.. The Surrealism of LOST

…I am starting off point blank. I perceive LOST as a Surreal Expression of the Modern Human Condition..The specifics that have led me to see LOST as such, follow.
…My personal journey to such a conclusion began during the very first scene, the very first thing of LOST that I saw; the very close up shot of the eye opening up, Jack’s eye to be specific.. What little I knew of Surrealism still was enough for me to make the link. I soon googled Surrealism and began reading up. Most definitions are close to each other in the various websites listed. What one site may leave out another includes. The Mother of all definitions of Surrealism is by the” Pope” of Surrealism, Anton Breton. He made adjustments to the definition over time but the 1932 “ What Is Surrealism” lecture he gave is easily found in numerous websites. Its required reading to understanding Surrealism and LOST.. I suggest taking his lecture in small bites, with plenty of time to fathom what he is getting at in between meals. Between meals is a good time to go viewing of various surreal artists works and start making the connections.
….The Eye is a classic Surreal symbol. Its been painted by Rene Magritte, Salvador Dali, etc , etc ,etc. . the Eye is the symbol of the two worlds of man. The two worlds are, the surrounding exterior reality and the inner sub an unconscious worlds of memories. The Eye, is the gateway( where have we heard this before?), the window, from and to each world….The Eye is that which divides man in two. So when Flashbacks began in Lost, I began to see the two worlds of man in that motif..
..The original surrealists incorporated much of Freud into their new revolutionary way of seeing life and the world….Now at this point I am goin no further into What Surrealism is. Surrealism is a personal journey. You have to do the reading and understanding, otherwise I’d be cheating you. You see, Surrealsim is all about finding the True You. Your Truth is in the Surreal. Your Truth, as believed and put forth by the Surrealists, is what you find in exploring the Unknown that is your free and unfettered Imagination..
….The original surrealists said not to trust the exterior world around oneself. Because it was so easily manipulated, they believed no Truth could be found there. WW1 was seen as a manipulated reality. The Monarchs and Social Leaders of the times manipulated society into raging war and slaughter on itself, was the blame that sparked the Surrealist’s revolutionary perspective. Freud’s psychoanalytical insights said not to trust the memories and subconscious for Truth either, because, again, how easily the interior world is manipulated. Is not LOST where nothing is as it seems?
…The original surrealists had it that rejecting both realities for Truth, yet forcing the two to interact would give ability to create a manmade super reality, the Surreal. From deep within, the individual, the Personal, would discover itself by exploring its imagination. Interesting to note at this time, that the French Poet, Apollinaire, was the first to coin the term, Surreal…Again, there is that question,,where have I seen that before?..Kates, escaping from the generic “ pantry”,,her “ rising up” to escape from her well mundane provisioned survival confines,,was predicated on munching a ,,brite and colorful….Apollo Bar. So the Visual Metaphors continued into season two. And they have been abundant all along.
….yes, I’m segueing from what is,,to,,the techniques of…surrealism. Juxtaposition and Incongruence were and are favorite techniques of the surrealists. Dripping clocks, Floating boulders, etc, etc , all the familiar yet unfathomable, of the Surrealists is evident in LOST. The irrational..polar bears in a tropical island?or maybe just an orange mouthed Locke..talk about juxtaposition.. Incongruence; how many times have people bemoaned the apparent lack of communication between these Losties?...The combination of two dissimilar things is supposed to yank a response from you. The incongruence, or that which makes us scratch our head and ask..wtf?...is supposed to make us realize and pursue. When we ask wtf?,,we have just created Mystery. Surrealism Is the Exploration of The Mystery,,not in the mundane exterior world, not in our memories,,but In Our free and unfettered Imagination….the emphasis is on Our,,as in personal. Point being,,we need not ask here what this or what that,,but be here stating our own personal findings.
..The craft of LOST is used in presenting the techniques of Surrealism. The music, the writing, the acting, the directing, the photographing, the editing, the special effects, etc, etc, all of it, is like no commercial TV media has seen before. It is above the mundane. It explores and shows the way, rises up. See the visual metaphors. Listen to the words and compare to the action, Listen to the music and compare to what you are seeing..Look for the contrasts. Let the show grab your feelings and twist them about..Acknowledge the Mystery and realize that is all there is to it..The Mystery…Like Hurleys Numbers, and Even Henry Gale…its more important what the Individual finds there, than what it actually is,,because alls it is…is a Mystery.

The Juxtaposition that yanks our feelings, is to help us find feeling s we may have lost touch with; shock us into ourselves so to speak. The Incongruence is supposed to force us into seeing differently,,experiencing anew. LOST is all about starting over. Where else can one start over, given a second chance, take a break and find oneself after a catastrophic coming apart? ..Anton Breton wrote what is considered the classic in Surrealism. The short novel is called “ Nadja”. At the end, Nadja has been taken away to a mental hospital. The Author relays a news item heard on the radio..a plane has disappeared over the Isle de Sable (Black Rock anyone?). Seems to me,,LOST has picked up, where Nadja had left off…The island is a mental institute and the Losties are the fragmented Nadja.When they do start talking to each, then the end of LOST is near.
…Once Surrealism is understood to be more than Salvador’s droopey clocks, one can see LOST as the path on which you may find the answer to the ultimate Surrealists question. That is; Who am I?..That makes LOST, the Ultimate Reality Show…Are You Feeling LOST?........................................but,, then again…I am a Surrealist…

..So I do not post this as a end all answer, final theory. Au contraire. I post this as a begining,,as a exploratory, as a different way, a new way, to look at a show that seems to be about starting over………MEL

to contribute the third policemen, a book said to put you in the right mindset for lost has been described as surrealist and moreover all art not just surrealism has always been about the way it effects people and is subjective to people. It is a medium for an artist of any kind to convey a message, meaning, or feeling to the viewer. The beauty of this is that every viewer will percieve it differently and see their own reality.

gus..thanks for the contribution. Have not read 3rd Policeman, but there has been plenty talk about it, just as there has been on any literary piece mentioned in LOST. Be careful, because Surrealism is more than a art form, it is a revolutionary change in the way of seeing ones life. Its a Philosophy. While made popular by visual artists like Dali, there have been countless writers, poets etc expresssing themselves in the surreal manner. Matter of fact, Dali was asked to leave the movement, because he went for the dollars, rather than stay true to the philosophy.
..With 2 weeks of re-runs , now is a good time to take a peek at Surrealism. Most websites have a paragraph or two description of the very simplest basics. From there anyone just may find something...........MEL

mel,

welcome to the lage...you bring quite a reputation from your other home...

check out the tiberius thread for some surreal perspectives..

melcome

Hi Mungonna

On another site I am having quite a difficult time explaining to people the exact same thing you've done in this post.
That LOST is a narrative of Magic Realism with an unreliable narrator.
I only wish I could count with you to post your ideas there.
PM me if you are interesting in becoming a voice in the desert.

Cheers.

something I posted at an other site..i bring it here for more insite offered...

...Yes, its diner time. Tonite i am having fried chickedn potato salad , coleslaw and some baked beans. I also have a special guest along, The Book, Nadja. Many here, and I suspect, most here, know of Nadja, for I have brought her into the discussion of the Surreal nature of Lost many times. Nadja is consider the first and possibly best examples of Surrealistic writing and is authored by a founder of Surrealism, Andre' Breton.
....Why Nadja this evening? well, why fried chicken?,,the chicken is very good tonite and I have some very interesting observations on Nadja I'd like to share with you all. I 'll try not to get too much chicken grease on my key board.
...I've said many thing about Lost and referenced Nadja in doing so. But I decided awhile back to see if any thing of the book Nadja could be associated to the infamous " Numbers"..4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42. Ooow, the potato salad is just rite, I think its the scallions that do it.
If you ever picked up and looked inside Nadja, you know that the author placed 44 photographs thru-out the book and makes comments or antecdotes about each one. These antecdotes are the surreal. Each photograph is numbered, so , okay,,lets see what we get with applying the lost numbers to the numbered photographs. Uuum, the coleslaw has just the rite bit of sweet, not like that horrible store bought prepackaged slaw. I get it at the deli section at my favorite grocery store. Its alway fun shootin the breeze with those gals.
...So, number 4,,a photograph of Paul Eluard, the anecdote is..how the author happened to go to a vaudeville type theater one day, and couldn't help but to notice a stranger in the crowd. He just stuck out to the author. Two weeks later the same fellow was introduced to the author as one Paul Eluard,,and came to be a a co-founder of the Surrealist Movement...So their paths had crossed before they came to originating the Surrealist Movement.........................
....Yeaa, the beans are good and thick.,,just the amount of molassess that makes oh so tastey. Okay , on to 8, no more hesitate, #8 photo is of the Porte Saint-Denis,,a monolithic arch of a thing that the french love to adorn Paris with. About that he is commenting on how he takes these walks with no purpose in mind , no goal, but for only that he must,,that there is something, he doesn't kno what, but something that will happen , pulled along.." by some unseen magnetic pole in Space and Time" Chicken wings are such a waste. I mean..for all the bother, there is just so little actual meat there. But half the bars would be where with out them?
....#15...this is fascinating ,,its a photo of an item the author picks up at an equivalent to a flea market...it looks to be an attempt , crudely, of a sculpture made of a cylinder graph device ,,that has gone ary. About it the author says,",after examination,,,no more comprehensible to me.".."perverse".
....#16..Boy I could do a tub full of these chicken thighs,,they are good! umph,,let me clean my fingers off before I go any further.....excuse me....anyway 16 is a photo of a womens gloves. The antecdote is of juxtaposition, ending with, " always astonished at its weight and interested, apparently, only in calculating its precise weight against what the other glove would not have weighed at all". juxtaposition of many disimilar elements collimating into a completly new orientation...feeling. You know those little morsels of pig fat that are in the beans, aren't they great?
..Now the 23rd..well i let some of this out last nite here. Its a photo of a reproduction of a segment of Ucello's " Profanation of the Host". The painting itself is worth and has received, whole Thesis's written about it. Its a dark trail to follow. Basically..the early church invented Satan worship so they could blame the non belivers of it,,so as to make it possible to confinscate their lands and wealth. Of course, Jews and Nobilty like the Knights Templars where targets of broke Kings and Popes. Just whip up a bunch of Devil Worship charges and there ya go. The painting serializes such an occasion. But the author is also talking of a mis- meeting with his Nadja,,which she later..lies?,,about, not understandin where the appointed place for meeting was to be. Well I have her rite in front of me and I am enjoying her company.
....Now we come to the 42 photo. Ya know if there is anything I regret about my dog Bubba, is that I wish I never started giving him tid bits from the diner table. Now he expects and if not fulfilled,,brings up that paw of his and places it on my knee. ..like ..ahem,,incase you forgot about me...give me some. So, okay a few scraps of chicken( no bones) for Bubba too. see, hes happy now. The photo of the Light Bulb, lit,,with the word MAZDA,,actually its a billboard for a brand of Light Bulbs.. The metaphor of " enlightment' is involved in the story of it. Nadja draws a picture, a surreal picture, the myth of Melusina is envoked. Its the last meeting beween her and the author. Its uplifting and sad at the same time. The next day Nadja is
hauled off to the insane asylum....
...Of all the fascinating discoverys of the Numbers,,I bet this post is the last one you would even expect, if you could expect it. There is more tho..I've already seen that day-glo question mark in Lockdown displayed in one of Nadja's drawings..and if really confused,,don't forget,,The book Nadja,,ends witha airplane disappearing over the Isle de Sable...............................mel