Lost
Remember, Let Go, Move On
***Warning: Spoilers Ahead if you haven’t
seen the finale***
Lost
has been our constant for the past six years. This show
has changed the face of television with its high budget
production values, multi-cultural and rather large ensemble
cast, mythological science fiction plot, and characters
that we as viewers grew to love as we would friends.
For a show with such a devout fan base, the series finale
has really divided its followers. Audiences were willing
to put up with endless questions, random polar bears,
a young boy with special powers who wasn’t really
seen too much after the second season, sporadic time travel,
Richard Alpert's ageless guyliner, and a mysterious island
that was the provoker of all these unsolved mysteries.
But with the finale, not all the answers were given, upsetting
a lot of fans. I am one of Lost’s most devout fans,
and I can’t understand how people can be upset by
this finale – after all, Lost is about mystery;
asking questions, not answering them; and most of all,
about the characters.
Lost was NEVER going to have a clean and happy ending.
It’s not in the show’s nature. The island
nonsense was a bit far-fetched, I acknowledge that…
What the hell was that plug in the light drain? Seriously…
But whatever, because forget the mythology… it’s
the characters that provoke emotion from me the viewer.
I bawled throughout the episode seeing characters who’d
perished in horrible ways, old lovers reunite, and in
the closing shot I nearly keeled over from distress. How
poetic for a series with such an intricate plot to make
it full circle and end the series in the way it began.
Dr. Jack Shepherd’s death scene was not only poetic,
but one of the finest pieces of television I’ve
ever witnessed. Of course, I am probably one of the few
fans left to actually like Jack as a character, but nonetheless,
his inevitable death was heartbreaking.
Plot wise, my take on the mythology is that the island
is the centre of the “light” which I am interpreting
as a type of “heaven”. Without this light,
everyone ceases to exist after death, while the light’s
existence allows their souls to carry on and reunite in
the afterlife as was seen for our Lost characters in their
“flash sideways” which we later discover is
the actual afterlife, not an alternate timeline. THE
BOMB DIDN’T WORK!!!
The light needed a protector to prevent mankind from greedily
destroying it. Jacob was the modern protector and needed
a replacement. He needed untainted people from off the
island in order to touch them to make them ‘candidates’
and not able to be killed by the Smoke Monster who was
the soul remains of the man in black.
The Smoke Monster needed to be destroyed in order for
the light to be safe. Jack’s purpose was to sacrifice
himself in order to kill Smokey and save the island. Hurley
was the natural choice to become the island’s new
protector as he was the purest of heart. Jack’s
sacrifice allowed the light to continue to shine, allowing
all of the Oceanic 815 survivors and their friends to
meet up in the flash sideways afterlife.
Characters including Charlie, Sun, Jin, Juliet, Shannon,
Libby, and Sayid were all dead during the island years.
Survivors such as Sawyer, Claire, Desmond and Kate probably
had long and happy off-island lives and post-death met
up in sideways limbo. This is emphasized by when Kate
says to Jack how she’s missed him so much, implying
a long time apart.
Obvious exclusions from the church scene at the end included
Michael, Walt, Eko and a few more… Michael’s
absence can be explained by his soul trapped on the island
as he repents for his sins, much as Ben wanted to stay
behind in limbo to make amends for his wrong-doings. Walt…
well, he’s aged too much and wouldn’t be recognizable.
Eko just refused to be in the show for any amount of paycheque.
The fool.
It was both brave and cowardice to end the show in such
a way. It was brave as it was something that nobody had
expected. And not an ending that everyone would like.
It was cowardice, as it made me feel that they were forcing
a happy-ish ending to something that was not at all happy.
Charlie’s drowning was the most horrific fictional
drama scene I have ever witnessed, Jin died in vain and
should have persevered to survive for the sake of his
daughter, Faraday’s death was brutal and Shakespearean,
Jack’s death was both beautiful and horrible. I
was not happy. I was devastated by each of these moments
in the series. The fact that they’re all now happy
in heaven seems cheap. But at least it promotes a message
of hope, and shows that these people did not actually
die in vain, but died to preserve this beautiful place
of light for all mankind. Without this purgatory for the
characters to reconvene, the show would have been nothing
but tragic, all hope would be Lost, and nobody would understand
why they died and what the light is, and therefore what
the island’s purpose is. This afterlife was to highlight
this purpose, and also to celebrate the beloved characters
for one last time before the final bow.
As Lost’s message was Remember, Let Go, and
Move On, let us do just that. As the characters are
the heart of this show, let us remember them for one last
time.
"If we can't live together...then we're gonna die
alone." - Jack Shephard
RIP:
Benjamin Linus
human punching
bag
James 'Sawyer' Ford
son of a bitch
Michael Dawson
WAAAALT
Walt Dawson
DAAAAD
Jack Shepherd
man of science
John Locke
man of faith
Sayid Jarrah
a torturer by day, a romantic by night
Sun & Jin Kwon
a love that survives miles and times apart
Kate Austen
slut.
Claire Littleton
awesome hair
Desmond Hume
brotha!
Penny Widmore
another love story at the heart of the show
Charlie Pace
you all everybody
Hugo 'Hurley' Reyes
the group cheerleader and man with the most Star Wars
references EVER
Danielle Rousseau
sacre bleu, ma bebe!
Juliet Burke
didn’t like her until she hooked it up with Sawyer.
chemistry is everything.
Shannon & Boone
ew.
Smokey
wtf
Man in Black
see "Smokey"
Jacob
he was also very good as Rita’s ex-husband in Dexter
Ana Lucia Cortez
she’s not ready yet
Libby Smith
mentalist
Rose and Bernard Nadler
the one true couple at the heart of the show
Daniel Faraday
time travel 101
Charlotte Lewis
ginge
Miles Straume
i see dead people
Frank Lapidus
Burt Reynolds called. He wants his look back.
Charles Widmore
has now officially appeared on every American television
program of modern times.
Richard Alpert
Guyliner!!!!!!
The Island
isn't done with you yet.
LOST
a great show that has been the centrepiece of television
for the past 6 years. survived by fans across the globe
who will now have a lot of time on their hands without
all that theorizing to do. ♥
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I
made out with a tomato!
First Kiss stories from the Loose Lips crew
& FIRST KISS zine release party
By Dani
I
recently went to a lovely event at the 92nd Street Y Tribeca
called FIRST KISS. It was to celebrate the release of
a zine by the same name. The two awesome women behind
FIRST KISS are Marisa
Meltzer and Elizabeth
Spiridakis. Marisa and Elizabeth are friends that
share a longtime love of zines, a love that goes way back
to their adolescence. I attended the event with an old
friend from my Jew camp days--- this was all too fitting
considering many of the stories occurred at summer camp,
and in one case, at a bar mitzvah.
Hearing all these first kiss tales brought me back to
my own awkward and hormone filled days. The references
of ska music, no doubt concert shirts, braces, boy/girl
parties, truth or dare, answering machines, slap bracelets
and the words ‘can I kiss you’… made
my insides go warm and fuzzy. I feel like years of dating
in a big city can make us cynical and heavyhearted…
but the innocence of the first kiss, it makes even the
most tough-as-nails chick smile. There were mentions of
a follow up zine called ‘Bar Mitzvah Finger Bang’…
Hanukkah gifts SORTED.
The stand out stories to me were Marisa Meltzer and Leon
Neyfakh and Doree Shafrir. Marisa’s first kiss happened
with an acne-faced dork at the Rocky Horror Picture Show
(YES). When she walked back to her friends, the bitch
of the group stated ‘that guy ate your face’.
We were all friends with this girl at 14- am I right?
Leon’s story took place at camp during a game of
Truth or Dare. He lost his virginity to the same girl
4 years later. All the girls (and a few boys) in the room
were seriously creaming their liberal blog reading panties
over Leon. HE. IS. LUSH. Doree was set up by the queen
bitch pimpess of her Jew camp. It happened on the tennis
court on the last night of camp. If you went to summer
camp- you will love this one. These are just the 3 tales
that I most connected with—but the whole zine is
filled with great stories that will have you laughing
so hard you cry… and maybe like I did—emailing
your friends to hear their first kiss stories.
First Kiss zine - BUY
IT!
So, without further delay… LLHG first kiss
stories... All anonymous to preserve what is left of our
innocence:
1) B's house. Aged 13. Our friends +
her brother's older friends. Too much beer/Hooch (anyone
remember that early alcopop?). His name was Kevin. Massive
tonguing session. Pretty gross. Then I vomited all over
B's sisters bed and passed out. Classic!
2) Me and a tomato, aged 11! I used to
subscribe to a Swedish kids' mag called Kamratposten and
they were notorius for having a agony aunt/teenage sex
column. Well, one of the tips they had was to bite a chunk
out of a tomato, stick you tongue in there and twirl it
around. They claimed the feeling of a slippery (room temperature!)
tomato was as close you could get to the real thing and
that it was an excellent way of perfecting ones technique.
All I can say is that I sucked licked and tongue raped
that poor tomato and the 'training' sesh did not help
me in any way when my first kiss with a human happened
a few months later. Silly Swedes, huh?
3) My first lesbian kiss. It was my 22nd
birthday. I had many many cocktails. We went to a drag
club. At one point, I was up on stage putting a five-dollar
bill down the drag queen's panties. It was very high class.
It was about 4am and my friends and I ended up at a diner
for post-clubbing pancakes and Bacon. I went to the loo
with my friend. I am not sure what had happened, but next
thing I know we were making out in the ladies toilet.
After the makeout sesh we went back up to join our crew
and enjoyed a massive Bacon feast.
4) I had just turned 14. I was about
to start high school. I had already smoked weed. I had
purchased my first illegal beer. I hadn't had my first
'real' kiss though. I had been to 2 'make-out' parties
hosted by older friends and been once propositioned by
a much older guy to make out, but was a scared child,
and let my 2 slutty catholic school friends go down on
him instead (I was 13 - they were too).
At the time one of my best friends was Alison from summer
camp. She lived in NJ. She had made out with a few boys
already. This seemed like the case for most girls I met
from NJ. She was having a 'boy / girl' party and sleepover
I was going to in her parents cool basement. It’s
still summer- high school hasn't started yet. She called
me and said 'my friend Brandon saw a picture of you from
camp and he thinks you're HOT and a cool dresser. You
should make out with him at the party'. I asked what Brandon
looked like. She said 'hot'. It was before facebook so
I had to take her word for it.
I got to the party. Brandon and I were introduced. It
was obvious what was supposed to go down. Luckily for
me Brandon was VERY cute and very nice. We talked on the
couch while Alison sucked face with her boyfriend. After
2 hours or so, Alison said 'you guys should go to the
dark room down the hall- to be alone'. Alison was a good
friend. Brandon and I went to the dark room and sat on
the couch. It was dark. I could not see ANYTHING at first.
He asked 'have you ever done this before, it's my first
time'. I said 'well, I have kissed 2 boys' (this was true,
but I had NOT french kissed them! little did I know that's
what was coming...). He asked 'can I kiss you'. I said
'yes'. We leaned in and our noses collided before we met
mouth to mouth. It wasn't good or bad, I just remember
thinking {oh, so this is what REAL kissing is like...
okay... he tastes like asparagus.... is this good or gross?
am I moving my tongue right?}. This went on for a while.
Then we went back to the party. Alison was very excited
on what had gone down. Brandon and I made out the rest
of the night. He was also my first 'boyfriend'. We 'dated'
for 2 12/ months. He dumped me over AIM. The year was
1996.
Years later I found out he had a boyfriend and is 100%
into dick. Oh well. He was a good first kiss. I guess
that explains why a 14-year-old boy from NJ would even
give a shit about how I dressed.
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Revenge of the Jews!
Inglorious Basterds rocks my world!
It’s been a while since a film I saw lived up to
the hype. ‘Inglorious Basterds’ does just
that and more. The new film from Tarantino is a feast
for the eyes. The ultimate revenge fantasy!
I
think being an American Jew who is a descendant of actual
Holocaust survivors makes the film even more satisfying---
but who doesn’t hate the Nazis? Everyone was cheering,
clapping, screaming with joy for the final Hitler facial
obliteration! They literally take a gun to his face and
blast away flesh, skull and brain until there is nothing
left of him; then they blow him up.
The
acting in the film is beyond great. Eli Roth as Donny
Donowitz has replaced Eric Bana as the ultimate sexy Jewish
hero--- and I thought it would be hard for me to forget
what a prick he is in real life. Donny Donowitz can butter
my baps till Sabbath. Brad Pitt was hilarious; I think
as he gets less young/pretty, his work will get even better.
There are some great lines in the film, some beautiful
ultra violence and the overall story of the film is great.
Although
this movie is nearly three hours, it goes by fast and
doesn’t drag at any point. The last scene in the
theatre was an incredibly satisfying film experience.
Tarantino goes beyond what you think you can tolerate
in terms of violence, and makes you foam at the mouth
wanting him to go further. Seeing Shoshanna on the screen
declaring she is ‘the face of Jewish revenge’
as the theatre goes up in flames made my insides go warm
and my brain go YESYESYESYES.
As
a generally peaceful person you think ‘violence
is wrong’, but your visceral instincts say ‘killthatnazimotherfucker’!
Is this film historically accurate? No. Are you going
to experience an eye/ear/brain-gasm? Probably. Unlike
the random guy you brought home last night, satisfaction
guaranteed with this film! There is also some great food
porn half way through featuring a delicious German strudel
with cream.
5/5
lips!
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Melrose Place: First Impressions
So
the newly revamped Melrose Place has finally aired. I
was such a die hard fan of the original series, that I’ve
been buying each season on DVD as its been released and
re-watching each episode meticulously. I’m currently
waiting on Season 5, Volume 2 for those keeping track…
Clearly I’m in a good position to fairly judge Melrose
Place: The Next Generation. I was Super-Hyped
when I heard they were bringing back Sydney, Michael,
Jane and Jo. Episode one saw the return of the one and
only Dr. Michael Mancini in the role of father to one
of the young newbies, as well as Sydney, back from the
dead after all these years.
This is the trouble I’m having with the show straight
off the bat. Why bring back Sydney and go to all the effort
of bringing her back from the dead (LOOSE PLOT) just to
kill her off in the first episode? As a die hard fan of
Sydney Andrews as well as Melrose, I can say that beyond
a reasonable doubt, Sydney died when she got hit by that
car on her wedding day all those years ago. Her fiancée
was so devastated did he not then proceed to take his
own life? And now they’re claiming Michael helped
her stage her own death??? Wtf. Fair enough, but if you’re
going through all this frickin effort to concoct this
ridiculous storyline, then might as well keep Sydney on
the show seeing as she was a clear favourite on the original
MP?? So bizarre. They better see this one through with
a DAMN good pay off.
One thing about killing off Sydney AGAIN is that we’ll
still remember her as the young and perky Sydney Andrews.
Not this dark and depressing character they brought her
back as. And to be completely honest about my feelings
of vanity, it was a bit traumatizing watching Syd as a
woman ‘of a certain age’. And to be frank,
it’s a bit hard watching Michael Mancini 10 years
on. They’re both ageing gracefully ... they look
exactly the same only withered. It’s just not something
I want to bear witness to.
soft focus....
I suppose we have to talk about the new characters now.
They’re actually not Toooo bad with the exception
of Ashlee Simpson and her very poor acting skills. We’ve
got the engaged couple, with male component Jonah as the
new BILLY… even in the looks department! We got
Oggy or something like that as the new Jake, whatevs.
We got that bisexual lady who’s maybe a bit Amanda
like? And the Doctor lady who I’m quite fond of.
Perhaps the new Alison?
Anyway, I’ll give it another chance to see how they
explain this Sydney nonsense. Maybe they’ll bring
her back from the dead again? I dunno. Can’t wait
for Jo. She was ace. Michael Mancini gives this show a
glimmer of hope just because it’s Michael Mancini
– LEGEND.
Bottom line, it ain’t Melrose Place of old. Not
even close.
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Michael Jackson
R.I.P.
1958-2009
What’s
left to say? Michael Jackson – The King of Pop –
passed away on June 25, 2009. This is the biggest icon
who has passed in my lifetime. Drawing parallels to The
King – Elvis, Jacko’s life and death has been
one of those rare things that has united the world in
remembering and mourning on a global scale. Fans have
made the pilgrimage to Neverland Ranch, Londoners gathered
for a flashmob moonwalk, impromptu shrines are popping
up all over the place, MJ songs are playing everywhere
all the time, it’s a bittersweet goodbye to the
King of Pop who the world treated so poorly while alive,
yet are now finally ready to remember the man for his
musical genius rather than his bizarre behaviour and scandals.
Musically speaking, he is arguably the greatest man who
ever lived. During this time of MJ reflection, I’m
realizing just how many hit singles and absolutely fantastic
songs he created. Not just good tunes, but tunes my generation
grew up with and are genuinely attached to. And the voice!!!
The most unique, interesting and beautiful voice that
the music industry has ever produced. And the dancing?
Well, what other artist has a signature dance move like
the Moonwalk? I suppose only MC Hammer’s Running
Man comes close, but I don't think he even invented that!
I’ve never been so saddened by a public death as
I have been with Michael Jackson. I have always been a
fan. Even with all his questionable behaviour, I was a
fan of the music, and fascinated by the man. Sadly, much
of the world shunned Michael when his behaviour became
more and more erratic. It was the media who made this
man, and the media who destroyed him. He was a sad soul.
A seemingly kind-hearted manchild who lived in a different
reality to the rest of us. We put him there. People not
able to say no to him, being a superstar from the age
of ELEVEN, he had no sense of right and wrong.
People started to forgive his outrageous behaviour when
he announced his comeback shows for the This Is It
tour dates set for this summer in London, first one would
have been next week on July 13th. The tickets were selling
out as instantaneously as they were released. I myself
managed to score two pairs. I am fairly heartbroken that
I will never get to see the King of Pop, Michael Jackson
live in concert. Leaked footage of his rehearsals two
days before his untimely death, showed that he still had
that magic.
If people had been as nice to Michael during his final
years as they are in his passing, then maybe his death
could have been avoided. We don’t seem to learn
from our mistakes and voracious society. With the death
of Princess Diana, there was a big lesson to be learned.
With the death of Michael Jackson, the world should be
ashamed of themselves for how he was treated in his life,
and remember how good it feels to celebrate him now, albeit
far too late.
Michael Jackson is not just Thriller, Beat It, Billie
Jean, Black or White and Bad. What are some of the other
tunes worth a revisit:
We Are The World: Written by Michael
Jackson and Lionel Richie and sung by a gaggle of famed
80’s artists all in the name of charity. You can
also find an MJ only vocal version kicking around on one
of his best-ofs.
Say Say Say: Michael Jackson and Paul
McCartney. My secret fave song of the 80’s.
Will You Be There: I usually prefer MJ’s
rockin tunes to his ballads, but this one gets me every
time. I used to listen to it all the time on the Free
Willy soundtrack I had as a child. Yes, pretty sad, but
come on – TUNE! No other song could have so many
key changes and pull it off as slick as MJ does here.
Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough: Pretty much
the first big Michael Jackson / Quincy Jones release.
Gets your disco on.
There are actually too many to write out. Spotify, iTunes,
and old fashioned HMV will help you out here. His entire
collection is worth re-listening to. He is definitely
the greatest songwriter / entertainer of not only our
generation, but perhaps of all time?
Shamon
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