A post on "Approaching Lost" (www.approachinglost.com) brings up another mystery that we surely need to know by the end of the show. That is, why can the Island/Jacob cure diseases (and flaky sperm counts), but not the rancid uteruses and toxic pregnancies? We are led to believe that the Island might somehow actually cause the aging uterus problem, so healing it would not apply in that case anyway. But why doesn't the island create super-babies with its wondrous healing properties while the uteruses are still viable, rather than adversely affecting the fetuses causing monster growths that attack the mother? Which also begs the question, how were the Island natives able to propagate before the DI came along, but that's for another post.I suppose that we are kind of taking it on assumption that Ben may have ticked off Jacob or the Island in some way, which led to his not being healed of his spinal tumor. Maybe it's because he has not solved the fertility problems yet that Jacob has withheld Ben's healing, therefore letting Ben know that he's moving on to another leader who has the faith to fix the problem (Locke). But then that brings us back to the original question...why can't the fertility problems be healed like Locke's legs, Rose's cancer, etc.?
Is the fertility problem a situation like, a little bit of cure is good for fixing some things, but a large amount can cause problems? For instance, a little medication is good for aches and pains, but too much will wreck your liver. And maybe this contradiction falls somewhere into the area of the blast door map's, "the remedy is worse than the disease" notation? Was Radzinsky really saying that the Island itself may be able to enact miracles of healing in some ways, but in other ways staying on the island is very dangerous and you don't want to do it? As in, it can repair low sperm counts, but stay any longer and it will kill the mother and child? I hope that TPTB will reveal this to us by the finale!
24 comments:
Capcom,
This is something that really needs to be explained. Perhaps Jacob didn't want DI folks to be able to procreate. Although why he chose the women to die is a puzzle. Indeed, the men have super sperm count, so being a woman, you have sex and die - totally don't get it.
Good question - maybe Jacob hates women! (just kidding)
Wow, interesting point! And he certainly didn't have any sympathy for the babies either apparently, if he is responsible.
This whole subject is another complete paradox (out of a zillion), i.e., if people are needed to protect the island, why do they "get killed" when procreating? Perhaps something must have happened in between the island natives living "normally" and the DIs getting there.
I haven't found any quantum theories yet about terminal pregnancies in relation to wormholes. :o)
It is totally insane...I mean the real kicker is the fact that LOCKE gets healed..and so does Rose...but I mean..the chance of giving birth and surviving is slim to none....and and Whatabout BEN? What was the deal with that? and that sticken four toed statue...lol
sorry..I got of topic...but I went to the theaters this weekend..and um...the trailer was indeed very quick...and it was just random flashes. The suprise was Charlie.
Now it could be a dream or appariton...but that brings the mystery of those as well.=]
LOST! CAN'T WAIT FOR SEASON 4!!!
CF
Capcom,
Good questions! I've been thinking a lot about this and I have a few different ideas. For instance, if the island has properties that allow for rapid regenerative healing, and it also has side effects that cause superfertility in men, perhaps the island's healing properties actually cause the mother's body to attack the pregnancy as if it were a tumor. Essentially, what if the island is misdetecting pregnancy as a disease, and the mother's body shuts down because essentially the island is trying heal her of the pregnancy? Perhaps it's the price of living in such a special place: you can't produce more of you.
If you wanna go a more supernatural route, there's the possibility that Ben's guilt over causing his mother's death is actually manifesting as a fertility problem which kills women. That might explain why people could reproduce before (assuming of course that they could; we don't actually know), but not now.
I am definitely leaning towards Jacob allowing Ben to get sick because Ben is on the outs with Jacob. I think it's becoming obvious that Jacob is now gravitating towards Locke as his prophet. I would imagine that Jacob regards Ben as having gone astray, after the Others started living comfy suburban lives and neglecting the island.
Anyway, I wouldn't worry about getting answers to these questions. It seems certain that stuff like this is in the Sure To Be Answered By End of Series category!
I agree with PAA that Ben's illness just before Locke's arrival is a sign that the torch is to be passed.
As for why you can't procreate, I'm betting it has something to do with the eternal Richard Alpert. People who are going to live forever due to regeneration don't need to procreate. In fact it would exacerbate over-population which I bet is one of the Valenzetti Factors.
Great ideas! I very much like the idea of Ben's "Id" thoughts causing the dead moms and babies. Kind of like the Id Monster in Forbidden Planet -- Ben's evil Id plus the Wish Box application/equipment equals bad things happening. It would be freaky if he didn't know that he was doing it, and then we get to see the look on his face when he finds out that it's been him all along! Heeheeeee.
I also like the idea of the island thinking that the fetus is some kind of parasite that it needs to fix. Didn't one of the Others kind of describe it in that way? Something about the mother's body treating it as something that it needs to attack? I can't remember for sure, but the thought is sticking in my mind.
How do you think that Richard was born Memphish? That would be interesting to know. But that's the type of dangerous Lost question that leads to references to too many other theories. Like how the natives could have been descendants of other unfortunate castaways from ages ago, etc. Heheh, maybe the island keeps a count of how many people are on the island, and only when someone dies and tips the numbers back can a baby be born. JK, I guess. :-)
Well CF, I'm glad that I'm not the only one that thought the Lost promo was too quick. No fair, all the other TV promos in the theater drag on and on.
Another thought that must be lumped in with this is the fact that pregancies are safe if they are conceived off-island, but not if on-island. This would lead me to think that it goes with the island "healing" you of your pregancy if it happens on-island and is "recognized" as a new growth, like PAA says. And if you came to the island with the fetus, it would be "detected" as a part of you.
But here's the big "but" to that thought: Locke and Rose came to the island with their maladies and the island still comprehended them as something to heal. So, we still need to know the off/on-island variable part of this mystery too. :-p
Unless it simply boils down to the fact that the super-sperms are the problem and the sperms themselves are evil, and are creating island versions of Rosemary's baby. :o)
Whatever the ultimate reason, I think not being able to procreate on the island is probably the price one must pay for living in such a "magical" place. And as Memphish pointed out, if certain people are not getting older, you wouldn't want them procreating.
You mentioned the "disease worsens with the cure" inscription on the blast door map. I believe this is a reference to the DHARMA Initiative, as it seems they started causing the very problems they were trying to fix.
Oh Capcom, I posted a little final addendum to our conversation about THE MIST. Check it out!
Okiedoke!
I saw something in a deleted scene today that may explain Ben's tumor. Alex wished that Ben was dead. Maybe the magic box effect and Alex gave Ben the tumor.
OOOOOOOOOOOh! Good one Memphish, she did say that didn't she! Well then, if she wished it on him, perhaps it can't be healed unless she wishes it away again.
Heheh, this is starting to sound a lot like the little boy who wished people into the cornfield in the Twilight Zone. :o)
I keep thinking it has to be tied to the immune system. That someone or some force on that island created something that supercharges the immune system. They just didn't anticipate the side effects such as the body having an immune reaction to the baby.
So, here's what I'm wondering. If Juliet's right and it happens at conception. What if you conceive on Alcatraz instead of the main island? Same effect? Because of course, technically that's not the same island. Is that what Juliet and Ben had in mind to study over that 2 weeks?
Good point about the immune system sort of acting in overdrive, Lost2010.
Hmmm, that's an interesting question! Could it be far enough away from the island to avoid the effects? I wonder. That could very well be why they wanted to "test" Kate and Sawyer off-island, so to speak. Seems it took K&S less than two weeks to get the experiment going, heheh.
Wow, I also just thought an extremely unlikely idea...what if Smokey detects the fetus in utero, scans the baby's mind, and deems it unfit for living because it can't communicate and answer Smokey's Qs? JK. :-)
I did kind of wonder if, for the purpose of the show, babies become self-aware at that point in the pregnancy.
Interesting ideas about Falcatraz and Smokey. I'd think in 3 years Juliet would have tried the Falcatraz thing. I'm guessing the problem extends to anywhere in the Island's sphere of influence, i.e. Desmond's snowglobe.
I also don't think Smokey has anything to do with it because the pregnant women could stay inside the sonic fence where it doesn't appear Smokey can go. But we see the pregnant woman dying apparently at the Staff which would be in Smokey territory? You've got me circling again Capcom.
Oh, that's a good point too! Heheh, it's kinda like a fetal, "I think therefore I am".
This entire show is like this Memphish. You get one theory, but then the other unknowns cancel it out, and you have to go around all over again! :-p
Memphish,
Here's a troubling question: If the Monster can't go beyond the sonic fence, how the heck was Ben seeing his dead mom?
Wasn't she standing right outside the fence? I forget.
PAA,
Theory 1) Alpert turned off the fence.
Theory 2) Ben's mom isn't Smokey. Pre-purge the "machines" had not broken down and some existed inside the compound though DI didn't know it.
Theory 3) Beats me. :-)
Capcom, First Ben thought he saw her at his window. I guess that could have been a hostile in disguise and then outside the fence they use Smokey. (Circling again.)
Oh yeah, the window vision! Sometimes I forget more than I can remember with this dang show! :-D
I like theory #1. Probably just because I'm in love with Richard.
It could be that the Monster can mentally interact with people anywhere but can only physically interact outside the fence.
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