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Lost Opinion Article
"The Deconstruction of Dr. Jack Shephard"
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I have a confession to make. I must be one of the few viewers of television’s "LOST" who does not dislike the series' lead character, Dr. Jack Shephard. Before anyone makes the assumption that he is a favorite character of mine, let me make one thing clear. He is not. But for some strange reason, I do not dislike Jack. For the past three or four seasons, many "LOST" fans have ranted consistently against Jack’s faults. Mind you, he is not the only flawed character in the series. In fact, most of the major charactes seemed to possess some very serious flaws. Jack Shephard seemed to be one of very few characters that has drawn a considerable amount of ire from the fans. I do not know why he has been specifically targeted by these fans. But I cannot help but wonder if the combination of Jack’s role as the series' lead character and his flawed personality has set fans against him. Now, someone might claim that my last remark sounds ridiculous. As I had earlier pointed out, most of the major characters are also seriously flawed or have committed some serious crimes. Extremely flawed characters like John Locke, Jin Kwon, Michael Dawson, Kate Austen, Miles Strume, Ana-Lucia Cortez, Charlie Pace, Sayid Jarrah, James "Sawyer" Ford, Sun Kwon, Boone Carlyle, Mr. Eko, Juliet Burke and Shannon Rutherford. Hell, the list is practically endless. And yet, the only other character who have received as much criticism or hate as Jack is Ana-Lucia Cortez. Why? Well, I have my theories. Both Jack and Ana-Lucia had assumed leadership among the castaways at one time or the other, due to their personalities, circumstances and professions. Ana-Lucia assumed leadership of the Tail Section passengers that crashed on one side of the island for forty-eight (48) days. Since Day One of the Oceanic 815 crash, she stepped up and utilized her skills as a police officer to save lives and make decisions when no one else would. Jack, a spinal surgeon, did the same with the surviving passengers from the Fuselage Section on the other side of the island. In one early Season One episode, (1.05) "White Rabbit", he seemed willing to back away from the role of leader, until John Locke convinced him to resume it. Jack remained the leader even after Ana-Lucia and the remaining Tail Section passengers joined the Fuselage camp by the end of (2.08) "Collision". And it was not until after his departure from the island in the Season Four finale, (4.13/4.14) "There's No Place Like Home, Part II" with Hugo "Hurley" Reyes, Sun Kwon, Sayid Jurrah, Kate Austen and Aaron Littleton that he finally relinquished the position. Recalling the above made me realize something. Human beings – for some reason or other – expect leaders to know everything and always do the right thing. Always. And without fail. Humans seemed to have little tolerance toward the imperfections of our leaders. This certainly seemed to be the case for fictional characters who are leaders. And many fans of "LOST" have harbored a deep lack of tolerance toward Jack and Ana-Lucia’s personal failings. In the case of the former L.A.P.D. police officer, many fans have complained of Ana-Lucia's aggressive personality. They have also accused her of being a bitch. In other words, being aggressive and hard – traits many have claimed are more suited for a man - is a sure sign that a woman is a bitch. And unlike other female characters on the series, Ana-Lucia lacked the svelte, feminine looks prevalent in productions such as the 2001-2003 "LORD OF THE RINGS" saga. Actually, gender politics also seemed to have played a great deal in the fans' opinion of Jack. His main crime seemed to be that he does not fit the image of a heroic leading male character. Physically, he looks the part. Unfortunately for Jack, he failed to live up to those looks. He has made the wrong choices on several occasions – choices that included his decision to continue Daniel Farraday's plan to set off the nuclear bomb Jughead in the Season Five finale, (5.16/5.17) "The Incident". It is interesting that many fans have dumped most the blame upon Jack’s shoulders regarding that bomb. And he is partially to blame. But these same fans failed to remember it was Daniel Faraday who had first insisted upon setting off the bomb to reset time back to the day of Flight 815’s crash – September 22, 2004. And they also failed to recall that Juliet Burke's decision to set off the bomb for her own reasons was the final action that led to her death. Many have accused Jack of failing to be a proper parent figure to his nephew, Aaron Littleton, during his three years off the island. And at the same time, many have praised Kate Austen for pretending to be the boy’s mother. I found this rather perverse, considering that Kate had set in motion the lie about her being Aaron’s mother. Jack was guilty of supporting Kate’s lie. But instead of criticizing both for lying about Aaron and keeping him from his Australian family, these fans have criticized Jack for not being an effective father figure to Aaron and praised a kidnapper like Kate for being a good mother. Ah, the ironies of life. Many fans have accused Jack of being emotionally abusive toward Kate. And yes, they would have every reason to criticize his behavior. But Kate had allowed herself to be victimized by Jack's anger and insecurities. Worse, her own behavior – namely her constant lies and attempts to manipulate him and others – occasionally triggered his temper. If one character is going to be criticized for the situations I have previously described, so should the other character involved in those same situations. Some of Jack's other mistakes included sanctioning Sayid’s torture of Sawyer, failure to organize a search for the kidnapped Walt Lloyd, instigating that ludicrous search for Michael Dawson and communicating with Martin Keamy and the other hired mercenaries aboard the S.S. Kahana. Yet, he has received more complaints about his relationship with Kate, along with his tendencies to get emotional and shed tears than for anything else. Once again, many fans managed to prove that we still live in a patriarchal society. It was okay for female characters to shed tears in very emotional moments, but not male characters. Especially if one male character happens to be the series’ leading character. Jack's penchant for tears was not the only sign of how some fans can be hypocritical. I have written articles criticizing some of the series' other characters. Most of my articles have criticized Kate Austen. I will be honest. I used to dislike Kate very much. However, my dislike of her has finally disappeared. Most of my dislike had stemmed from her past flaky behavior and especially the fans’ tendency to excuse her mistakes and crimes . . . or pretend that she had never done anything wrong. However, Kate is not the only character given this leeway. James Ford had murdered three people – one in Australia and two on the island - within a space of two to three months. Yet, many fans tend to make excuses for him. I do not dislike James. But I have complained about his flaws, mistakes and crimes. When I do, many fans tend to pretend that he has not done anything wrong. And I find this frustrating. Sometime back in Season Two or Season Three, actor Matthew Fox and the show’s producers, Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, made it known to the media and viewers that they were doing something different with the Jack Shephard character. They took a superficially heroic type – a brilliant surgeon that assumed leadership of a group of stranded castaways – and deconstructed him. In other words, they slowly but surely exposed his flaws and took the character to what could be viewed as the nadir of his existence. Whether Jack will be able to climb out of that existence remains to be seen. From what fans on the many "LOST" message boards and forums have expressed . . . this is not a path they wanted Jack to take. Instead, these fans wanted – or demanded that Jack behave like a conventional hero. During most of Season Six, Jack managed to avoid indulging in self-destructive behavior. He also refrained from displaying any inclination to pursue a romance with Kate. The worst he has done was engage in a temper tantrum over his discovery that the island’s spiritual "man" Jacob had been observing and possibly interfering in the lives of several castaways. Another personality change I noticed was that he passively allowed others to take the lead without questioning their decisions. I must be honest. I never liked that particular period in Jack's emotional makeup It made him seem like a mindless moron. Did Jack finally become the hero that so many demanded, when he saved the island before his death? Apparently, those responsible for the Emmy nominations believed he had. Why else would they finally nominate Matthew Fox for a Best Actor in a Drama award, after the series' final season. Mind you, Fox had been giving outstanding performances since the first season. But when Jack finally became likeable, they deemed Fox worthy of an Emmy nomination. Dear God. Personally, I never did care about Jack's status as a hero. Nor did I really care for his passive behavior in Season Six. But I did hope that he would finally discover some inner peace for himself. And I believe that he did in his final moments, as he laid in the jungle, and watched Kate and the other survivors leave the island for good.
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I think the fact that so many people reacted so negatively to the character of Jack is testament to the writers success at de-constructing audience expectations of what a hero/lead should be.
Lost has from the very first episode, set out to challenge viewers on many levels and this is but one example. By presenting us with this kind of almost 'anti-hero', we're forced to re-think what it is to be a hero and the humanity that makes each of us up. Ironically, it was Jack's character that I most related to in terms of being 'real' - and it was because of and not despite of his flaws that made him so human.
In the end, it was Jack that saved everyone and sacrificed himself and I'm guessing that most of the Jack haters still had tears in their eyes when he mouthed the words "I'm dead too" in the church scene in the finale, minutes later closing his eyes and passing away.
I did however enjoy his passive phase, though I'm glad it didn't last. My favorite line from him (probably) is when he refused to help young Ben and Kate told him she didn't like the "new him" and Jack says "You didn't like the old me, Kate". Because it's true! She emotionally abused him much more than he did her, just in a less obvious way. I was glad that Jack finally realized that, unfortunately he seemed to forget in the next episode.
I'll admit, I'm one of the Jack haters, but after having read this, I'm re-thinking my position slightly. No, he wasn't perfect, but then, who is? He did really annoy me in the first season being so high and mighty, but who knows how any of us would react to surviving a horrific plane crash and then having everyone look to you for guidance.
To comment on some of your points:
"his decision to continue Daniel Farraday's plan to set off the nuclear bomb Jughead in the Season Five finale, (5.16/5.17) "The Incident". It is interesting that many fans have dumped most the blame upon Jack’s shoulders regarding that bomb."
I actually had very little issue with this - as you said, it was Daniels plan originally, plus the support he got from Juliet for her own issues with Sawyer (and I loved Juliet) as well as her being the one to actually set it off - I think Jack was doing what he thought was best for everyone in that situation. He just had the extra motivation of not wanting to have met and lost Kate.
"Many have accused Jack of failing to be a proper parent figure to his nephew, Aaron Littleton, during his three years off the island."
Again, not something I had an issue with. It wasn't his responsibility, and especially after breaking up with Kate, it was probably too painful for him to be a big part of their lives.
"Many fans have accused Jack of being emotionally abusive toward Kate."
THIS was one of my big issues with him (and the way he treated Locke fits in with this as well IMO) He expected people to be completely honest and open with him about everything while keeping secrets himself. Sitting on the beach with Kate telling her he didn't want to know what she did, but only days later yelling at her to tell the truth "for once". I don't actually recall her lying to him when he asked her a direct question, and he wasn't exactly forthcoming with all the gory details of his life, but SHE'S a bitch for not spilling everything on the first day?!
I had no problem with him crying, it actually made a nice change for the hero to have some feelings and not be afraid to show them. I think ultimately it's like I said - the "holier-than-thou" attitude he seemed to have. He wasn't perfect, but he sure acted like he thought he was a lot of the time.
And gregaus - you're spot on! I definitely had tears in my eyes both in the church and in the bamboo forest scenes. Guess he turned out to be not such a bad guy after all.
He's just not someone I'd want to spend much time with :P
Actually, I thought a good number of the characters had a "holier-than-thou" streak that rubbed me the wrong way. Jack had it, along with Locke, Sawyer, Kate, Sayid, Charlie, and a few others.
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