the tindog coffeehouse

No long, drawn-out comparison of Lost to the Bible this week. Today, it’s Greek mythology, Jungian psychology, and Joseph Campbell:

• There’s quite a theme going this season with Jack and mirrors. Cue Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” (I’m staring at the man in the mirror / I’m asking him to change his ways / And no message could have been any clearer / (If you wanna make the world a better place) / Take a look at yourself, and then make a change).
• No, I don’t know that song by memory, I googled it.
• Look at Jacob busting out Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. I’d say Jack is probably in the “Belly of the Whale” stage right now: “the final separation from the hero’s known world and self. It is sometimes described as the person’s lowest point, but it is actually the point when the person is between or transitioning between worlds and selves. … By entering this stage, the person shows their willingness to undergo a metamorphosis, to die to him or herself.”
• Hurley was right about Jacob; he is like Obi-Wan Kenobi. Both serve as mentor archetypes, or what Campbell calls the “Wise Old Man”. Carl Jung believed that “the hero is guided by the wise old man. He is a form of the animus, and reveals to the hero the nature of the collective unconscious. In Star Wars, he is played by Obi Wan Kenobi and, later, Yoda. Notice that they teach Luke about the force and, as Luke matures, they die and become a part of him.”
• Get ready for a final showdown between Jacob-imbued Jack (the winning candidate) and Smokey-fied Locke. Cue Europe’s “The Final Countdown”.
• Also note that the term “mentor” originates from a character named Mentor in Homer’s Odyssey. From Wikipedia: Athena, disguised as Mentor “encourages [the hero] Telemachus to stand up against [his mother Penelope's] suitors and go abroad to find out what happened to his father.” (Does flying to Sydney count as going abroad?)
• I love how Hurley always says exactly what the fans are thinking: “What if we time-traveled again back to the age of dinosaurs, and these skeletons are us?” I imagine the first draft of the script included Jack saying, “Next you’re gonna tell me we’re in Purgatory and that the smoke monster — now in the form of Locke — is the symbolic representation of Satan. Don’t be stupid. Now, where did my ghost dad run off to again…”
• Kate is still on her mission to find Claire. You’d think after everything that’s happened since returning to the island, she would’ve let it go by now. Kate, look around you. There are bigger problems right now than dealing with your guilt issues. Bah, whatever. You’re not even a candidate.
• So Sideways Jack has a son. I assume that Sarah is the mother, but that’s not necessarily the case, is it?
• Clearly the rift between Sideways Jack and son David is caused by the fact that Jack is a Red Sox fan and David is a Dodgers fan.
• Claire Littleton: Danielle Rousseau, the next generation.
• Ironic that Claire was concerned about Jin’s injury becoming infected when she herself is “infected”.
• No baby of your own? No problem, a baboon corpse will work just fine. Strongly-worded letter from PETA expected shortly.
• Interesting that Claire referred to Smokey as “her friend” instead of “Locke”. She sees his true identity and probably doesn’t see his physical manifestation at all.
• I was just waiting for Claire to tell Jin, “The dingo ate my baby.”
• I was also expecting her to ask him, “Wait, when did you learn to speak English?”
• If we have to wait all season to learn Smokey’s real name, I’m gonna be ticked. If we find out it’s “Steve Urkel”, I’m gonna even be more ticked.

Previously:
Lost thoughts, Feb. 17
Lost thoughts, Feb. 10
Lost thoughts, Feb. 3