You Baked Me Brownies
Some quick thoughts on Lost: I'm not digging how folks are treating Charlie but I'm hoping that's the point of the writers. I am pleased (and frustrated) that the writers are willing to take an otherwised beloved character like Locke and turn him into a sanctimonious, condescending jerk. Its fun to see them willing to be that flexible (and honest).
I find the entire moral angle from the rest of the people on the island incredibly hypocritical. Sayeed can torture, Michael can steal guns and lock people up, Kate can lie a hundred different ways, and Sawyer the ultimate narcissist can jeopardize lives, but is given a pass because deep down we all know he's a big softy. If you have a drug addiction though, or in Charlie's case a sociopathetic obsession with the addiction itself, that's a crime his fellow island dwellers are not willing to forgive.
Moving on.
I think the fundamental difference between the West and Islamic culture is a sense of irony as expressed in humor, namely, that we have one and they do not. Irony and its expression in humor enables (I think) perspective and shared pleasant experiences. In the most practical of sense, we both laughed at that or we both found that funny. Can you really expect to find unity or a deep, abiding peace with anyone you can't really laugh with?
I realize that sounds overly simplistic, even aphoristic. My chuch growing up was half Pakistani, and I had a gang of Pakistani friends I ran with. The friends my family was and is closest to are/were those we were able to find a mutual, common ground in humor. There was a mutual respect where the irony divide was never breached, perhaps even affection, but neither side I surmise was exactly comfortable.
Now that I think about it, I'm really impressed with my Father negotiating those incultural waters for 14 years without any crazy cross-cultural implosions. I can recall a couple of times I violated cultural taboos, one of the most memorable being the time I teased the older sister of my friend Sharoon, claiming that she had a crush on some guy she well, had a crush on. I had to apologize to the entire family for violating her honor. Fair enough.
| By Josiah Roe | 11:04 AM
Comments
And said don't you cry!
Charlie is my least favorite character on the island (for now), so I don't care how people treat him. He can take his Driveshaft and shove it where the sun doesn't shine! As far as Locke, I am in the same boat as you (keke) - I am both pleased and frustrated.
Posted by: Beth at February 7, 2006 11:12 AM
And said 'don't you cry!'
Charlie is my least favorite character on the island (for now), so I don't care how people treat him. He can take his Driveshaft and shove it where the sun doesn't shine! As far as Locke, I am in the same boat as you (keke) - I am both pleased and frustrated.
Posted by: Beth at February 7, 2006 12:10 PM
I'm just afraid that LOST has jumped the shark. I had the same experience with Alias - at some point, I just thought "these guys have nothing to say, they are just stringing us along for maximum ratings." I'm starting to feel that way with LOST. If you read the Wikipedia entry, the writers have denied a variety of theories for the series, and in so doing, have denied all the theories that I find really interesting...
Posted by: barlow at February 7, 2006 01:48 PM
That's why I think it would be interesting to see "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World."
Posted by: Illman at February 7, 2006 02:13 PM
That theory really seems to make sense, though I can't exactly claim knowledge on the topic. Isn't that movie just a silly comedy and not so much informative? Oh, also - hi Josiah. It's been a while.
Posted by: heidib at February 7, 2006 03:43 PM
You, violate a taboo?! Never!
Posted by: Timmy at February 9, 2006 10:10 AM
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