Tuesday, March 10, 2009

The Watchmen influence on Lost

Research the Watchmen character of Dr. Manhattan. I saw the movie this weekend, and heard that Watchmen was an influence on Lost. I will admit to being fairly new to Watchmen (Graphic Novel is on order).

I was on the Fuselage reading some general time-travel questions and thinking about how the "rules" on the show seemed to be similar to Slaughterhouse Five (been asserted many times by many people). There were some questions about what Desmond's special ability is, and after I started trying to compose an answer, I realized how the Watchmen might fit in.

Hypothesis:
1. Time appears to be linear (or curved) in Lost, meaning it does not branch. No paradoxes, no alternate realities, etc. "What happened, happened." If we take this as a law of the show, then I think what follows applies (if time is not linear, then all bets are off and none of it matters).

2. Most people can remember the past, but the memory gets more distorted the further away the memory is from the event horizon (the present). Example, I remember what I had for lunch yesterday and maybe the day before. 10 days ago? 10 months ago? 10 years? Nope. At best, I'd be guessing, not remembering. The exception would be if I had 1 amazing lunch on a special occasion or something.

3. Desmond seems to be able to remember the future, as well as the past. Inside his consciousness, he see the future. What is that vision, if not a forward memory?

4. In Watchmen, Dr. Manhattan is able to see all moments of his own past and his own future (with absolute clarity). The exception (in the movie) is when an external particle field of tachyons cloud his vision of the future.

5. In Dr. Manhattan's origin, his corporeal form dissolves and reappears. First his circulatory system materializes, and eventually the rest of him. In a sense, his particles had been scattered and then he is reborn. Naked.

6. Desmond shows up naked after the hatch implosion. Why? Well, he had ground zero exposure to some presumably powerful radioactive & electro-magnetic energy. Perhaps Desmond was also disintegrated and reformed/reborn. It would explain why he was naked. He never physically time-travelled...when his body was destroyed, his mind was spread throughout time and space.

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