For the last six-years millions of people, including myself, have been captivated by a single TV show, which has brought us both moments of deep sadness and moments of great joy. I am of course talking about the hit ABC show “LOST” which just last night came to an end with a two and a half hour finale. Waking up this morning, I was curious as to what people thought about the way the last six-years came to a close. After reading through numerous blogs, Twitter updates, and Facebook posts, one thing was clear, not everybody enjoyed it. In fact, a majority of the “bad” reviews had very little to do with “how” it ended (people were not concerned necessarily with how the story was “wrapped-up”) and more to do with “what was left out.”
LOST has been a show over the last six-years that has continually asked the viewers to be “engaged” and to try and answer for themselves the “mysteries” presented within the show. The final episode did end with a “resolution” but not in the way the human mind is “trained” to expect. The final episode still left us with questions about everything from “the black smoke” to the “mystical properties” of the island. But I realized as I read the “reviews” that we, as humans, crave finite answers. We are like the character Jack in the show, always asking more questions of why? how? who? and so on. As humans, we like having “all the answers” and when the “mysteries” of LOST are still left after the final episode, we think it was sub-par.
Maybe this is why when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, we “secretly” wish he had just taken the Devil up on his “challenges” and shown the whole world His power. Maybe this is why the Israelites could not trust Moses while he stood on Mount Sinai and instead “built” a “god” they could see, a “god” without mystery. And maybe this is why throughout time we have tried to “force” God’s mysteries into “Christian” music, “Christian” movies, or other legalistic acts meant to help one “experience” God.
When it comes to appreciating art these days, nothing has changed. This is why people are complaining about LOST. We have no respect for ambiguity, mystery, or anything that we cannot “digest” immediately. We reduce art to nothing more than eye-candy. Let’s go pop Avatar in on the 1080p…
For more, check out JJ Abrams’ TED talk from 2007, The Mystery Box
Wow. I am so struck by the point about what happens when people construct their own gods. As you point out, it rids the god of any mystery and true power and it keeps us in the position of knowing all, seeing all, and in charge of all. Inevitably, every time we put something up as “god,” what we are doing is simply cementing our position as the REAL god. We like to be the maker who knows all the answers.
I too find this idea of constructing tangible “gods” to be not only an interesting insight but a truth that is growing within this era. As you say humanity has attempted to make their experience with God a measurable or concrete thing for thousands of years because of the unease we feel towards the unknown and the distant, but I feel as though with the ever increasing ease of instant gratification we progressively find patience and silence harder behavior types to live by. Would you agree?