CHAPTER 3: Who's Who Again?In Chapter 1, we discussed a few of the basic elements of storytelling on LOST and how "Everything is real," (but not physically real) and how this constructed (restricted by available resources) is developed. In Chapter 2, we discussed how our losties experience the world of LOST -- one experience at a time in the order WE SEE it in the show. There's no time travel, and there's no external timeline (nothing WE SEE happens to our losties before Jack opens his eye in "Pilot" or after he closes it in "The End").
In Chapter 3, we'll be examining character and how character development works in the island and flash worlds.
Let's talk about identity.
THE WHO
Your identity, who you ARE, equates to your consciousness, soul or ghost (which is my favorite term). Your ghost equates to the REAL YOU because it is a collection of YOUR memories. Change your memories, you change who you are. Erase your memories, you change who you are. Repress your memories, you change who you are. Your memory is what's important. You are your ghost, and your ghost is your memory. [MORE on memory and identity on LOST: HERE]
Your ghost is not limited by time, space or any of that tricky rules of science/physics type stuff. In your mind, you can go anywhere and do anything at any time. You can remember the past or imagine in the future. Problem is, you can't go anywhere and do anything in your mind and still be completely 'present' in the physical world around your physical body/brain. That's why if we daydream when someone is talking to us, we can't remember what they said. We were paying attention to what our consciousness was up to, not what our physical ears were hearing.
On LOST, your ghost is not attached to a physical body (because neither the island NOR the flashes are physical worlds). However, on LOST your ghost is ALWAYS attached to a specific "identity." This "identity" consists of:
- Appearance
- A name (Same first name at a minimum)
- A short and specific list of characteristics.
Alive or dead, on the island or in the flash worlds, every "identity" has a ghost, and every ghost has an identity. So on LOST, a ghost is not attached to a physical body, but it IS attached to an identity.
Take Jack, for example. Jack always looks like Jack, calls himself Jack and has several characteristics that never change: Christian is his father, he is a surgeon, he lives in LA, he's totally hot, he's not smooth with the ladies, etc.
Here's the kicker: In the flash world (let's stick with the flash sideways from Season 6 to keep things simple), Flash Jack has the same identity as Island Jack, but not the same memories. Technically, this means that as long as they are separated, Flash Jack and Island Jack are two different ghosts (Island Jack and Flash Jack). Two ghosts attached to the same identity (remember, NOT a PHYSICAL world) in these two separate worlds.
Let's consider Sawyer. He always has the same body (nice!), and certain characteristics (his parents were snookered which led to their deaths by a bad guy he's lookin' to kill, he has lots of sex -- and apparently, he's good at it!). However, throughout the show, he has two ghosts attached to his identity: Sawyer and James Ford (LeFleur), and these two ghosts are different enough for us to tell them apart: wearing glasses, being a smart ass, being committed to a place and/or a person, killing someone, pulling a con -- all of these things change according to which ghost is "wearing" his identity/appearance.
We can extrapolate and define the identities of every character we see on the show in this way: each losties' ghost (or version of their personality) is equal to the CORE or BASELINE identity of the lostie (their name and appearance) as affected by the memories they do or don't have (their personality and relationships).
[Don't panic. All will become clear when we discuss "Juliet" below.]
Naturally, there are exceptions.
1. DESMOND
Desmond is the most interesting to me because his ghost and identity remain the same in his flash and on the island -- UNTIL Widmore zaps him. After Widemore zaps him, he is two very different guys: Hard core working the plan Desmond in his flash (I call him Metro Desmond) and drone-like and/or messed up/tossed down the well Desmond on the island who pulls the plug.
Note: even Desmond's love of Penny isn't with him when we first meet him. When Desmond flees the hatch in "Orientation," Jack notes that he leaves the picture of him and Penny behind. It's not until Desmond's flash of Penny happens that he starts officially pining for her. Ironically, this is exactly what happens after Widmore zaps him. He remembers Penny, and then gets to work bringing our losties together in the flash world.
The most important thing for us as LOST viewers is to observe how Desmond's flashes work in "The Constant." [More about Desmond and the flash world HERE] Also note: On the DVD commentary for Season 5's premiere, Damon and Carlton specifically tell us that "the rules" don't apply to Desmond. Hold that thought too!
2. HURLEY
Hurley is another exception to the ghost/flash identity rules. He has two different names in BOTH the flash and on the island. However, his personality and characteristics are exactly the same. Only his circumstances change (lottery, bad luck, protector of the island). I think this is VERY significant to Hurley's purpose in the story. Somehow, Hurley keeps the same ghost regardless of his memories. [More on Hurley/Hugo HERE] [There are other exceptions, too: Jacob, Richard, MIB).]
POP QUIZ: GHOSTS AND IDENTITY
Let's review and go over a few basic rules for LOST's identity/ghost shenanigans .
- Your ghost is your conscious self, your soul, WHO you ARE, the REAL YOU.
- Your ghost is your collected experience. Your memories.
- If you change your memories, and you change your ghost.
- Our losties are individual identities: names, appearances, a limited number of personal facts, that do not change, BUT THEY ARE NOT PHYSICAL BODIES. [Because these are not physical worlds.]
- Each identity has one or more ghosts attached to it at any given time. (Two per identity is standard.)
- A ghost can not attach itself to more than one identity at a time.
- If there is more than one ghost attached to an identity, only ONE ghost gets to be in the driver's seat.
- I repeat, if Sawyer has two ghosts [in the flash sideways] attached to his "Sawyer" identity, only ONE ghost can be active at any given time. The other one is paused or "asleep."
Here's the trick: Some of these ghosts can only be active in the island world. Some of these ghosts can only be active in a flash world. However, some of these ghosts can be active in both worlds. (It's almost like they are world hopping!)
KEEPING UP APPEARANCES
Here's the fun part. On LOST, your "identity" stays the same regardless of what your memories are (whatever ghost is attached to it). However, your appearance can alter (to a certain degree) based on the ghost attached. Kate, again, is a prime example. Kate has had lots of different ghosts, and the best way to tell them apart is examining the appearance of her hair and her mannerisms, the way she moves her body or uses her voice. Sometimes that change is simple: keeping her hair up or wearing it in a ponytail. Sometimes the change is drastic, like super curly hair or super straight hair. Sometimes she even has psycho/crazy/wildwoman hair! [This hair trick works on Juliet as well.]
Remember: These are "real" identities. These are "real" minds/consciousnesses/ghosts. However, these are not PHYSICAL bodies because this is not a physical world. These subtle appearance changes-due-to-ghost happen in BOTH the flash AND the island worlds.
TA DA! Were you pondering the mystery of how our losties appearances don't change like they should (over time or because of location)? Especially the scruff of one very hot, handsome doctor? THIS is why. These bodies are NOT physical bodies and their appearances change according to which ghost is attached to them. As long as HOT Season 1 Jack Ghost is in Jack's body, his scruff will stay the same. (Cool right?)
This also explains that interesting appendectomy scar that fades in and out on our very favorite super hot doctor's body! Scars, hair (texture, shape AND length), EYE COLOR, even the shape of our character's faces (usually on one side or the other) are subtly altered with light, shadow and digital post-production. This is just one of many ways Team LOST lets us know what's up with the show, but we have to LOOK for them. We have to decode them.
[Interesting to note how much Sawyer's changed over Season 6. Anyone notice that island Sawyer's beard and hair keep getting shorter and shorter as Season 6 progresses?]
So what does it all mean? How does this "identity" thing tell us anything about LOST?
Excellent question. The answer lies in Season 6 -- the flash "sideways" world.
UP NEXT - Chapter 4: Flash "Sideways" and "Moving On/Leaving"
Amy's Rewatch/Recap Menu HERE
