I remember the advertisements and teasers on ABC about this television series called Lost. At the time, I thought I might watch it. The pilot episode date rolled around and I forgot all about it. Later, I saw that I had missed the pilot and actually tried to get interested in the second or third episode, but it just wasn’t happening. After that, I forgot about it completely and missed the entire two seasons.
Enter my friend, Mystimus, otherwise known as Brian Shipman. He told me that he and his wife were watching this amazing show on ABC called Lost. As he began to describe it, the show peaked my curiosity. Brian is an author. In fact, he is by far my favorite author. He is brilliant, witty and and all-around fun guy to hang out with. We ended up watching the pilot episode together and I must say, I was SOLD! I actually ended up becoming obsessed with the series. So much so that over that Summer, I watched the entire first 2 seasons so that I could catch up with Brian and talk intelligently about our favorite show.
Prior to Lost, I was the type to take stories at face value. I love symbolism, but when watching a movie or television show, I simply would turn off my thoughts and become completely engrossed in the story. Lost changed that for me. As I ventured farther into the series, I had questions. Each episode would answer some and leave me with a dozen others.
I tried to quiz Brian to no avail. He is not one to spoil a show for anyone. He would give me just enough to make me “dig” to understand. I learned from him how to approach the show. Brian watches, he sits back, he ruminates about it, he researches it, he makes connections, then he writes. Wow, does he ever write!
One day, he called me to tell me that he had discovered a TED Talk by JJ Abrams. The presentation was on “The Mystery Box.” It was here that I came to appreciate the genius of JJ Abrams. Through Brian’s tutelage, I began to search for “things hidden in plain sight.” I came to understand that Abrams was all about the mystery and hiding the obvious right under your nose.
This became an incredible experience for us both. We began to share our ideas about the symbols in the series. Slowly what developed over time, was a complex theory of the meaning behind Lost.
I never saw another work of fiction, whether in print or in theater the same. I now began to look for hidden meaning and hidden truths within every story I encountered. Once you find yourself in a work by JJ Abrams, you cannot help but to do so.
I can say to this day that I am still that way. Over the course of future posts on this blog, I hope to tie together what I see as some connections or themes that seem to run throughout the work of JJ Abrams. I trust that if you happen upon this blog that you too will add to the growing list of connections.
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