Guest Post: Getting Lost Never Felt So Good
As the guest posts begin to wind down, I have an important question for AOGB readers. At first I thought I was going to have to extend guest posting into October because the feature got such positive feedback. But then some early birds as I like to call them seemed to bite off more than they could chew and now it looks like that may not have to happen.
Which brings me to my question. At the time I was thinking about making Thursdays in October "Guest Post Thursdays" considering I rarely post something new on Thursdays anyhow. What I want to know from you is how you feel about it. Depending on the feedback I get here or via email (janet@theartofgettingby.com), I'll see if it's a good idea or not. If you want to guest post and haven't gotten the chance to yet, this feature would be a great way to do just that.
While I wait to hear how you feel about future guest posting prospects, let's get back to the reason why you're all here- the guest post that's here now. Today's post comes to us courtesy of David over at The Musings of David Amulet. I love to read David's blog because he takes quirky news stories and puts an interesting spin on them. You never know what you're gonna get on any given day when you visit David. I dig that.
I must say that the ideas expressed in this post do not necessarily express those here at AOGB.:) I also intentionally held off on posting this guest post from David for awhile now. In a minute, you'll too see why.
One Wednesday night sometime in Fall 2004, I discovered a new show simply called "Lost." And for the first time in a long time, I was hooked. And I'm looking forward to the new season more than a man should.
No, the program did not rekindle a Party of Five fetish-although, for the record, I would rather be stranded on the island with Jennifer Love Hewitt than Matthew Fox.
Nor am I so enamored with the physical form of the show's female lead character, Kate, that I suffered withdrawal symptoms when I missed my weekly cleavage-cam of the island's most eligible bachelorette-although, for the record, I would rather be stranded on the island with Evangeline Lilly than Matthew Fox.
Actually, I would rather be stranded on an island with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Evangeline Lilly than writing this right now.
(End daydream. And...we're back.)
Something rare draws me to "Lost," something a show has not done in years.
Quite simply, it challenges the viewer. It makes you THINK.
The success of the show, frankly, shocked me. After all, insultingly undemanding programs have dumbed us down to the point that we do not expect our multimedia entertainment to spur us to ponder. To question. To think.
Take, as one example (that I'm sure I'll get flak for), "Friends." Millions enjoyed it;; it was feel-good TV--if shallow, vain, two-dimensional creatures make you happy.
For two years now, "Lost" has been different. Despite some trite moments, the writers seem to care about the thinking audience. They put clues in strange places: Hurley's reappearing Lotto numbers, for example. And the mysterious maps and materials in "the hatch."
The writers are actually letting the characters evolve and devolve: witness Jack's up-and-down leadership and Sawyer's one-step-forward, two-steps-back "growth."
And best of all? The Question. It has been on everyone's brain since the crash, and It remains stuck there like a dryer sheet to a sock:
What IS this island?
I have heard some theories-each of them intriguing.
The island is purgatory. The island is Jack's bad dream. The island is a government experiment. Interesting answers, all. Each makes you actually THINK, and each makes you discuss possibilities with friends, family, coworkers, or even convenient nearby
pets.
But each of these suppositions are, in turn, wrong, wrong, and wrong.
The way I see it, the island represents the American television viewers' collective brain. And the creators, cast, and crew of "Lost" have crashed smack-ass in the middle of it.
All the demons, all the ghosts, and all the illusions of the island are simply the monsters left over in our heads from the televised crap we have subjected ourselves to for decades.
And it's working. "Lost" has switched our minds on, and we are all the better for it. Which is why I will carry the burden and volunteer to star in the show's first spinoff.
Go ahead, strand me on a remote tropical island with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Evangeline Lilly.
I'll make that sacrifice.
Which brings me to my question. At the time I was thinking about making Thursdays in October "Guest Post Thursdays" considering I rarely post something new on Thursdays anyhow. What I want to know from you is how you feel about it. Depending on the feedback I get here or via email (janet@theartofgettingby.com), I'll see if it's a good idea or not. If you want to guest post and haven't gotten the chance to yet, this feature would be a great way to do just that.
While I wait to hear how you feel about future guest posting prospects, let's get back to the reason why you're all here- the guest post that's here now. Today's post comes to us courtesy of David over at The Musings of David Amulet. I love to read David's blog because he takes quirky news stories and puts an interesting spin on them. You never know what you're gonna get on any given day when you visit David. I dig that.
I must say that the ideas expressed in this post do not necessarily express those here at AOGB.:) I also intentionally held off on posting this guest post from David for awhile now. In a minute, you'll too see why.
One Wednesday night sometime in Fall 2004, I discovered a new show simply called "Lost." And for the first time in a long time, I was hooked. And I'm looking forward to the new season more than a man should.
No, the program did not rekindle a Party of Five fetish-although, for the record, I would rather be stranded on the island with Jennifer Love Hewitt than Matthew Fox.
Nor am I so enamored with the physical form of the show's female lead character, Kate, that I suffered withdrawal symptoms when I missed my weekly cleavage-cam of the island's most eligible bachelorette-although, for the record, I would rather be stranded on the island with Evangeline Lilly than Matthew Fox.
Actually, I would rather be stranded on an island with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Evangeline Lilly than writing this right now.
(End daydream. And...we're back.)
Something rare draws me to "Lost," something a show has not done in years.
Quite simply, it challenges the viewer. It makes you THINK.
The success of the show, frankly, shocked me. After all, insultingly undemanding programs have dumbed us down to the point that we do not expect our multimedia entertainment to spur us to ponder. To question. To think.
Take, as one example (that I'm sure I'll get flak for), "Friends." Millions enjoyed it;; it was feel-good TV--if shallow, vain, two-dimensional creatures make you happy.
For two years now, "Lost" has been different. Despite some trite moments, the writers seem to care about the thinking audience. They put clues in strange places: Hurley's reappearing Lotto numbers, for example. And the mysterious maps and materials in "the hatch."
The writers are actually letting the characters evolve and devolve: witness Jack's up-and-down leadership and Sawyer's one-step-forward, two-steps-back "growth."
And best of all? The Question. It has been on everyone's brain since the crash, and It remains stuck there like a dryer sheet to a sock:
What IS this island?
I have heard some theories-each of them intriguing.
The island is purgatory. The island is Jack's bad dream. The island is a government experiment. Interesting answers, all. Each makes you actually THINK, and each makes you discuss possibilities with friends, family, coworkers, or even convenient nearby
pets.
But each of these suppositions are, in turn, wrong, wrong, and wrong.
The way I see it, the island represents the American television viewers' collective brain. And the creators, cast, and crew of "Lost" have crashed smack-ass in the middle of it.
All the demons, all the ghosts, and all the illusions of the island are simply the monsters left over in our heads from the televised crap we have subjected ourselves to for decades.
And it's working. "Lost" has switched our minds on, and we are all the better for it. Which is why I will carry the burden and volunteer to star in the show's first spinoff.
Go ahead, strand me on a remote tropical island with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Evangeline Lilly.
I'll make that sacrifice.
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