I have wanted to post this before but never had time until now. This post is not the first on this subject. I have read postings that had similar concepts in the past and even more now (see bagel theory) however I have more background to provide on theory.
About 6 years ago, I attended a Q & A at the Director’s Guild in L.A that featured an evening with 4 television directors (Carl Reiner, J.J. Abrams, and directors of “Bernie Mac” & the popular, yet short lived, show Freaks & Geeks) who were to give thoughts on the state of TV & insight into their shows & experience.
The topic that dominated the evening was the state of TV & reality shows. This was the time of the start of Survivor, Amazing Race, Fear Factor, & Big Brother. All directors & many in the audience were concerned that reality shows were becoming so prevalent that the TV industry & philosophy was changing and was not healthy for future programming. All directors were concerned that good writing, effective storytelling, & interesting plot lines were being rejected for shock programming with so-called real people placed in so-called real situation & plots.
The most vocal critic of the reality TV trend at that event was JJ. At one point, in discussing how low TV programming had gone, one director talked about a concept he had pitched to a studio. It was a documentary that chronicled the recovery process of a drug user from the lowest point of using to the last scene in which the character is seen driving away from rehab. When he finished the pitch, the studio exec was said to have responded that they liked the idea, but thought that the show would be much better if they put a camera in the car & planted drugs in the car to see if the recovering user would start using again. The director was outraged that studio execs were looking for a way to inject failure & temptation into an otherwise worthy & uplifting story. I remember looking at JJ & he was sitting there just shaking his head with a look of disgust. It really looked as if he was upset & concerned about what was being talked about.
So, how does this relate to Lost? Let’s fast forward to Charlie’s temptations with the Mary statue, this triggered my memory of the TV exec story. Then I began to find other parallels to that evenings discussion & reality tv.
Survivor
Survivor-typically isolated locations, mainly islands, in which people from all backgrounds go thru challenges, bonding, fighting and are eventually eliminated. Two tribes that merge into one
Lost–people of different backgrounds stranded on an island, going thru challenges, both as a group & individually. Two tribes merge into one, people are eliminated (killed off in this case)
Amazing Race
Amazing Race–people racing around the world from one location to another trying to get home
Lost–people from around the world trying to get home
Big Brother
Big Brother–people placed in a controlled environment & observed 24/7. Individual challenges & alliances present themselves, in the end someone is voted off
Lost–people in a controlled environment (?) (the hatch) who are observed 24/7. Losties are friends one day & not talking to each other the next & someone is killed
Fear Factor
Fear Factor–people brought together in the spirit of competition to face & overcome their deepest & darkest fears in order to win
Lost–people brought together who all seem to be facing or dealing with personal fears & challenges that somehow affect their current situation & how its resolution might help on the island
There are more comparisons, but these are the strongest. How does this all relate to Lost? Well, I think that Lost is a program developed in large part to purposely spoof reality TV shows, but in a way that still allows for great writing & creativity. I liken it to a “reverse” Blair Witch Project or like the word game “Ad Lib”. I think that the show was written & plotted up to a point & then the writers backed off & someone else took over. Who? Us, members of the public. So many concepts & ideas that first appeared on blogs & websites began to appear in whole or in variations on the show. I believe that the writers get their ideas from us, they then go out & modify it for the show. Can you imagine at the end of the series we find out that we all have credits for the story? Our ramblings & discussions were the basis for the story lines. It is a reverse of the reality show. Our imagination & thoughts became the reality fo! r the program!
I know, most of you will say, “No way”, “They can’t do that”, “That would be a crappy ending”, “They would get sued”, “They have their own writers”. What are you all talking about? All these ideas on the internet are free for the taking. We all have signed on to the ABC website, agreed to their terms, etc. I am not saying they are taking ideas verbatim, but borrowing certain nuggets here and there.
You can all disagree with this, but I have a feeling this, or a variation of it, is in play. You think Ben is the one controlling things, what if it were the tv show controlling and directing us?????????
Theory by General Tootin
About 6 years ago, I attended a Q & A at the Director’s Guild in L.A that featured an evening with 4 television directors (Carl Reiner, J.J. Abrams, and directors of “Bernie Mac” & the popular, yet short lived, show Freaks & Geeks) who were to give thoughts on the state of TV & insight into their shows & experience.
The topic that dominated the evening was the state of TV & reality shows. This was the time of the start of Survivor, Amazing Race, Fear Factor, & Big Brother. All directors & many in the audience were concerned that reality shows were becoming so prevalent that the TV industry & philosophy was changing and was not healthy for future programming. All directors were concerned that good writing, effective storytelling, & interesting plot lines were being rejected for shock programming with so-called real people placed in so-called real situation & plots.
The most vocal critic of the reality TV trend at that event was JJ. At one point, in discussing how low TV programming had gone, one director talked about a concept he had pitched to a studio. It was a documentary that chronicled the recovery process of a drug user from the lowest point of using to the last scene in which the character is seen driving away from rehab. When he finished the pitch, the studio exec was said to have responded that they liked the idea, but thought that the show would be much better if they put a camera in the car & planted drugs in the car to see if the recovering user would start using again. The director was outraged that studio execs were looking for a way to inject failure & temptation into an otherwise worthy & uplifting story. I remember looking at JJ & he was sitting there just shaking his head with a look of disgust. It really looked as if he was upset & concerned about what was being talked about.
So, how does this relate to Lost? Let’s fast forward to Charlie’s temptations with the Mary statue, this triggered my memory of the TV exec story. Then I began to find other parallels to that evenings discussion & reality tv.
Survivor
Survivor-typically isolated locations, mainly islands, in which people from all backgrounds go thru challenges, bonding, fighting and are eventually eliminated. Two tribes that merge into one
Lost–people of different backgrounds stranded on an island, going thru challenges, both as a group & individually. Two tribes merge into one, people are eliminated (killed off in this case)
Amazing Race
Amazing Race–people racing around the world from one location to another trying to get home
Lost–people from around the world trying to get home
Big Brother
Big Brother–people placed in a controlled environment & observed 24/7. Individual challenges & alliances present themselves, in the end someone is voted off
Lost–people in a controlled environment (?) (the hatch) who are observed 24/7. Losties are friends one day & not talking to each other the next & someone is killed
Fear Factor
Fear Factor–people brought together in the spirit of competition to face & overcome their deepest & darkest fears in order to win
Lost–people brought together who all seem to be facing or dealing with personal fears & challenges that somehow affect their current situation & how its resolution might help on the island
There are more comparisons, but these are the strongest. How does this all relate to Lost? Well, I think that Lost is a program developed in large part to purposely spoof reality TV shows, but in a way that still allows for great writing & creativity. I liken it to a “reverse” Blair Witch Project or like the word game “Ad Lib”. I think that the show was written & plotted up to a point & then the writers backed off & someone else took over. Who? Us, members of the public. So many concepts & ideas that first appeared on blogs & websites began to appear in whole or in variations on the show. I believe that the writers get their ideas from us, they then go out & modify it for the show. Can you imagine at the end of the series we find out that we all have credits for the story? Our ramblings & discussions were the basis for the story lines. It is a reverse of the reality show. Our imagination & thoughts became the reality fo! r the program!
I know, most of you will say, “No way”, “They can’t do that”, “That would be a crappy ending”, “They would get sued”, “They have their own writers”. What are you all talking about? All these ideas on the internet are free for the taking. We all have signed on to the ABC website, agreed to their terms, etc. I am not saying they are taking ideas verbatim, but borrowing certain nuggets here and there.
You can all disagree with this, but I have a feeling this, or a variation of it, is in play. You think Ben is the one controlling things, what if it were the tv show controlling and directing us?????????
Theory by General Tootin
