Most of popular culture is a sewer and I'm happy to rarely switch on the tv (we don't even have ESPN or the 24-hour cable news shows). But I do try to catch the ABC drama LOST and last night, as Amy Welborn notes, included some nicely done dramatizations of issues regarding sin, forgiveness, and redemption. Maybe it's because the show (like, I think, the X-Files) trades in mystery, it just can't avoid religious claims. But I'm hard pressed to remember another time where two people sympathetically recite the 23rd Psalm as, seemingly, an act of religious devotion. Good stuff.
7 comments:
"Lost" is so good. The redemption theme plays a key role in the show. Nearly every member of the principle cast has something in their past for which they want to atone or redeem themselves. This is most obvious in my two favorite characters, Sayid and Eko.
I haven't seen the show, but you make me wonder whether we'll ultimately discover they are in purgatory and are trying to win their way into heaven.
No, no, Hunter. That was "Purgatory" on TNT.
Actually, I think Hunter is correct and that the final episodes of the show will reveal that as its true underlying premise. The title of the program ought to be an obvious clue, as in the term lost souls.
There you go with the westerns again, JFE. Conservatism is coming for you and it's got hell riding with it!
The more I sat back and analyzed the show character by character, the more convinced I am that Hunter may be right about the purgatory thing. There's aspects of faith - entering those stupid numbers for no good reason. Just about every main character has something to atone for so far. The only hole is "The Others," but I'm sure there's a good explanation.
Redemption is a key theme in "Alias," with the character of Arvin Sloane and, to a lesser extent, Jack Bristow, and both shows are by the same creator/writing teams.
The producers of LOST say there are natural explainations for everything on the show, and the whole ``Project Dharma`` business tends to bear that out. Furthermore, the show suggests that these people were chosen because they were lost souls. Perhaps Purgatory needn`t wait until the hereafter?
By the way, has anyone noticed the similarity between the smoke monster and the creature from the Sci-Fi classic Forbidden Planet? In the latest episode, the creature appeared as Charlie grew angry, and Mr. Ecko held it off through a calm spirit.
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