Is it safe to talk about “Lost” yet?
The cult television series had its season finale a few weeks back, so hopefully this post won’t ruin anything for anyone. If it’s still waiting on your DVR, a familiar word of warning: spoilers ahead.
The episode, entitled “The Incident,” opened with a scene that appeared to offer a God’s-eye view of the mysterious island at the center of the series. Viewers first came upon the island as its main characters did – when their plane crashed, leaving them stranded – but this opening suggested that the island has been overseen for centuries by two opposing figures.
In the first scene, the pair meets on the beach for a shrouded conversation. It isn’t long before you suspect one of the men represents God while the other represents Satan.
This isn’t only because the seemingly benevolent figure – named Jacob (Mark Pellegrino) – wears white and the other, more threatening man (Titus Welliver) wears black.
The two are regarding what appears to be a 15th-century ship off the coast and debate what might happen if the explorers found the island. Jacob believes good would come of it, while the man in black predicts they will “fight, destroy and corrupt.” Their conversation hinges, in other words, on nothing less than the redemptive potential of man.
There are allusions later in the episode that position Jacob not only as God, but as Jesus Christ. A character is asked, “What lies in the shadow the statue?” referring to the figure underneath which Jacob lives. The answer is given in Latin on the show, but it translates roughly to “He who will save us all.”
Intriguing, yet I’m not all that interested in what this means for “Lost” – especially considering that the way this show goes, next season’s opener could reveal that Jacob is, in fact, Satan. Or the pair are actually aliens.
What the finale made me think about, though, was the storytelling technique of employing an obvious God figure. What does that bring to a TV show, a movie or any other form of narrative?
Certainly the inclusion of such a character makes a Christian’s ears perk up, yet I think such figures say less about God than they do about the storytellers who have envisioned him (or, in some cases, her).
As the Book of Revelation reminds us, God is bigger than anything our puny minds can imagine, even in a wildly inventive television series such as “Lost.” Such visions may express a small facet of God’s reality, but in the end no human construct can contain him.
That said, did the “Lost” finale portray a recognizable God to you? Any predictions on where the producers might take this religious angle in next year’s final season?
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Comments (6)
Instead, I see these two as gods of the Island, and not necessarily one all good and one all evil. Of course, as you know Jesus and Satan aren't on the same level - Jesus is the Son of God while Satan is a fallen angel. But I suspect Jacob and "not Jacob" are indeed equals - more like Egyptian or Greek mythological gods.
LOST borrows from a lot of cultural and religious ideas but it doesn't mean that they must equal or represent exactly the idea they borrow. For instance, in this case, the borrowing could (and probably more likely) is from ancient Egyptian mythology and even then not fully. I think they have created a story of fiction that takes concepts and ideas from other places and truths then combines them to make their own story.
It's very interesting to look at the story being told and find the religious and cultural references, but I also don't feel like any culture or religion borrowed from should get too worked up about it.
I explore some of this a bit more on my blog I mentioned earlier like the Island might manifest itself as a trilogy (not so sure now) and even think that Jacob, the 'god in white' could indeed be the bad guy. But LOST has a way of making things not so clear cut. That's what makes it great! If Jacob = Jesus, we'd anticipate the story line having an idea of where it should go. LOST doesn't always do that.
I preface this with "my co-workers" because I watch the show and didn't pick up on any of the religious themes. I guess I must turn off part of my brain when watching TV.
General thoughts: I never really picked up on any "Jesus Christ" reference. That's probably because you NEVER know where the characters will go on LOST. We thought Ethan was just a nice guy, then he ended up stealing a pregnant Claire and hanged Charlie. Ben seemed like an innocent bystander as "Henry Gale". I think that's a lot of what draws you in. There's a mystery to the island and the people you meet there...I have found it unwise to make any kind of judgment after meeting someone for the first time.
But, it's interesting to re-watch Lost (more information here: http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wik... and seeing the dynamics of good and evil played out, though. Lost borrows from so many different things to put together the show I, like orangejack, don't feel overly excited about a potential reference to Christ.
If Jacob didn't die, that is one thing, but if he did, we already see that the Island doesn't really appear to have resurrection abilities (it healed Locke of paralysis and now Locke 2.0 is gallivanting in a body that looks exactly the same). But, I guess God always did things completely different than people would think. I just don't see it. There are a few parallels, but I don't know if it's realistic to think they will focus on the Christian God mythology at all. I guess we'll see. I've never been one to actually predict correctly what will happen on LOST. haha.
Maybe I'm the only Think Christian reader who's also a fan of Lost and doesn't live in the US. We've got 5 more episodes to get to the season finale. I'll bookmark this post and return then!