Well I guess I always knew that Psychbloke would through his hat into the ring about Lost, though he's taking an odd Behaviourist slant this time.
The Times and The Daily Mail have already started the moaning so I'll address the criticisms one by one:
1)It's full of airbrushed archetypes.
I refer the jury to my previous comments. The only annoying thing about the series so far is the lack of a cheerleading troupe - surely an opportunity missed.
2) It's not as good as Lord Of The Flies.
Lord Of The Flies had a shed load of archetypes didn't it? "No, for real, give me the motherfuckin' conch!"
3) It lacks the intellect to become a post 9-11 parable.
I wonder if the ABC execs are losing sleep over that one? Everything else is a post 9-11 parable (or maybe as TG once said: the world is a war-film). And besides, why exactly is intellect required for a parable about 9-11: just sheer horror and confusion is enough isn't it?
4) The dialogue is crap; it's just there to keep the plot moving.
i.e like almost every modern action film pre-Tarantino - and look how bored we got with the jetsam there... Maybe once they're over the initial shock they might come up with some witty one-liners.
Incidentally, I wonder why this charge is never applied to survivors of 'real' crashes, disasters etc? Couldn't those guys put some more effort in? All they seem to do is stare blankly and fail to wipe off brick dust or roll around on the floor screaming or have scars in non-glamorous places or cry - really dull, prosaic, seen-it-all-before-where's-the-babies-with-flies-on-their-(yawn)-faces? TV, especially when you think that the TV networks have gone to the trouble of having 24hr news.
Just in case I'm ever in a disaster I have a shed load of clever quotes tattooed into my arm and my thigh (one might get blown off by Armani shrapnel): a little Nietzche, some Half Man Half Biscuit, a scrub of Zizek, a neat pie of Dorothy Parker, a few lines from Donne, a stanza from Roger McGough and the entire first episode of You Rang M'Lud?
5) It lacks humour and irony.
So do I.
6) It's teaser TV.
People pay good money to be tickled by airbrushed archetypes. Just look at my alimony payments and extrapolate from there.
Don't you like being tickled?
5 comments:
It lacks irony & humor? Wait until you see the last episode where the fat guy hauls sweaty ass and tit through an airport. Ironic because the plane he almost gets a heart attack catching is the plane that's going to crash. Humorous because - well, fat guys running through airports are inherently funny. You should have seen me trying to run up the huge down escalator at LAX a few months ago when I made a wrong decision in that confusing airport.
Give it a few eps to draw final conclusions. All the "archetypes" are given further depth and mystery. The "mean rock star" is really a lovesick frail dork and the weirder old guy only gets weirder.
maybe i'm not coming across well... i love Lost! The criticisms were things I'd read in the blogs and the press...
Told you I lacked irony and humour.
oh-i knew that- I was responding to to the the criticisms and psychbloke's post...
Hey, I like it too!
Anyway, I thought parables were SUPPOSED to be simple...?
Oh Yeah!! I loved Lost and watched it obsessively. Sure, the dialogue wasn't the best and there were too many cheesy moments, but it sure was some of the best TV out there. They managed to bring back a sense of mystery and a sense of "WTF is going on?!?!!" that was a breath of fresh air.
can't wait for the new season to start.
-cb
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