I'm nervous. I am about to write about the show that has been written about probably more than any other show in recent television history. I have been putting off writing about "Lost" since the very beginning of OCD TV because it felt like such a gargantuan monster compared to the friendly little reality shows I have been writing about. It seems that there is nothing that hasn't been said about this show, from conspiracy theories to frustration and annoyance with the complexity of the plot, so I'm going to write about it in a way that I know hasn't been done before. This is just how "Lost" relates to me.
I have always loved puzzles, even as a really young child I loved doing puzzles, or figuring out mazes. I'm also a voracious reader and it was a short time before I found that my favorite stories were strange, scary ones with a surprising ending. Anything by Roald Dahl, Richard Matheson, Graham Wilson. E. F. Benson and a few others also suited my palette. They are masters of strange, unnerving stories with unexpected conclusions. For me, "Lost" maintains the same principle. It's like a giant puzzle and there is a certain feeling of satisfaction when one of the pieces fits.
For example, the Sawyer storyline of his being on a quest to kill the man who caused his parents' deaths had sort of sat to the side like a middle piece of puzzle that didn't yet have another piece to attach to for quite some time. Enter John Locke and his amazingly horrible father and all of a sudden, that piece of puzzle that is sitting on the side looks like it might just have the right edge to fit with the Locke piece already in place. If you saw the episode, you know that those two pieces did fit together very well indeed, much to my great satisfaction.
I am also drawn to "Lost" because, much like the macabre books I love so much, atmosphere is key to the story. The island IS the atmosphere of "Lost," and is imposing and intimidating whether it's day or night. That's really quite a rarity. What seems frightening at night is usually very ordinary in the day, but not in this place. Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear of all and what could be more unknown than being stranded on a creepy island with a bunch of strangers and no way of getting off?
More of Sarah lurking around on the island after the jump...
Sometimes I think about what I would do if I were on that island. Everyone likes to think they would be useful and immediately start chopping wood, making fires, catching fish bare handed and saving lives when necessary. All I can think is how completely screwed I would be because I wear contacts and am legally blind without them. I bet you have a great vision of me now, reading my books with giant thick glasses and doing puzzles like the world's biggest nerd. I have had to wear glasses most of my life.
When I was about seven, my mom thought that if I she let me pick my own glasses, I would stop hiding them in class by sitting on them and crushing them and instead, wear them and actually be able to see. At the time, I had a crush on a boy who also wore glasses, so I decided I had to have the same ones. Unfortunately he wore big thick, black-rimmed glasses and try as she did, my mom could not talk me out of getting the same pair. So I went around like a mini girl Roy Orbison for a while until my prescription changed and I had to get new ones.
The next pair I chose were a little better They were round, tortoise-shell eyeglasses because apparently I wanted to be a mini English professor. I did wear a lot of corduroy in those days. After that, I fell victim to the 80's where every pair of glasses were huge and round and made me look like an owl. Those were good times. So like I said, I have worn glasses all my life and the thought of not having them or my contacts terrifies me. It's like the old Twilight Zone episode where the grumpy guy with thick glasses who hates people wishes they would all disappear so he could just be left alone to read library books for the rest of his life. When he goes outside he discovers that there has been a nuclear war and he is the last man left, he is so happy that his wish has come true that he excitedly runs back inside to start reading, and promptly drops his glasses and steps on them. Oh the horror! But I guess everyone on the island has pretty good vision because other than Sawyer who wears hilarious old lady glasses to read, no one else has complained about running out of contact solution or needing an eye exam.
There will always be people who hate "Lost" just to hate it, who pick faults with it and loudly point them out for everyone to hear. But whatever, all I know is that on Wednesday nights I can't wait to come home and see what creepy story "Lost" has to tell. And sometimes when my eyes are dry, I take out my contacts and watch it in my glasses and wonder if Ben is my long lost love from years ago or perhaps just an owl glasses twin.
Cinnabana says:
Sarah,
That was brilliant analogy comparing Lost to a giant jigsaw puzzle. I am there with you. I love puzzles too and you are so right. Lost is one of the best drama on TV right now and people are not watching except for you and me. The island is such a mystery. I run home to watch Lost on Wednesday's nights.
mad_caddy says:
What has Graham Wilson written? I am familiar with the other authors and like their work.
Sarah McChesney says:
It's actually Gahan Wilson, my overly useful Spellchecker corrected it and I didn't realize. He's a fantasticaly strange and macabre writer and cartoonist, I reccomend "The Cleft and Other Odd Tales", all the stories are accompanied by his drawings. Let me know if you read it, if you like the other authors I mentioned you won't be disappointed.
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