tv: lost and static characters

James Poniewozik's blog, Tuned In, at Time. com, had a discussion thread about Lost last week. Since I was trying to put my diss defense together, I didn't have time to comment, but it has been niggling away at the back of my mind all weekend. Poniewozik asked about the character relationships on the show, since "The character aspects of the show, on the other hand, tend to get short shrift if not out-and-out derided, especially the relationships and pairings among the characters." The comments were thoughtful--I especially liked the Star Wars connection--but I was particularly struck by the amount of distaste for the character of Kate. I've always liked the character, and Evangline Lilly's performance. I do see why people are frustrated with the character, however. Kate is a round, well-developed static character. I think she has the potential to become a dynamic character, but the thing about Lost is that most of the characters are static. I don't mean that they are not well-developed, but these are characters that are not necessarily going to grow and change over time. In fact, I would say growing as a character is a sure fire way to end up dead on the creepy little island our Lost survivors inhabit. Shannon's change being the most notable, but I think Jin's movement into the warm, loving husband is the reason why he doesn't make it off the island. Don't know if he's dead or not, his tombstone notwithstanding, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Oceanic 6 are the characters who have somehow not done enough growing, which is why they have to go back.

The other issue is Lost's serial pacing. Even though every episode is a dense, textually rich narrative, the overall pace of the show is slow. We've only moved forward a certain number of days. I forget how many, but well under the 100 day mark. The pacing of the show prevents a certain amount of character dynamism as well. The show has to balance this central tension between pacing and characterization.

I think the fact that Kate frustrates speaks to the potential she has to grow, but it is also a byproduct of this slower serial pace. Just as Meredith Grey in Grey's Anatomy has an enormous potential to grow, the show's pace prevents it from happening in a rapid fashion. (It's also a soap opera, which inherently resists dynamic characters.) In Grey's Anatomy's case, however, the show does not always make clear just how slow time moves. It took the show three seasons to cover one year's time in the life of the characters, but I think a viewer could have reasonably thought more time had passed because there are so few markers of that time moving. Again, not enough time for the characters to be dynamic in the ways viewers want or expect. But, Lost always reminds us how long we've been on the island, which helps me at least be less frustrated when Kate makes the same flight / survive mistake over and over again. I know she ends up changing; she cannot take on the responsibility of Aaron without becoming dynamic, but I think we have a ways to go before Kate's ready to grow. I also think Jack's need to go back to the island comes out of him becoming dynamic. He has to save himself before he can go back to saving others in a weird circular way, but that's a different topic.