The LOST Story
May 24, 2010 by WillThe TV show LOST aired its series finale tonight. LOST was memorable and noteworthy. One thing that makes it especially interesting to me is the work of executive producer and writer Carlton Cuse. In a recent interview, Mr. Cuse shares that he was significantly influenced by Robert Coles at Harvard. Apparently, it was through Dr. Coles that Mr. Cuse studied the works of James Agee, Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy and others. Mr. Cuse was such a Percy fan that Lancelot was featured prominently on the show more than once.
Mr. Cuse went on to say that, “much of Coles teaching was centered on the question: how does one lead a life? What matters as we make our way on our journey? Those questions and that inquiry has stuck with me.” This reminds me of what I learned were the Four Diagnostic Questions: what is a good life and what good is life; what is a good death and what good is death; what is a good love and what good is love; and what is a human being? There is no doubt that LOST explores each of these questions in detail.
In an earlier interview, Mr. Cuse and his counterpart Damon Lindelof, mentioned that the works of C.S. Lewis provided a hint at where the show was going. It has been noted elsewhere that the mythology of the island shares much in common with Lewis’ Narina, along with the now obvious connection to The Great Divorce in the “sideways” flashes. It is pretty easy to earn my respect once you list Percy and Lewis as important influences.
I am impressed that Hollywood was willing to produce a show (especially one as expensive as LOST) that explored deep subjects and did justice to the viewer’s intelligence. Yes, the story of LOST had its flaws, but it was undeniably well told, complicated, and spoke about the depths of the human condition. After now seeing the ending, I’m struck even more by the ambitious nature of the story and impressed that the storytellers were able to tell it.
Tags: Lost
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