Christian symbolism abounds in final season of Lost

When ABC used da Vinci's famous painting of the Last Supper as a model for a publicity photo for Season 6 of Lost, fans should have expected that Christian symbolism would be a part of the show's final season. And indeed that has been the case — although, perhaps, it's Christian symbolism being used in a reverse way, having a Christ figure that becomes a symbol of evil rather than of goodness. But as can be expected with Lost, it's too soon to tell: What looks evil may turn out to be good, although more likely we'll end up with a tale of moral complexity.

Much has been written, on Lostpedia and elsewhere, about the use of Christian symbolism in Lost (although certainly not exclusively, as much of the show appears to be rooted in Egyptian mythology). Many of the characters have Biblical names — Jacob, Benjamin, John and James are just a few — and there's even a Christian, the father of a main character, a Shephard, a possible allusion to the Good Shepherd. There are frequent allusions and even outright mention of Bible verses (one episode was titled "The 23rd Psalm"), many of the characters have been identified as Christian and can be seen praying in flashbacks, and one former main character was a Catholic priest. None of this is extraordinary; those Biblical names are fairly common in our culture, as are Christian-like themes of sacrifice and redemption. But Lost is one of the most carefully crafted shows ever shown on American TV and is full of rich symbolism and more than a whiff of spirituality, so any reference to Christianity is more likely intentional than not.

Interestingly, the show appears to be headed toward equating evil with the Christ character, John Locke. The evidence that Locke is a Christ character goes beyond his portrayal in the position of Jesus in the "Lost Supper" photo:

• Locke once was dead, but he has now been resurrected.


• The "new Locke" (sometimes referred to by fans as the Man in Black) seems to have, or at least claims to have, extraordinary powers, and his possibly now-scarred body is apparently incapable of being killed.


• The invasion of the smoke monster (another form of the Locke character) into the temple was vaguely reminiscent of the Biblical account of Jesus cleansing the temple of those who had made it a den of thieves.


• Locke (the former Locke, that is) has always been one of the most spiritual people on the island and has often seemed to be in touch with some sort of a higher power.

Another example of Christian symbolism can be seen in the character of Sayid. In the first episode of this season, he was "baptized." Just as in Christianity a person is immersed in water as a symbol of death to self and the beginning of a new life in Christ, so was Sayid fully immersed in the temple pool during the first episode this season. And now, it appears, after dying underwater, that he has a new life as a follower of the Christ character Locke.

But the symbolism is neither complete nor consistent. Sayid, too, has been resurrected. And in one striking scene in "Sundown," the most recent episode, Locke tells Sayid that Locke can give him anything he wants — very similar to the New Testament account of the devil tempting Jesus by promising Jesus anything a person might want. Could this be a hint that the reincarnated Locke is actually a Satan character, a Jesus wannabe? Perhaps. But as with all things Lost, it's hard to tell anything for sure at first.

(Photo copyright ABC and used under fair-use provisions of U.S. copyright law.)

Nigerian scammers don't give up easily

It's surprising that people fall for these e-mail scams, but apparently they do. Some of the e-mail headers suggest the following one came out of Nigeria, but I'm not sure. In any case, it came from an sbcglobal.net address. Real persons' names and addresses have been replaced by xs and hash marks; my e-mails are in italics.

The bait:

I'm writing this with tears in my eyes, I came down here to Wales,United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately i was mugged at the park of the hotel where i stayed,all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off me but luckily for me i still have my passports with me. I've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all and my flight leaves in less than 3hrs from now but am having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won't let me leave until i settle the bills, I'm freaked out at the moment.

XXXXX X. XXXXXXXX
#### N. ##th Street
XXXXXXXXX, Wi #####

The above name and address were of a real person, someone I've never met, although it appears likely that the person's whose name was being used had my business e-mail address for legitimate reasons. I decided to find out what else he has to say:

I can't get $1,300 right away. Would $500 be of help?

Could you fax me a copy of your passport so I know you are who you say you are?

I didn't really expect to get a copy of a passport, but we'll see:

Glad you replied back, I still need help, I have nothing left on me right now and I am lucky to have my life and passports with me it would have been worst if they had made away with me passports.

Well all I need now is just $1,300 you can have it wired to my name via Western Union i'll have to show my passport as ID to pick it up here and i promise to pay you back as soon as I get back home. Here's my info below:

XXXXX X. XXXXXXXX
XXX XXXXXXX Lane
London W10 4AH, United Kingdom

As soon as it has been done, kindly get back to me with the confirmation number. Let me know if you are heading to the WU outlet now???

This time, the address was of a recording studio in London, and the e-mail came from a yahoo.com address. Anyway, he didn't say anything about faxing me his passport, so I'll try again.

Would you be able to fax me a copy of your passport? I want to make sure you are who you say you are. Thanks!

This time, the scammer answers my query:

my passport was with the hotel manager right now am at the public liberty talking to you.So you can call the hotel manager on the line +############# his name James smith

Well, there's a clue. I didn't call the number, but I did find out that the prefix used is most likely a cell phone number, not the number of a hotel. And several scam-busting sites reported that that particular prefix is often used by Nigerian e-mail scams. Before I had waited long, I got this:

Please ignore an e-mail requesting money to me! I have been hacked, and I'm working with SBC to resolve. Sorry for the worry and concern! I am at home and well!

XXXX


XXXXX X. XXXXXXXX
#### N. ##th Street
XXXXXXXXX, Wi #####

Well, I'm glad he got his sbcglobal.net e-mail address back under his own control. I thought this might be the end of it, but no. Another letter came from the yahoo.com address.

Am waiting for the confirmation from western union because my flight leaves in 1 hour 30min time i will surely refund your money once i get back home.

My response:

I'm not sure you have enough time to catch the plane. You need to be at the airport about two hours in advance.

About 15 minutes later, another response:

Once the hotel bill is sort out i will be leaving to the airport.that is why you have to wired the money now so i can pickup the money here.

He doesn't give up, that's for sure. Maybe if he were to put that kind of effort into making a legitimate living ...

Let's see how he answers my next question:

I still need to make sure you are who you say you are. I'm more than happy to send you the money if I know you're legitimate. Could you please tell me where I know you from? Thanks!

No surprise, but he ignores the question:

Just want to know if you have wired the money.

I respond:

No, I've withdrawn money from the bank and am all ready to send it. I just need to make sure you're legitimate. Where do I know you from?

And that was all I heard from him.

The iPad: What is it?

There's quite a discussion going on at the Crave blog over just what the new iPad is: Is it a computer, or is it something else?

Well, of course it's a computer. But so is my hopelessly outdated cell phone, which lets me do little more than make calls and maintain a basic calendar but still has more computing power than the computers aboard the first manned spacecraft. When they ask whether the iPad is a computer, what they're really asking is if it's a portable substitute for a desktop computer with all the flexibility that such as device has.

My conclusion: No, it's not a portable desktop. It's more akin to a netbook except that its form factor is that of a tablet rather than of a small, foldable laptop computer.

Although the iPad undoubtedly is cool-looking and has some neat features — the thinness, low weight and 10-hour battery life are incredible — I can't say that I'm all impressed by what Apple is offering. I have a Linux netbook that I recently purchased, and there's plenty that it will do that the iPad won't, such as:

• Connect to USB devices including external drives and flash memory gizmos.
• Easily connect to my digital camera via USB (or by inserting its memory card) and manage its photos.
• Run Skype or its competitors using a built-in webcam.
• Display web sites that use Flash, and that's a lot of them.
• Run more than one application at a time. If I'm writing a document and need to look something up on the Net, I can do so while still keeping the document open.
• Basically do anything that a desktop computer will do, although a bit slower.
• Let me freely change software and even the operating systems.

All that, and it cost me less than $300.

Despite the limitations of the iPad, I expect it will sell well. The coolness factor will be a big selling point, and with an optional external keyboard it is easily capable of performing office tasks.

And as to what label the iPad and the soon-to-come imitators should be called: My vote is for netpad.

A cop film for grammar nuts?

Who would have thought they'd make a police film for grammar aficionados? I haven't seen it yet, so I can't make a recommendation, but today's New York Times has an intriguing review of Police, Adjective. I must confess I'm a bit skeptical of how well a film that focuses at least in part on language could fare through the subtitling process, but we'll see.

The Blind Side — mostly a true story

I can't help it: Whenever I see a movie that is promoted as "based on a true story" — or, more nebulously, "inspired by a true story" — it doesn't take me long afterward to try to find out how much was really true and how much was Hollywood.

And such was with Hollywood's latest feel-good blockbuster, The Blind Side, featuring Sandra Bullock in a dramatic role (she's the best I've ever seen her here) telling the story of Michael Oher, a societal nobody who seemed destined to be a another grim statistic of the slums before he was taken in by the Sean and Leigh Ann Tuohy family of Memphis, Tenn., and eventually became an all-star football player.

As it turns out, the film, as unbelievable as it may seem, isn't embellished all that much from what really happened. The story of Oher is told in "The Ballad of Big Mike," a New York Times Magazine book excerpt well worth the read. Most of the differences between the film and the book account are minor, or are details that are alluded to in the film but not spelled out in detail:

• Sean Tuohy actually had some connection with Oher before they brought him to their home for the first time, and he had long taken an interest in poor children.
• The Tuohys' daughter, Collins, was quite an athlete in her own right and certainly was a more interesting person than the portrayal in the film would suggest.
• Although it is clear from the film that the Tuohys were active Christians, they're a bit more than that, being among the early backers of a major evangelical church in Memphis, and Sean Tuohy is currently on the evangelical Christian speaking circuit.
• The conservative religiosity of the school is downplayed in the film as well. Here's what Oher's tutor had to say about the school's employment application form: "The application did not have one question about education. It was all about religion and what I thought about homosexuality and drinking and smoking."
• The name of the school used in the film is the fictional Wingate Christian School; Oher actually attended Briarcrest Christian School.
• In the film, Oher needs a 2.5 grade-point average and ekes out with 2.52. The part about a 2.52 is correct, but in fact he needed a 2.65 average. He was able to raise his grades to that average by getting high school credits through a remote-education program sponsored by Brigham Young University. "The Mormons may be going to hell. But they really are nice people," Sean Tuohy is quoted as saying in the book excerpt.
• A last-minute snag in getting Oher's BYU grades accepted by the NCAA is omitted in the film, possibly because it wouldn't have seemed believable to have another obstacle to overcome. When Oher's BYU grades were misplaced, Sean Tuohy threatened to fly in his personal plane to the NCAA offices with the BYU papers and sit in the lobby himself until they were accepted.
• In the film, Sean Tuohy seems like milquetoast compared to his overpowering wife. His life story makes that seem improbable.
• The years that it took Oher to be transformed from an ignorant slum kid into someone capable of legitimately graduating from high school seem shortened in the film, probably because of the difficulty of portraying the changes in physical maturity for the young characters.
• In the film, Oher is correctly portrayed as having tested with an IQ score of around 80, well below average. And he had been so neglected he knew nothing about basic facts (such as what an ocean is) or of social niceties (such as what shaking hands is). Left unmentioned in the film is that after receiving plenty of nurturing, his IQ score was raised 20 to 30 points — making him of higher than average intelligence.

Overall, the film is about as close to what really happened as you could reasonably hope for (and the quip about the Tuohys having a black son before knowing a Republican wasn't made up for the film). Although The Blind Side has its share of underdog-film clichés (my main complaint about the film, and the reason I'd grade it a B instead of an A), most of them are based on events that really happened. It's an inspiring film — but no less inspiring than the events that inspired it.

Another Word of the Year: admonish

Another word, this one coming to us from the folks at Merriam-Webster, has won Word of the Year honors. It's "admonish," a word that resulted in thousands of online lookups after the U.S. House admonished one of its members for calling President Barack Obama a liar during a presidential speech.

That doesn't seem like a word most people would need to look up — but I must confess, I was one of them. I did so for the same reason many others likely did, not to find out its basic meaning, but to see if it had some fine legal distinction to differentiate it from words such as "censure" or "condemn."

The runners-up in the Merriam-Webster "competition" were mostly ones that were also tied to current events: emaciated, empathy, furlough, inaugurate, nugatory, pandemic, philanderer and repose. I'm not sure where "nugatory" came from; it refers to something inconsequential or ineffective.

Word of the Year: "unfriend"

Here's the news language junkies have been waiting for — the New Oxford American Dictionary has selected its Word of the Year for 2009. It shouldn't be surprising that it's associated with social networking, a new activity that has become so much a part of our culture that even my relatives in their 70s and 80s are doing it. When one of my sons signed up for Facebook a couple years ago, he did it because it was the cool thing to do. And now his grandmother is one of his "friends."

And that brings us to the word: It's "unfriend," which means to delist someone as one of your friends on Facebook or another social network.

It's not a bad word, although I think that "defriend" makes a lot more sense. But apparently more folks use the former. And since dictionaries these days reflect language as the way it is used rather than the way it should be, "unfriend" it is.

And it could have been worse. Among the other words considered were "intexticated" (driving while texting, a definite no-no in my book), "deleb" (a dead celebrity) and "death panel" (Sarah Palin's bogus description of what health reform would bring).

Actually, there was one other word Oxford considered that was worthwhile: "netbook," a small, inexpensive laptop computer intended primarily for Internet use. Like "unfriend," "netbook" isn't a novelty word and fits a real need, making it likely to last.