a man with his thighs. He once killed a man with his teeth. He can hold his breath for ten minutes. His skin is impervious to skin-penetrating poison gas. He can recover from a wound that would put most of us in the hospital or in the grave, usually within an hour. He never has to eat or go to the bathroom.
Jack is amazing.
Sayid would be toast. Jack would hand him his behonkus on a hubcap - my guess is within the first 45 seconds.
15. Bill
- 06/28/2008 6:48 pm CDT
Or, even more likely due to Sayid's inner turmoil about being a torturer, my guess is that Jack would use his velvety voice to convince Sayid to come over to his side, and they would bust out of there together, and ride into the sunset, kicking terrorist gluteus as they go.
16. Ken Brown
- 06/28/2008 7:30 pm CDT
Bill, comment 14 may be the funniest thing I've read in a month! Here's hoping that comment 15 was closer to the truth though! :D
17. GinH
- 06/28/2008 7:40 pm CDT
You started with the premise that Jack was already tied to the chair, though. No way Sayid, although I will admit he is often a softie (an adorable softie at that), would let Jack escape from that chair. So, although it'd be a doggone great fight on equal footing, what with Jack's impervious skin and all, Sayid already started, in your scenario, with the upper hand.
And we've seen Sayid's skill at surviving wounds mere mortals would be put down by, as well, and we've seen him slay a woman when he should've been dead - and he looked SO good the entire time. So he's survived his share of mortal wounds. Not to mention supernatural whispers.
You may be forgetting that Sayid will torture for the mere purpose of finding asthma medication.
And did I mention how GOOD he looks while doing it?
Sayid wins, no doubt. However, I like the idea of Sayid being wooed to Jack's side and them working together for the good of mankind, kicking terrorist gluteus.
Let's leave it with that.
18. Bill
- 06/28/2008 7:54 pm CDT
Ken - thanks :-)
GinH - I'm sensing a very deeply-ingrained Sayid crush going on here.
21. Shrode
- 06/29/2008 6:49 am CDT
I think that Dennis Haysbert's character on "The Unit" - Jonas Blaine - would be the one guy Jack Bauer would lose against.
23. Sherry Early
- 06/29/2008 3:29 pm CDT
But is Jack Bauer smart enough to best Benry? I've never seen the Jack Bauer show (forgot what it's called), but Ben seems to be able to manipulate just about anyone.
24. Bird
- 06/30/2008 7:00 am CDT
True true, Sherry. He's already manipulated quite a few Thinklings bloggers and readers into thinking he's a swell guy. ;-)
28. Ken Brown
- 06/30/2008 8:12 pm CDT
Yes, but how many hundreds has Jack Bauer killed? So many that we don't even know their names! (Not so sure that's a good thing, I'm just sayin'...)
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Jack's still my fave. (By the way, Jack was not always clean cut in S1 and S2. He's always been known for being scruffy. :-)
Sawyer's a close second for me, though. It's funny about Sawyer, he's like like the Teflon man on Lost -- nothing can stick to him despite how many horrible things he does. Here's a guy who had no problem murdering Locke's dad, all for vengance, but willingly sacrificed himself to save the people on the chopper. (And all that within a few days of each other on Island time.)
I'm hoping the last two seasons end up being a redemption story for all of the remaining characters -- even Ben. I guess that's the universalist sympathy in me coming out. :-)
One more thing ... why no word on Sayid becoming a hitman for Ben? If anything is jacked up (no pun intended), then that is! Like Sawyer, Sayid is so affable no one notices when he does crappy stuff.