'Lost': Time goes by...so slowly...
Over the last two weeks, I've seen a marked increase in reader email. Some emails are supportive, which is fantastic. Others take the tone of "I don't believe in time travel, but if I did, I would go back in time and make sure your parents never conceived you." I find these emails less fantastic. If I've learned anything in these past few days, it's this: a whole host of Lost fans really hate time travel.
If you read the comments on my most recent Lost recap, you know the vehemence with which some people treat the notion of time travel within the Lost universe. It's not so much that they disagree with my assessment; they outright dismiss it with great vengeance and furious anger. It's almost as if time travel took their unrequited high school crush to the prom or something.
There's an extremely good chance I've been wrong in accurately depicting just how time works differently on the Island and the real world, but I think these commenters are incorrect when they state that there is no possible way in which time anomalies can exist within the show. I just think there's too much evidence to the contrary. Off the top of my head, here are ten examples that point to the fact that there's something off when it comes to time on the show.
- The appearance of Walt at the end of Season 3. Not only did we the audience notice it, but Locke himself discussed it in "Confirmed Dead."
- The unnaturally aged womb show in "Not from Portland." Juliet states the womb belongs to someone in her 70's; Richard states that she's 26 years old.
- Richard Alpert himself. That's not just Botox keeping him that young.
- Mittelos Bioscience itself. The name of the group is an anagram for "Lost Time," an anagram confirmed by the producers as intentional.
- Naomi's phone. Sayid would have been in a position to have knowledge of military-grade equipment. The fact that he did not recognize the phone is perhaps a clue.
- Desmond's Billy Pilgrim routine. He's unstuck in time, brutha.
- Radio Free Dharma. Remember in Season 2 when Hurley and Sayid pick up the Glenn Miller Orchestra on WXR, and Hurley casually notes that the recording could have come from anytime? That little joke may have been the show's first hint of lost time.
- Joop the Orangutan. One of the Hanso Foundation's research arms consisted of the "Life Extension Project," which potentially ties in not only to Richard, but the Island itself.
- Charlotte Lewis. One of the Boaties, her initials match that of author C.S. Lewis. As others have noted, in "Prince Caspian," in which the Pevensie children return to Narnia after a year only to find a thousand years have passed on the Island.
- Damon told us so. I'm not sure how one can utterly refute that time works differently on the Island if Damon Lindelof himself said at ComiCon '06, "It's interesting that you should ask about time because... you know... you're making a basic assumption that they've been there, y'know, as long as they think they've been there."
I mean, that's a lot of evidence, as far as I'm concerned.
As I stated before, perhaps my descriptions of such phenomena have led to the comments received here at Zap2It. And I'm totally fine in owning up to my shortcomings in describing the specifics of time travel. And maybe "time travel" itself is incorrect in describing what's going on in Lost. But if Oceanic 815 crashed onto an Island in which time works differently that it does in the world from which they departed, what would YOU call that phenomenon?
Leave your answers, insights, and other examples below!
A quick programming note: Zap2It reader Roger D. suggested I dedicate one entry per week to answering questions from you, the readers. I told him that sounded like a fine idea, and then told him to kiss my ring. He refused to do so, and didn't seem too pleased when I then referred to him as an "unworthy plebian." Nevertheless, I would like to roll out the first installment of this series before the next episode of Lost airs. So email me and fire off your questions! I'll run the best later this week.
Ryan also posts every 108 minutes over at Boob Tube Dude. Download his podcasts here.
Ryan, I hope you were being hyperbolic about the negative e-mails regarding your time travel theory because, if not, that's sad.
I love the idea of time moving differently on the Island but how differently is the question. Even in some of your examples above, time seems to move both slower AND faster. The phone is from the "future" while the music is from the "past". And the agelessness of Richard Alpert indicates that time might be stopped as well. Then how did Ben age after the Purge?
Great questions which I am sure we will find out the answers to at some point. In the mean time, it's fun to discuss.
Ryan, I look forward to yr posts daily. As for those fools who send you those idiotic e-mails, they're freaking morons.
I believe that some people have a problem with the "traditional" definition of time travel. I believe with the new evidence seen in science, I believe that time is relative.
I do believe that time is a factor in Lost. I think y're right, amigo. Forget all those naysayers. You have a group of readers who will follow you with yr theories.
Hey I had one the other day that I posted on another site where I thought that Miles was in the coffin that Jack visited at the end of Season 3. I may be wrong but that's the power and magic of Lost. We all can put in our theories no matter how right or wrong.
Keep on guessing.
ryan-
hope you read that thing i sent you re: scientific realities of time travel, 'cause its dead on with what you're saying. and i can't make the link work right now...
also, on your list of evidence: the room 23 video which, when played backwards, clearly has a voice saying "only fools are enslaved by TIME AND SPACE."
i will therefore add: only fools are totally opposed to the idea of scientific, reality-based time travel. which i now sounds like an oxymoron, but i swear its not. do some research into Gedanken experiments (the grandfather experiments of which Ryan has already spoken), and see what comes up, you'd be surprised...
Time travel and alternate time are not the same. Remember back during season two when the references to Flann O'Brien's "The Third Policeman" began to surface (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Policeman)?
In that novel, the central character lives a complicated (repeating ) Life in the split second before death. I'm not suggesting our cast of castaways are dead, but their sense of time may be relative, as in the Edgar Rice Burroughs Pelucidar books. There, at the center of the earth, a person who is active and one who is idle have time p*** differently--the one aging as the other stays young. They co-exist, not changing calendars, but living in a different biological-psychological time.
MRI: Got your email, yes, and will include it as a link later in the week. Thanks!
Don't worry, I'm with you on the TIME WORKS DIFFERENT ON THE ISLAND theories. I believe it was even the producers that stated that this season will deal with time-travel and other super-natural elements of the show.
Not sure if you picked up on them, but I had left some questions on the comments of your recap. I'll be sure to send you an e-mail with questions within the next day.
I still don't believe the theory, but I don't condone hateful emails and just utter childishness when it comes to these posts. I commend those who do these blogs and hell I want to do one myself for this site, but don't know where to begin to ask, but I digress. Ryan, I look forward to these posts too because they have really gotten my mouth flapping when it comes to the theories of this show. It's just that I don't think that time travel plays a big difference when it comes to Island time and mainland time. Maybe time travel in the aspect of Desmond's little "time bend" back in season three, but not traditional time travel.
I have a request. Can you do a blog/podcast/special on the different organizations involved in the world of LOST? Like Widmore, Dharma, Hanso, and Maxwell? I just finished playing Find815.com and now I am madly looking for someone to discuss my theories with...
I have no doubt there is one or several time travel elements in play. I'm just not sure to what extent those elements stretch to.
I think the problem is that there are so many theories about time travel, it's hard to pick which ones are working on Lost and which aren't.
Time probably does move slower on the island, but how much? Richard looks to be timeless, and yet he's the same age now as he was when he first met Ben, who has gone from child to mid-life during this time on the island.
And what about time off the island? Is it really 2008 in the "real world?" Juliette's nephew was concieved right before she left for the island, and it's been 3 "island years" for her, but her nephew in the "real world" also only looks 3 years old, instead of the 7-8 years he should look if it's 2004 on the island and 2008 off of it.
I dunno, time travel has always been confusing, at least to me; my brother and I had a two-hour debate after seeing "Back to the Future 2" in the theaters when we were kids.
And I for one enjoy your theories and being able to discuss them. Whoever goes so far as to send hate mail about a TV show needs to get a life.
I wondered if theres a time change than wouldn't it be cool if in the episode where the oceanic six leave they return ten minutes later in the show but because of the time change its been three years off the island. Like in back to the future.
Mark: I tried to answer your question in this week's podcast. Hope this helps!
http://web.mac.com/rmcgee30/iWeb/Site/Lost-Cast/Lost-Cast.html