Sunday, July 29, 2007

"What Would I Do?"

One of the many soulful topics that TPTB have given LOST-o-philes to chew on is the idea of the Losties having to face their true selves in the midst of their trials and challenges on the Island. An early tag-caption for Season 3 was the question of whether or not the Losties could stand to face what they might find, if they did take a good look at themselves. Or perhaps the real question was what they would do after they looked at the image in the mirror of their Island circumstances -- into their own "heart of darkness" if you will.

Today I saw another new movie, "Rescue Dawn", starring Christian Bale as Viet Nam Navy pilot POW Dieter Dengler in his escape from capture in Laos. All I can say is "Wow!" It's not the typical war movie one would expect, and it is extremely thought provoking. The photography puts you squarely into the dirty reality of captivity and the escape through the jungle, yet not in an overly done fashion. And although the script is not heavy on intense dialog at all, the feel of being captive and alone in a strange land and horrible circumstances with fellow prisoners really crept into my head as I watched.

What really shines out, is Dengler's optimism in the face of the overwhelming fatality of the POWs' situation. In spite of his desperate surroundings he kept visualizing his escape until it finally happened. Watching Bale portray Dengler really got me thinking about what I would, or could, do in the same situation -- or even just in the Losties shoes on the Island. And for all the complaints we make about how the Losties never do what we think that they should be doing in their creepy island scenarios (e.g. not communicating productively, not exploring better, etc.), I really didn't know if I could survive any better then they each are, when I thought about it.

It's not that I haven't been through my own "dark nights of the soul". I've seen some hard times in my life just like most people, the last being getting through very aggressive cancer treatment and now surviving the debilitating after effects. And I'm usually one of those in rough situations that keeps a cool head and wants to shake the people who are freaking out (like Shannon!) into their senses. Though if it came down to living on the beach or in the jungle with Smokey, coma inducing spiders, and having no toilets or showers, who knows. I'd like to think that I'd try my best like Hurley, and to help anyone else if they wanted me to. I suppose none of us can ever know how we would behave until we are in that situation. We can only ask that the Lord would keep us sane and use us to alleviate whatever the dire straights might be for everyone involved, if the need arises.

((Above image borrowed from the website for the movie "Rescue Dawn" http://rescuedawn.mgm.com/))

8 comments:

pgtbeauregard said...

Capcom,

I just started reading your blog, and love it. Very insightful (is that a word?) and highly intelligent.

Will be looking forward to more.

Capcom said...

Wow, thanks PGT! I'm just kind of rambling, mostly about things that LOST makes me think about. I also get a lot of inspiration from all you LOST bloggers out there too!

pgtbeauregard said...

Not to make this a blog love-fest, but you and memphish make me think more than any other blog or site out there.

Good going, and I'll try to make my comments relevant and not too biased (go Jaters)

Capcom said...

Hey PGT, everyone's comments about LOST are always welcome. If we didn't cross-pollenate our theories and ideas, we would not be able to figure out as much as we do, right? :-)

Amused2bHere said...

Oh Capcom, that is SO true. It's this cross-pollination that I love so much. We really have developed a forum for brain storming and brain-picking that adds to the whole experience.

I enjoy your blog, you really have something to say. Keep it up!

Capcom said...

Thanks Amused! And think about how difficult TLE would have been, had everyone not pitched in a posted their discoveries. I would not have had such a great time with the game if I had not been able to ride thorugh it on all the work of everyone else! Especially when it came down to that infernal Sri Lanka video. :o)

Kenneth Taylor said...

Thanks for your comments on my blog. I just read a few of your posts, and I really like what you're doing here. This idea of what Lost teaches us about ourselves is definitely thought-provoking. Keep it up.

Capcom said...

Thanks Kenneth! I've not finished reading all of your posts yet but will soon!