Saturday 6 June 2009

A Sign of the End Times?

Life Imitates Art?

I hate the TV series Lost. I think it's an insult to its viewers. Apart from being a conceptual rip-off of the far superior Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding in 1954, it makes for what I like to call "Thrill TV". It provides the thrills, without the need for thought; or provokes pseudo-thought. I mean, come on: a plane goes missing somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, and crash lands on an island, stranding its survivors on a deserted island, on which they must face their fears and their true natures? Who'd even believe that happening, nowadays, anyway...?

And then, all of a sudden, it actually happens: a commercial aircraft goes missing while in flight! No record of how it happened or where it could be now. Even the debris found near the suspected crash site turned ut to be totally unrelated.

We all know I'm not a religious man, but I am a little superstitious at times, letting my fear of the unknown get the better of me. I can't help but wonder what caused this mystery. My grandmother would say it was God's way of reminding us of his existence. Or something. Personally, I think this is some terrible - potentially tragic - mistake. Let's not forget that, unlike in Lost, there were actual people on that flight, and each of them has relatives and friends fearing for their safety.

I just hope this is resolved as soon as possible; and when it is, some very serious questions will need answering.

However, let's not give up on the airline industry just yet (goodness knows they need our help): as Superman reminded us after saving Lois Lane in the first and latest films, statistically speaking, flying is still the safest way to travel. Then again, as Kenneth Williams' character says at the end of Carry On Up the Khyber, I dunno though...

7 comments:

  1. Like I said on another blogger... it's the aliens....

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  2. I don't like LOST either...I think it tries to hard...I don't think we could give up on the airline industry...

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  3. Would you believe I've never seen a complete episode of Lost, it just seemed like it would have been too much work on my part to follow along and see what the answers were. Plus why would the fat guy always remain fat? On survivor people would be out on an island for 6 days and they'd lose about 30 lbs.

    As for Lord of the Flies, great book, decent movie, terrible remake.

    I also hope we get all the answers soon.

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  4. Apparently there has never been a fatality on an Airbus, prior to this horrific incident.

    I can't think of anything worse; the loss of so many souls, and the terrible, sickening uncertainty for family and loved ones.

    I don't think we should be talking idiotic TV shows in the same breath as this numbing horror.

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  5. I am a fan of Lost (sorry folks none of us are perfect) and like you thought it was kinda strange how the recent plane crash was similar to the story line of the series. Hopefully the families will get some answers to what happened. It goes to show how fragile life is and how it end suddenly

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  6. I quite like Lost too (albeit by proxy) I hasten to add. Branding it idiotic isn't an indictment.

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  7. Dusty - It was surprisingly near the Bermuda Triangle...

    TG-K - Lost is dreadful, in my opinion.

    Curious - You're absolutely correct in not taking it on. I can't bear to watch it, not least because it's a poor adaptation of the Robinson Crusoe/Lord of the Flies idea.

    ka-os/Garçon/Whatever it is you're calling yourself, these days - YOu're absolutely right to say that we shouldn't compare a television series to a real-life tragedy. I just couldn't help but comment on the fact that this sort of mystery taps into the superstitious part of human imagination...

    Trojan Gayle - Welcome to my little blog! Do stay tuned for more musings.

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