...for anyone that still cares :P
Yes i know, some people feel gyped, cheated, mislead. Some people understand what the finale tried to say, but didnt like it...and some people didnt understand it at all. Felt false.
Well, no offense, im not sure what show these people thought they were watching.
I can understand NOT liking the ending because you wanted the show to be completely sci-fi oriented...which means most mysteries are solved and there is a point to the mumbo-jumbo and there is some concrete explanations to the weirdness and the unexplained.
I understand that.
But still, i say, you misread what the show was about. Its was never a sci-fi based show (even though it sure had alot of sci-fi parts, granted)...and the creators bent over backwards to say its not a sci-fi show. Actually, they made sure not to put any label on it.
So if you did, its your own fault.
From the first season, this show made it clear that it wasnt representing realism, or even naturalism. From the beginning, people had problems with the way the characters talked, the actions they took, and how they reacted to bizarre situations...OMG they arent acting like real people!
Cause they werent supposed to be. They are archtypes, they are representatives of real people...which means the focus of the story was representations of things and what they say about reality...rather than watching a naturalistic, reality based showand reflecting what it says about us.
The ENTIRE SHOW...all 6 seasons...hit you over the head with converging philosophies. Heck, the characters were SO a representations of things, that their names were often representative of different philosphies and faiths and scientific theories.
Thats the point. The concept of the show was to make it a metaphor and allegory of EVERYTHING. Human nature, life, death, warrring philosophies, theories (scientific and faith based), religion, spirituality, good, evil, faith...etc. The concept was to ecompass it all, ambitious and risky, yes...but i think they did a fine job.
So once you come to terms with this, and realize the show was ONLY about following these core characters that represent all of life, and how they interact with all the various ideologies and pain and struggle that life has to offer...then you cant possibly be disappointed with how it ends.
Why? Because...because answering every question of the Island doesnt matter. It doesnt matter what the island really is, or where it came from, or why its there. It doesnt matter what the Egyptians did with it, why they plugged up the light source in the first place, or what happened when Hugo and Ben took over the Island. It doesnt matter what the light cave REALLY was, who shot who in the outrigger, why was there Dharma, who kept dropping food, was there a smoke monster before MIB become one, etc etc..
Because the Island was ALWAYS a metaphor for life. And while you and i live life trying to search for answers to things, we will die knowing very little. "Life is a mystery" is what they say, and thus the Island must stay one as well to stay true to the point of the show. To get angry cause they never explained where the island came from, or the point of it, or why its there...is like being angry in a story about life and death in the "real world" because they didnt explain to us who created the universe and what the purpose of is being here is!
Thats not reality. Life is full of mystery. If "Lost" tried to answer such questions specifically, and turn it into a sci-fi, documentary type solved-mystery resolution..it would be an injustice to the whole conceit of the entire POINt of the show!
We all search for answers in life. Some do it strictly science based (the big bang theory and all the atomic particles of course had to react and explode...parts of a supernova or a collapsing black hole!) Some do it strictly faith based (There is this god that created everything all at once, with the humans and animals on it...we were put here for a reason). Some people go back and forth (Well there was a big bang and the universe was created by scientific matter properties BUT that was set up by a powerful being for a certain purpose...)
And all "Lost" was trying to do was represent this. Jacob's mom sees the light cave as the essence of humanity, the source of life, the representation of whats good. Its a certain faith. Widmore would see it as strictly a scientific property of the island...a hole that goes deep into the special properties of the earth. Its exotic matter creating a huge source of electromagnetic properties that if harnessed properly can allow mere humans to do things they probably were never meant to do. So, Jacob's mom would want to protect it from people like Widmore, because she feels humans only destroy things that are good.
Or its both. It CAN be both. It can represent both. Like in real life, mayeb it is a scientific based property of the earth, but when Egyptians first found it, they applied otherworldy meanings to it, created a religion around it. This is what happens in OUR world too.
So while some people may get upset that the show never answered how this light came to be, what it does, and what the Egyptians used it for...it doesnt matter. Thats like trying to answer and explain the meaning of everything. Impossible.
And it could be that taking out the cork and letting the light go out, not only destroys the island, but destroys humanity and faith in the world as a whole. After all, the light is connected to the properties of the world..and the Island represents Life...so it may very well be that if that light went out, that means all sense of humanity and faith leaves the world (as embodied by the MIB/smokey)...lets not forget, he because mortal again when the light went back out.
So there it is...The Sideways World was "purgatory/limbo" and the Island World was the real world, it was the actual life the Losties had. The show makes this crystal clear. Its not the "real world" like our reality...in the context of the "Lost" universe, however, the Island represented their real life.
It was a metaphor and allegory to explore a condensed, hyperrealized version of these peoples actual lives...with all the questions, struggles, pain, joy, faith, scientific theory, and philosphy that real life entails.
This is why it doesnt matter what Jacob mumbled over the water he gave Jack, and it doesnt matter why Jack gave Hurly bottled water and it did the same thing...that part of the story was never about science, that part was about faith. The light cave is the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel"..duh :P...it represented mortal ephinany. It represented faith in humanity, faith that people can be good, make right choices, and better themselves. And like all kinds of faiths, it represented something that had to be protected and also passed down.
So, the protector of that light is simply a representation of people who protect and promote faith in life. This is why Jacob had a different ruleset and ways of doing things than his mother, and why Jack could have created his own rules and ways of passing on that idea, and why Hugo probably did things way different. Thats why the ritual of drinking the water was symbolic, not scientific. It represents mans use of religious ideology to explain the unexplained and to prmote faith in something...and it often involves different rulesets depending on which religion we are talking about and who is in power. Some people are expecting concrete scientific explanations where there are none, are can be none.
Thats the whole point of that part of the story! Its not about asnwering why or how, its about showing us what it represents and means...which is far more powerful a device, dont you think?
I dont feel its a cop out that the writers chose to be ambiguous in many of the mysteries of the island, because i feel it was intentional. It had to be unsolved if it was going to continue to be a metaphor for what it was supposed to be a comment on. And they give you all the pieces of the Island so that you can answer your own questions about anything unsolved. Like i did for the light cave, it can be explained scientifically, as well as a faith based allegory
And make no mistake, the show argued just as much on the science philosphy of life as it did the faith philosphy...and even though season 6, and the finale, teetered to the faith side...well, when you get to "the end", thats generally all we have left to hang onto, isnt it? So it makes sense to me.
So, the end of the series is actually a very good ending, because it stays true to the point of the show. It really does. And i really believe, if you felt the ending did a diservice to the show you had been watching for 6 years, then you really didnt get the overall point of the show. Or you ignored the overall point of the show, clinging to a part of the show, and assuming that was what the show was about and demanding that it be nothing but that.
Which is no wonder why someone like that would be disappointed! They interpreted the show wrong :P
Yes i know, some people feel gyped, cheated, mislead. Some people understand what the finale tried to say, but didnt like it...and some people didnt understand it at all. Felt false.
Well, no offense, im not sure what show these people thought they were watching.
I can understand NOT liking the ending because you wanted the show to be completely sci-fi oriented...which means most mysteries are solved and there is a point to the mumbo-jumbo and there is some concrete explanations to the weirdness and the unexplained.
I understand that.
But still, i say, you misread what the show was about. Its was never a sci-fi based show (even though it sure had alot of sci-fi parts, granted)...and the creators bent over backwards to say its not a sci-fi show. Actually, they made sure not to put any label on it.
So if you did, its your own fault.
From the first season, this show made it clear that it wasnt representing realism, or even naturalism. From the beginning, people had problems with the way the characters talked, the actions they took, and how they reacted to bizarre situations...OMG they arent acting like real people!
Cause they werent supposed to be. They are archtypes, they are representatives of real people...which means the focus of the story was representations of things and what they say about reality...rather than watching a naturalistic, reality based showand reflecting what it says about us.
The ENTIRE SHOW...all 6 seasons...hit you over the head with converging philosophies. Heck, the characters were SO a representations of things, that their names were often representative of different philosphies and faiths and scientific theories.
Thats the point. The concept of the show was to make it a metaphor and allegory of EVERYTHING. Human nature, life, death, warrring philosophies, theories (scientific and faith based), religion, spirituality, good, evil, faith...etc. The concept was to ecompass it all, ambitious and risky, yes...but i think they did a fine job.
So once you come to terms with this, and realize the show was ONLY about following these core characters that represent all of life, and how they interact with all the various ideologies and pain and struggle that life has to offer...then you cant possibly be disappointed with how it ends.
Why? Because...because answering every question of the Island doesnt matter. It doesnt matter what the island really is, or where it came from, or why its there. It doesnt matter what the Egyptians did with it, why they plugged up the light source in the first place, or what happened when Hugo and Ben took over the Island. It doesnt matter what the light cave REALLY was, who shot who in the outrigger, why was there Dharma, who kept dropping food, was there a smoke monster before MIB become one, etc etc..
Because the Island was ALWAYS a metaphor for life. And while you and i live life trying to search for answers to things, we will die knowing very little. "Life is a mystery" is what they say, and thus the Island must stay one as well to stay true to the point of the show. To get angry cause they never explained where the island came from, or the point of it, or why its there...is like being angry in a story about life and death in the "real world" because they didnt explain to us who created the universe and what the purpose of is being here is!
Thats not reality. Life is full of mystery. If "Lost" tried to answer such questions specifically, and turn it into a sci-fi, documentary type solved-mystery resolution..it would be an injustice to the whole conceit of the entire POINt of the show!
We all search for answers in life. Some do it strictly science based (the big bang theory and all the atomic particles of course had to react and explode...parts of a supernova or a collapsing black hole!) Some do it strictly faith based (There is this god that created everything all at once, with the humans and animals on it...we were put here for a reason). Some people go back and forth (Well there was a big bang and the universe was created by scientific matter properties BUT that was set up by a powerful being for a certain purpose...)
And all "Lost" was trying to do was represent this. Jacob's mom sees the light cave as the essence of humanity, the source of life, the representation of whats good. Its a certain faith. Widmore would see it as strictly a scientific property of the island...a hole that goes deep into the special properties of the earth. Its exotic matter creating a huge source of electromagnetic properties that if harnessed properly can allow mere humans to do things they probably were never meant to do. So, Jacob's mom would want to protect it from people like Widmore, because she feels humans only destroy things that are good.
Or its both. It CAN be both. It can represent both. Like in real life, mayeb it is a scientific based property of the earth, but when Egyptians first found it, they applied otherworldy meanings to it, created a religion around it. This is what happens in OUR world too.
So while some people may get upset that the show never answered how this light came to be, what it does, and what the Egyptians used it for...it doesnt matter. Thats like trying to answer and explain the meaning of everything. Impossible.
And it could be that taking out the cork and letting the light go out, not only destroys the island, but destroys humanity and faith in the world as a whole. After all, the light is connected to the properties of the world..and the Island represents Life...so it may very well be that if that light went out, that means all sense of humanity and faith leaves the world (as embodied by the MIB/smokey)...lets not forget, he because mortal again when the light went back out.
So there it is...The Sideways World was "purgatory/limbo" and the Island World was the real world, it was the actual life the Losties had. The show makes this crystal clear. Its not the "real world" like our reality...in the context of the "Lost" universe, however, the Island represented their real life.
It was a metaphor and allegory to explore a condensed, hyperrealized version of these peoples actual lives...with all the questions, struggles, pain, joy, faith, scientific theory, and philosphy that real life entails.
This is why it doesnt matter what Jacob mumbled over the water he gave Jack, and it doesnt matter why Jack gave Hurly bottled water and it did the same thing...that part of the story was never about science, that part was about faith. The light cave is the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel"..duh :P...it represented mortal ephinany. It represented faith in humanity, faith that people can be good, make right choices, and better themselves. And like all kinds of faiths, it represented something that had to be protected and also passed down.
So, the protector of that light is simply a representation of people who protect and promote faith in life. This is why Jacob had a different ruleset and ways of doing things than his mother, and why Jack could have created his own rules and ways of passing on that idea, and why Hugo probably did things way different. Thats why the ritual of drinking the water was symbolic, not scientific. It represents mans use of religious ideology to explain the unexplained and to prmote faith in something...and it often involves different rulesets depending on which religion we are talking about and who is in power. Some people are expecting concrete scientific explanations where there are none, are can be none.
Thats the whole point of that part of the story! Its not about asnwering why or how, its about showing us what it represents and means...which is far more powerful a device, dont you think?
I dont feel its a cop out that the writers chose to be ambiguous in many of the mysteries of the island, because i feel it was intentional. It had to be unsolved if it was going to continue to be a metaphor for what it was supposed to be a comment on. And they give you all the pieces of the Island so that you can answer your own questions about anything unsolved. Like i did for the light cave, it can be explained scientifically, as well as a faith based allegory
And make no mistake, the show argued just as much on the science philosphy of life as it did the faith philosphy...and even though season 6, and the finale, teetered to the faith side...well, when you get to "the end", thats generally all we have left to hang onto, isnt it? So it makes sense to me.
So, the end of the series is actually a very good ending, because it stays true to the point of the show. It really does. And i really believe, if you felt the ending did a diservice to the show you had been watching for 6 years, then you really didnt get the overall point of the show. Or you ignored the overall point of the show, clinging to a part of the show, and assuming that was what the show was about and demanding that it be nothing but that.
Which is no wonder why someone like that would be disappointed! They interpreted the show wrong :P
