So I've been thinking about the Finale, and about the show in general. There's a lot of things I think could have been better, a lot of things I would have done completely differently, but I don't think the way they chose to execute either the show or the ending were inherently wrong, just different than how I wish they had done it. And there's plenty of discussion on that in the main Lost Season 6 thread.
What I'm wondering about, and which I felt the need to start a new thread regarding, is this:
From the very first season, the Island itself has been established as a character. Many people throughout the series (most notably Locke and Be) mistake both Jacob or Esau to be the island, but ultimately both of them are just individuals who had plenty of flaws. They finally get a flashback episode, which gives us some insight as to their motivations, but tells us nothing about the island itself, which is what a lot of people actually wanted.
So I'm thinking, is it even POSSIBLE to do a flashback (or, hell, a normal present day scene) in which the Island is a character we can empathize with? I think this is something that, if done right, could have made the show a lot more successful on its own terms (i.e, keeping it a show that's ultimately about characters and faith, where the point of the mysteries turns out to be "seriously, stop obsessing with the mysteries.")
So, leaving all we've seen so far intact and canonical, can we think of ways they could have included flashback scenes that emphasized the island itself, establishing it as something that HAD motivations without breaking down the mystery completely? I thinking along the lines of taking the second to last episode (The one where Jack becomes guardian), and removing the flash sideways scenes (condensing them so they fit in other episodes). Then replacing them with scenes that show the history of the island.
1. A series of panning shots across the island, where the camera is kept low to the ground. We see various animals, but no people. This lasts about two minutes. Ideally it'd show significant natural landmarks that we recognize from earlier, but with no buildings. It starts out by showing the cave with the light. The mood/music is very tranquil. It ends with a small boat crashing into the island and a small group of people (very primitive, basically cavemen) getting out (camera is still low to the ground, so it's clearly not from any of their POV). The camera cuts back to the cave with the light, which flickers ominously. We hear one of the signature lost creepy music sounds.
2. I feel like the full details of the "origin story" of the islands relationship with people is something that isn't necessary to tell (I liked Jacob's mom's statement "any question about my origin will be met with another question."). So I guess the next series of flashbacks would be about Jacob's (and Smokey's) first interaction with new arrivals, but with camerawork that establishes we are not watching it from Jacob or Smokey or the castaway's POV. Ideally it would also introduce a few random ghost characters (possibly including a ghost from the small group of primitives who arrived at the end of the first flashback)
One of the last flashbacks would be one of the newcomers finding and turning the donkey wheel. I think that that act should be physically painful for the island. It should have a sort of fingernails-chalkboard sound that reverberates throughout the landscape (with the camera moving quickly to show how far reaching it is). We hear a groaning sound coming from the rock itself that sounds painful. To emphasize what is happening (because, well, empathizing with rock is hard), we also flashes of the ghosts as well as Jacob cringing in pain. We should the Man in Black smiling slightly and stroking his beard, not quite sure what to make of this but thinking about how to use it in the future.
Possibly have one followup flashback that shows Jacob killing the other humans (or otherwise dealing with them. Since it's his first time dealing with it he should be crude about it).
The final flashback shows Jacob sitting by the cave with the light, resting his hand on a rock, apologizing for letting it happen and promising never to let it happen again.
I think I could work out something better if I had more time, but I already spent way more time writing this than I expected to, and this is a pretty big Wall O' Text anyway. So that's it for now.
What I'm wondering about, and which I felt the need to start a new thread regarding, is this:
From the very first season, the Island itself has been established as a character. Many people throughout the series (most notably Locke and Be) mistake both Jacob or Esau to be the island, but ultimately both of them are just individuals who had plenty of flaws. They finally get a flashback episode, which gives us some insight as to their motivations, but tells us nothing about the island itself, which is what a lot of people actually wanted.
So I'm thinking, is it even POSSIBLE to do a flashback (or, hell, a normal present day scene) in which the Island is a character we can empathize with? I think this is something that, if done right, could have made the show a lot more successful on its own terms (i.e, keeping it a show that's ultimately about characters and faith, where the point of the mysteries turns out to be "seriously, stop obsessing with the mysteries.")
So, leaving all we've seen so far intact and canonical, can we think of ways they could have included flashback scenes that emphasized the island itself, establishing it as something that HAD motivations without breaking down the mystery completely? I thinking along the lines of taking the second to last episode (The one where Jack becomes guardian), and removing the flash sideways scenes (condensing them so they fit in other episodes). Then replacing them with scenes that show the history of the island.
1. A series of panning shots across the island, where the camera is kept low to the ground. We see various animals, but no people. This lasts about two minutes. Ideally it'd show significant natural landmarks that we recognize from earlier, but with no buildings. It starts out by showing the cave with the light. The mood/music is very tranquil. It ends with a small boat crashing into the island and a small group of people (very primitive, basically cavemen) getting out (camera is still low to the ground, so it's clearly not from any of their POV). The camera cuts back to the cave with the light, which flickers ominously. We hear one of the signature lost creepy music sounds.
2. I feel like the full details of the "origin story" of the islands relationship with people is something that isn't necessary to tell (I liked Jacob's mom's statement "any question about my origin will be met with another question."). So I guess the next series of flashbacks would be about Jacob's (and Smokey's) first interaction with new arrivals, but with camerawork that establishes we are not watching it from Jacob or Smokey or the castaway's POV. Ideally it would also introduce a few random ghost characters (possibly including a ghost from the small group of primitives who arrived at the end of the first flashback)
One of the last flashbacks would be one of the newcomers finding and turning the donkey wheel. I think that that act should be physically painful for the island. It should have a sort of fingernails-chalkboard sound that reverberates throughout the landscape (with the camera moving quickly to show how far reaching it is). We hear a groaning sound coming from the rock itself that sounds painful. To emphasize what is happening (because, well, empathizing with rock is hard), we also flashes of the ghosts as well as Jacob cringing in pain. We should the Man in Black smiling slightly and stroking his beard, not quite sure what to make of this but thinking about how to use it in the future.
Possibly have one followup flashback that shows Jacob killing the other humans (or otherwise dealing with them. Since it's his first time dealing with it he should be crude about it).
The final flashback shows Jacob sitting by the cave with the light, resting his hand on a rock, apologizing for letting it happen and promising never to let it happen again.
I think I could work out something better if I had more time, but I already spent way more time writing this than I expected to, and this is a pretty big Wall O' Text anyway. So that's it for now.
