ljones41

[ljones41]

I hate that Michael on Lost is such a hated character, when I watched the show in college I loved Michael and was so sad to see him written off the show

I love a morally gray character whose morality is tied to a person and they will do anything for that specific person, especially when that person is not a romantic partner. Michael was a father who watched his ex slowly pull his son further away until Walt didn’t know him at all, and once he has him back he will stop at nothing to get to him and take care of him

I love a parent whose arc is burning everything down for their kid and from Michael’s perspective the characters kind of deserved what he did. Libby and Ana Lucia specifically did nothing wrong but the camp as a whole just accepted Walt being kidnapped and just put rescuing him on the background

And to be fair, it’s not just a Walt thing, Claire also was kidnapped and they only got her back because Rousseau helped her escape, they didn’t exactly storm the castle for her either. But still, Michael had his son taken and Jack was just like “Eventually we’ll get Walt back, probably” which is not exactly comforting for a father who had his son kidnapped

I know the actor for Walt was aging too fast for the show and they wanted to write him off but the actor for Michael, Harold Perrineau of Mercutio fame, was such a good actor and given it’s a magic island I feel like they could have found a way to explain his rapid aging and keep them both around

Anyway I love Michael, he does not deserve to be hated, he was such a well written character and it bugs me that he’s still remembered as one of the most hated characters on the show for doing things that made him very interesting and dynamic

[ljones41]

Could you map it out on Tumblr?

Time Period for "DANIEL DERONDA"

Recently, I discovered that the BBC had aired two adaptations of George Eliot's 1876 novel, "Daniel Deronda". One was a four-part miniseries that aired in 2002 and starred Hugh Dancy and Romola Garai. The lesser known production had been a six-part miniseries that aired in 1970 and starred John Nolan and Martha Henry.

The ironic thing is that both adaptations were set during the early-to-mid 1870s. Yes, I know that the novel had been published in 1876. But . . . Eliot's novel was set during the mid-1860s - 1864 to 1866/67. Didn't the producers of both miniseries realized this when they were made?

[ljones41]

Michael wasn't a shitty dad. If he was, he wouldn't have been that concerned about Walt.

[ljones41]

I’m kind of annoyed at the way fans treat everyone in Lost who didn’t make it to season 3. Sure, they may not have made it to the end, but that doesn’t mean that Boone, Shannon, Michael, Walt, Ana Lucia, Mr. Eko, and Libby don’t matter. After all, Vincent was Walt’s dog originally. Yet, so many fans treat them as though they were “un-people” because they went away so early on. They even did this after the series finale, when so many of them returned. It’s extremely frustrating.

[ljones41]

(affectionate) ─ insp.

[ljones41]

The Revolution truly is the Rapture for leftists.

It's Rapture for both sides of the political spectrum, but for different reasons.

hot take incoming: revolt and revolution doesn't create a fair and equitable society. it creates a power vaccum, which is terrifying because it is incredibly fertile ground for all sorts of warlords, aspiring tyrants, paramilitary extremists, and imperial powers to swoop in and start doing atrocities over it. You can put a new society in a power vaccum, but so can anyone else, and most of those potential outcomes are going to be horrifying, not to mention to the hellscape interim period.

To create a fair and equitable society you need to know civics, administration, diplomacy, and yes, statecraft. Yes they're boring and unglamorous and icky and gross. But i promise that you need them. They are mandatory. Not optional.

[ljones41]

I'm down with that.

look if Frederick “men will literally open a silver mine in Mexico instead of going to therapy” Trenchard gets it together enough that the show ends with him and Clara in a happier place, that’s fine HOWEVER I do think she should fuck the sensitive artsy doctor first. For her mental health

[ljones41]

Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen behind the scenes of Attack of the Clones

[ljones41]

One of my favorite moments in the franchise.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) dir. Gore Verbinski

[ljones41]

Ana Lucia - the thing with Ana Lucia is she could have been a great character had she just been written a little differently and possibly played by a different actress. I understand what they were trying to do with her character, presenting her as the tough, show-no-emotion leader of the Tailies, extreme because she has to be, hard and violent because of trauma. But she just comes across as psychotic and unhinged most of the time. Even her backstory does little to endear her, as we see her execute a man in cold blood. She does improve somewhat towards the end of her run, before she is unceremoniously killed off but overall, I wish her character had been handled better.

If she had been more feminine . . . and white. Is that it?

Your opinion of the best and worst Lost characters?

Best

Juliet Burke - one of the best characters in existence, Juliet is nuanced, layered, mutlifaceted and utterly endearing. I love watching her journey from abused wife to certified badass. Her moral ambiguity over the course of Season 3 is utterly fascinating, as is her eventual joining of the Losties and then her and Sawyer’s arc in Season 5 where they finally find home and become co-leaders. She is at once guarded, open, compassionate, cold, resilient, soft, kind, hard, undecided and steadfast. She’s made up almost entirely of contradictions until you really get to know her character and the amazing person she is. I only wish she had received a better ending.

*sits back and waits for my anti-juliet anon to surface and start talking about how she’s smug and arrogant*

James “Sawyer” Ford - such an incredible character with one of the best arcs on the entire show. Watching him go from a broken, self-loathing, self-sabotaging conman to a settled, confident, self-accepting leader and partner was one of the most amazing things on the show. I’ve never seen a character hate themselves more than James Ford hated himself but he overcomes this, grows and evolves, learns that he is worth loving and just evolves into this incredible man. I love him so much and his journey is so endearing.

Ben Linus - one of the best Chessmasters I’ve ever come across, Ben is always five steps ahead of everyone, sometimes ten steps on a good day. He has a tragic backstory which is never used an excuse for his behaviour, a complex and multi-faceted personality, he is a master manipulator, an arrogant power-hungry leader, a broken, self-loathing man, all at once. He is such a great character, such an amazing villain, such an interesting and untrustworthy ally. Honestly one of my favourite characters in the entire series.

Hugo “Hurley” Reyes - Hurley is one of those characters for whom the term precious cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure is completely fitting. Hurley is a pure ray of sunshine on a show where characters are often morally ambiguous or just flat-out evil. He is optimistic and compassionate and he has an uncanny ability to know what people need in the moment, to read situations and give people hope, such as when he builds the golf course to help everyone relax. He was the perfect Candidate to become keeper of the Island.

Worst

Charlie Pace - Charlie is such an arrogant, annoying, useless little prick. He acts entitled to Claire’s feelings and assumes the role of father in Aaron’s life, without Claire’s consent or blessing. He’s a rude prick to pretty much everyone, in particular Hurley and Locke. He gets insanely obsessed with both Claire and Aaron, to terrifying degrees. And he’s rarely called on his bad behaviour and Claire ends up returning to him despite him putting both her and Aaron in danger. Charlie’s only shining moment is the Not Penny’s Boat message. Aside from that, he’s just useless.

Ana Lucia - the thing with Ana Lucia is she could have been a great character had she just been written a little differently and possibly played by a different actress. I understand what they were trying to do with her character, presenting her as the tough, show-no-emotion leader of the Tailies, extreme because she has to be, hard and violent because of trauma. But she just comes across as psychotic and unhinged most of the time. Even her backstory does little to endear her, as we see her execute a man in cold blood. She does improve somewhat towards the end of her run, before she is unceremoniously killed off but overall, I wish her character had been handled better.

John Locke - I understand why people like John, I even liked him initially. But with more re-watches I just found Locke more and more pathetic with every turn. His extreme over-zealousness regarding the Island comes across as cult-ish and somewhat alarming, the fact that he’s constantly taking matters into his own hands without considering the consequences to other people is horrible (such as when he blows up the sub or sabotages the distress signal), he’s never right about anything, which just make his actions come across as desperate and ridiculous and he never appreciates what he has, always reaching for what he doesn’t. I just can’t with him.

[ljones41]

Good fucking grief! Of course Padme died! She wasn't alive in the Original Trilogy. What is this? Some fucking excuse to shove gender politics into the Prequel Trilogy?

the woman dies.

[ljones41]

BATMAN V SUPERMAN : Dawn of Justice Dir. Zack Snyder ‧ 2016

[ljones41]

batsintheknight . . . Sawyer may have been "right" about Jack, but he had his own serious issues about the surgeon. And like you said, it had more to do with his own ego. Sawyer had allowed Jack to get under his skin through envy from the moment the latter had assumed leadership of the survivors. Actually, Sawyer had allowed this to happen even before the latter was ever aware of him. And judging from his behavior in Season Five's "Namaste", I could see that Sawyer still had that inferiority complex in regard to Jack, despite his three years with the DHARMA Initiative.

smth smth Wayne/Sawyer and Sam/Jack 'parallels' but it turns out that Jack is a lot more Wayne and Sawyer is a lot more Sam than Kate could've initially thought...

[ljones41]

@annieofhearts . . . One might as well say the same for most of the major characters. Look at Sawyer and Juliet. They had three good years together before the Oceanic Six had return. I sometimes find myself in wondering what kind of obstacles their relationship would have encountered if she had survived the Incident and the return to the 21st century.

The problem I have with most commentaries about fictional romances is that many tend to view those relationships with hardly any conflict as healthy or nomal. There is no such thing as a "healthy" relationship - or one without any clashes or conflicts. If there are, I would find myself wondering about them. I used to believe that Jack and Kate were not right for each other. It took me several years to realize that they could have had a decent relationship if both had not not been held back by their personal demons - Kate's insecurities, secretive nature and tendency to use or manipulate others; along with Jack's own insecurities, both his fear and need to be the hero and his controlling nature. If Jack had survived the events of the finale and Kate had remained on the island, I think they could have formed a decent relationship with each other.

smth smth Wayne/Sawyer and Sam/Jack 'parallels' but it turns out that Jack is a lot more Wayne and Sawyer is a lot more Sam than Kate could've initially thought...

[ljones41]

Both Wayne and Jack were alcoholics. Both Wayne and Sawyer had this habit of swaggering behavior to project a false image of being secure with themselves. Otherwise, the person whom Wayne strongly resembled was Kate, herself. And she turned out to be worse than her father. All of them, including Wayne, were insecure as hell. People might dismiss the idea of Wayne being insecure, but . . . he was an alcoholic, was he not? Some demon/insecurity had driven him to heavy drinking.

smth smth Wayne/Sawyer and Sam/Jack 'parallels' but it turns out that Jack is a lot more Wayne and Sawyer is a lot more Sam than Kate could've initially thought...

[ljones41]

So what? That didn't give her the right to pretend to be his mother and keep him from his grandmother.

Why is it that so many "LOST" fans (but not all) are reluctant to admit that Kate Austen had committed a crime by pretending to be Aaron Littleton's biological mother? Even after she had first learned about his grandmother's existence some six to seven months after leaving the island? Why is it so important to them to pretend that Kate (and the rest of the Oceanic Six by extension) had done nothing wrong by maintaining such an unnecessary and selfish lie?

[ljones41]

James "Sawyer" Ford was a petty and vindictive shit, who used violence and hypocrisy to deal with his pain. Sayid Jarrah was no better. Juliet Burke was not a bad woman, but she had allowed her insecurity to get the best of her in the end. jack was a hypocritical douche who thought he had every right to judge others and had allowed his feelings for a woman to compromise his morality in the worst way possible. Charlie was an insecure and temperamental ass. Jin was a quick-tempered jerk, who quickly judged others and resorted to violence just a bit too much. Michael was another quick-tempered jerk, who had a bad habit of judging others without any real evidence. Hugo "Hurley" Reyes was a man child who never took the trouble to accurately access a situation. Locke was an emotional mess, who wanted too much to be special and who resorted to controlling behavior to hide from his own insecurities. Ben was another one who wanted to be special or appreciated, and who resorted to manipulative behavior to get what he wanted. Sun was a lying adulteress, who was quick to judge others. Ana-Lucia was a quick-tempered and judgmental woman, who wallowed in her own paranoia. Kate was an insecure liar who had no trouble with committing crimes or using other people to get what she wanted or to hide from her insecurities.

My sister had once pointed out that there was no way she would ever consider being close friends with the majority of the "LOST" major characters. I can see why.

Your opinion of the best and worst Lost characters?

Best

Juliet Burke - one of the best characters in existence, Juliet is nuanced, layered, mutlifaceted and utterly endearing. I love watching her journey from abused wife to certified badass. Her moral ambiguity over the course of Season 3 is utterly fascinating, as is her eventual joining of the Losties and then her and Sawyer’s arc in Season 5 where they finally find home and become co-leaders. She is at once guarded, open, compassionate, cold, resilient, soft, kind, hard, undecided and steadfast. She’s made up almost entirely of contradictions until you really get to know her character and the amazing person she is. I only wish she had received a better ending.

*sits back and waits for my anti-juliet anon to surface and start talking about how she’s smug and arrogant*

James “Sawyer” Ford - such an incredible character with one of the best arcs on the entire show. Watching him go from a broken, self-loathing, self-sabotaging conman to a settled, confident, self-accepting leader and partner was one of the most amazing things on the show. I’ve never seen a character hate themselves more than James Ford hated himself but he overcomes this, grows and evolves, learns that he is worth loving and just evolves into this incredible man. I love him so much and his journey is so endearing.

Ben Linus - one of the best Chessmasters I’ve ever come across, Ben is always five steps ahead of everyone, sometimes ten steps on a good day. He has a tragic backstory which is never used an excuse for his behaviour, a complex and multi-faceted personality, he is a master manipulator, an arrogant power-hungry leader, a broken, self-loathing man, all at once. He is such a great character, such an amazing villain, such an interesting and untrustworthy ally. Honestly one of my favourite characters in the entire series.

Hugo “Hurley” Reyes - Hurley is one of those characters for whom the term precious cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure is completely fitting. Hurley is a pure ray of sunshine on a show where characters are often morally ambiguous or just flat-out evil. He is optimistic and compassionate and he has an uncanny ability to know what people need in the moment, to read situations and give people hope, such as when he builds the golf course to help everyone relax. He was the perfect Candidate to become keeper of the Island.

Worst

Charlie Pace - Charlie is such an arrogant, annoying, useless little prick. He acts entitled to Claire’s feelings and assumes the role of father in Aaron’s life, without Claire’s consent or blessing. He’s a rude prick to pretty much everyone, in particular Hurley and Locke. He gets insanely obsessed with both Claire and Aaron, to terrifying degrees. And he’s rarely called on his bad behaviour and Claire ends up returning to him despite him putting both her and Aaron in danger. Charlie’s only shining moment is the Not Penny’s Boat message. Aside from that, he’s just useless.

Ana Lucia - the thing with Ana Lucia is she could have been a great character had she just been written a little differently and possibly played by a different actress. I understand what they were trying to do with her character, presenting her as the tough, show-no-emotion leader of the Tailies, extreme because she has to be, hard and violent because of trauma. But she just comes across as psychotic and unhinged most of the time. Even her backstory does little to endear her, as we see her execute a man in cold blood. She does improve somewhat towards the end of her run, before she is unceremoniously killed off but overall, I wish her character had been handled better.

John Locke - I understand why people like John, I even liked him initially. But with more re-watches I just found Locke more and more pathetic with every turn. His extreme over-zealousness regarding the Island comes across as cult-ish and somewhat alarming, the fact that he’s constantly taking matters into his own hands without considering the consequences to other people is horrible (such as when he blows up the sub or sabotages the distress signal), he’s never right about anything, which just make his actions come across as desperate and ridiculous and he never appreciates what he has, always reaching for what he doesn’t. I just can’t with him.