OK. The title was probably misleading. I was thinking about something the other day after reading Matty's blog post which mentioned the Twilight of the Superheroes proposal Alan Moore wrote. Something he mentioned in this proposal was worth repeating:"As I mentioned in my introduction to Frank's Dark Knight, one of the things that prevents superhero stories from ever attaining the status of true modern myths or legends is that they are open ended. An essential quality of a legend is that the events in it are clearly defined in time; Robin Hood is driven to become an outlaw by the injustices of King John and his minions. That is his origin. He meets Little John, Friar Tuck and all the rest and forms the merry men. He wins the tournament in disguise, he falls in love with Maid Marian and thwarts the Sheriff of Nottingham. That is his career, including love interest, Major Villains and the formation of a superhero group that he is part of. He lives to see the return of Good King Richard and is finally killed by a woman, firing a last arrow to mark the place where he shall be buried. That is his resolution--you can apply the same paradigm to King Arthur, Davy Crockett or Sherlock Holmes with equal success. You cannot apply it to most comic book characters because, in order to meet the commercial demands of a continuing series, they can never have a resolution. Indeed, they find it difficult to embrace any of the changes in life that the passage of time brings about for these very same reasons, making them finally less than fully human as well as falling far short of true myth." - Alan MooreIt is something I think that a lot of modern television shows need to keep in mind however hard it might be to actually end something that is relatively successful.
How does this relate to Lost?? Well, I'm worried about Lost. It was and continues to be a great show. I'm worried all the recent twists and turns are going to be difficult for them to resolve properly while making sense. More importantly, I'm really worried they actually have no idea where they are going. Going from season to season without knowing where the conclusion will be or without answering all of the questions is going to make Lost fizzle out rather than go out with a bang. I could be wrong here but it is a concern.
Watchmen had a great ending. Had it NOT ended and been done like so many other comic books or television series, it would not have ended up that way. Legendary or mythological status is reserved only for those things that have a concrete conclusion. Hopefully Lindelof will figure that out before it is too late.
1 comment:
I'm quite sure Lost has an ending in mind. I think they may have padded some episodes with the uncertainty of not knowing the end date, earlier on, and maybe with the writer's strike as well. But they have an end date now, and I think they know exactly what they want out of every episode.
Moore is right, of course.
Without an arc and a setting in place and time, characters and stories lose their relevance. Comic companies are happily burning their characters out, counting on new generations to pick up when old ones grow tired of the same loops repeating.
And there's some room for that.
But it's a shame that it's so rare for a television show, a comic book, or even a movie series to deliver a satisfying and resonant beginning middle and end to their stories and characters.
Watchmen (the book) is an epic example of how to do it right. I really (really) hope the movie does it justice.
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