Monday, August 20, 2007

The Group Therapy Theory - Valid?















In addition to rewatching episodes of LOST, I've
been listening to some Season 2 era podcasts. Back
in the day, there were some theories floating about
that the survivors of the crash were actually all in
a mental hospital and part of a group therapy session
which explained the inter-locking backstories of these
people who didn't know each other. I'm pretty sure
TPTB have said somewhere that this idea is wrong, but
rewatching Deus Ex Machina made me at least start
to think about this theory again.

Locke's mom, as well as Hurley and Libby were all in
Santa Rosa Mental Hospital. Locke's mom was a
schizophrenic and that is often passed down genetically,
so what if Locke also has a mental illness?

And it's not just the crosses that make me think there's
something to this idea of shared therapy or even the
implanted memory theory that also made the rounds, but
what about the repeated names of the minor characters? The
guy in the security booth at Cooper's was named Eddie.
The cop at the pot farm was named Eddie. This is not just
a repeated name, but a repeated name in Locke's flashbacks.

There have been 6 Tom/Thomases, 4 Dave/Davids, 2 Jasons,
3 Brians and many more which you can find at LOST Repititions.

Do I buy it? Probably not, but I can certainly see why people
came up with this theory in the first place. Any ideas about
the group therapy theory? The implanted memory theory?
What are some of your favorite theories that have been
debunked?

5 comments:

TheOtherLisa said...

For a while- I really toyed around with the concept of multiple personalities. I thought that perhaps what we're seeing is ONE person's journey through therapy a la Sybill (Sally Field movie). As each issue for this person is resolved, we'll see a character develop to redemption/resolultion and die.

Ex. In Boones resolution and death, we see a patient come to terms with his enabling behaviors, the part of him/her that felt responsible for the things that happened to him/her and those around them that were out of his control. Next, we see that, beyond this enabling, this person felt helpless in his/her life, rejected, unable do anything, unable to be loved...when that was resolved via therapy, we see Sayid and Shannon fall in love, Shannon recognize her contribution to the group and lost Shannon. And so on....

Its a theory I revisit every once in a while. I'm not sure that it completely works... but its food for thought! (or at least a re-occuring snack!)

Capcom said...

Wow, what a great question Memphish! And what possiblities too! Especially considering that of the zillions of names in the world, why do TPTB keep re-using certain ones? Most importantly because they have said that names are chosen very carefully in the show. I could also buy the notion that they all have serious psychosis problems that need to be fixed, but hey, who doesn't? :o)

I like your thought also Lisa, about how people seem to be checking out after they have come to terms with themselves. Think about Ana-L getting shot immediately after she told Mike that she couldn't kill anymore. And maybe Libby got killed because she was for the first time in her life in a relationship as an equal and sane woman, with Hurley. We know that the actor wanted to leave, but that does seem to be also what happened to Mr. Eko, i.e. he changed after the crash to becoming an honest priest, and then Smokey(whom I think has a twisted sense of judgement) kills him.

Very juicy ideas! :-)

pgtbeauregard said...

Capcom,

Youl could be onto something. I just hope Sawyer isn't next.

It's an interesting theory, certainly as good as any other that's out there.

Amused2bHere said...

One of the first ideas I had about Lost was that it could be something like the novel Ubik, written by Philip K Dick. Not exactly purgatory, but just the point that communication with the recently dead is possible, and sometimes things need to be worked out before the dead can move on.. Of course TPTB have debunked the "purgatory" theory, but I still like the idea.

Lisa, I like your theory too. It's very close to the movie Identity. Won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but there's certainly something of this in there.

Capcom said...

Hey Amused, did TPTB ever say that the island wasn't Limbo? I'm not Catholic so I don't know much about that. But isn't it the place where people go to wait on getting judged? Sorry to Catholics if I have it all wrong. :-}