
That Lost is a sci-fi-laden, fantasy-filled, mind-twisting iceberg of a show is beyond the shadow of a doubt. It’s only natural, I believe, that such a unique show has garnered legions of avid fans. It is also unfortunately natural that such a unique show has garnered an equal number of haters.
If you don’t watch ABC’s most expensive drama, you might find talk about the convoluted, conspiracy-heavy plot annoying. I can only assume the annoyance comes from one of two places: 1. Annoyance at lacking the knowledge of the intricacies of a decidedly deep plot (not deep in a literary sense, but just full of stuff) or 2. Annoyance at how excited Lost fans become when the show is the topic du jour.
In the first case, I can understand the frustration. It’s like when a study group of mine fervently debated Ron Paul’s merits last semester. I had nothing to contribute, and I wasn’t happy about it.
But in the second case — hating the show or its fans because of how deeply invested they are in the fiction — is unacceptable. Rather, I should say vocal hatred will not do. As long as its internal, you’re entitled to shit on whatever you want.
But from where does the urge to express one’s hatred for the show come? Is one compelled to tell Lost fans how stupid that show is out of a sense of compassion; can I, a fan of Lost, be committing wrong in my life as a fan? Or does one like to make others angry out of some inversely altruistic motive?
A student wearing a backwards baseball cap in my German class spoke up in this way yesterday, after the season 6 premiere. My teacher, a few students, and I were discussing the show, theories about future episodes, and so on, when someone with a little experience with Lost mentioned how the show had lost his interest. This prompted Backwards Hat, who might have been raging inside himself already, to speak out.
Yeah, Lost is the stupidest show ever.
The weight of that statement, I am certain, wasn’t comprehended by Backwards Hat. In short, he put the show up against every other fictional story in history and said it was the nadir. I’m sure he knows, right?
My teacher responding, asking him if he had seen all the seasons. His reply:
I’ve read summaries of all the seasons, and it’s just so stupid.
At this point his case is doubly fucked. Grasping at straws, he admitted he was hating out of ignorance while pretending to maintain that he had a real argument. (It might be worse to think he was still convinced he had an actual case against Lost after all this.)
The argument between Backwards Hat and my teacher meandered after that. I didn’t want to get into it because I’ve learned that it only upsets me to argue with people who don’t understand how to formulate arguments. It’s the Chewbacca defense — how can I argue against sensationalist nonsense?
I said all this not to say that Lost REELLY IZ TEH BEST SHOW EVARRR YOU SUCK, but to say that it’s not a show that’s easy to hate once you accept that it’s fiction.

Backwards Hat made a point to mention in a derogatory tone, “I mean, it has time travel.” This means that he wrote off the show because it has become too unrealistic. Although surely he goes home and plays Halo or watches Transformers 2, right?
In this way, Backwards Hat defeats himself. There are apparently certain criteria that cause him to write off a plot altogether. Personally, though I understand time travel is a difficult subject to logically explain, I appreciate writers who step out of the realm of realism and take some chances. It beats the paths for more writers to try more interesting plot devices.
Watch what you hate. In this case, I mean that literally. You might change your mind.


I have finally soaked in the lists. I have prepared myself somehow for the new year. I have heard the predictions. And here comes my resolutions bringing up the rear.

e Suicides at Sonezaki, a play by Chikamatsu. We couldn’t find it… So we returned home.