Can You Repeat the Past?

Well, according to Gatsby, why of course you can! But we all know how that worked out for him…

Lou from A Visit From the Goon Squad is on that same destructive path. A man who desperately fears growing up and being old, he tries hopelessly to hold onto his past in increasingly destructive ways, from dating a twenty something woman to doing cocaine with his teenage girlfriend.

When we first meet Lou, his girlfriend is Jocelyn, one of Bennie’s high school friends. From the perspective of Rhea, another of the friends, the reader sees that Lou is at least forty yet after the band’s gig he invites these high schoolers to his apartment. He does drugs with them, which shows just how far his immaturity and irresponsibility goes. In a conversation with Rhea he claims, “I am your age,” and “I’ll never get old.” However, one thing Lou does know is music. This is what gives him a connection to Bennie who is eventually mentored by Lou for his career.  He also has a certain charm to him. This is seen in his affect on Rhea in “Ask Me if I Care” and later in “Safari”.

In “Safari”, which takes place before “Ask Me if I Care” Lou is on vacation in Africa with his two children Charlene (Charlie) and Rolph and his (much younger) girlfriend Mindy. Throughout the chapter eleven year old Rolph admires his father  and tries to connect with him but becomes increasingly angry with his father’s misogynistic words towards Rolph’s mother and Mindy.  It is also clear, Lou doesn’t know what to do about raising his daughter Charlie who is desperate for his attention and who he practically ignores. Lou is extremely jealous and angry when he discovers that Mindy has cheated on him with Albert, the safari leader, and this ignites his competitive nature which, the omniscient narrator tells us,  eventually results in their marriage.

In “You (Plural)” Lou is truly an old dying man. His worst fears have come true but he still attempts to reconnect to his past youth with his visitors, Rhea and Jocelyn.

Lou is a despicable man. He’s a misogynist who refuses to grow up and take responsibility for his life. However, there is something very interesting about the character that makes you want to know more. And with a book like A Visit from the Goon Squad you can’t help but wonder if the reader will find out why he is the way he is.

Lost

           In Lost, narrative complexity is not just a unique format; it practically keeps the audience glued to the screen. Lost doesn’t wait around for you to understand what’s going on. From the first episode, the audience jumps headfirst into the unknown. Episode 1 begins in the midst of the plane crash that leaves the characters stranded on what appears to be a deserted island. Soon, however, as night falls some strange noises and falling trees in the forest hint that things are not what they seem. This is not just a normal survival story.

Then comes the part that makes Lost truly different. The next scene is not the survivors waiting around, wondering what it is they saw and heard. The next scene takes place on the plane, moments before the crash. These flashbacks occur throughout the series and give insight about the characters from what they were doing on the plane to their pasts, long before the flight. This is innovative because not only does the audience see the characters develop after they crash on the island. There is also a kind of “backwards” character development going on, where the audience sees why these characters are the way they are on the island. This means the characters are much more fleshed out than the average television characters and makes their stories more intriguing and important for the audience. You also see the same events from the perspective of different characters. This lets the audience put the pieces together themselves to see the whole complex picture of what is occurring during just one event.

Lost gives as little information as possible at the beginning of the first episode. This makes every bit of detail afterward seem more important and more interesting for the audience. There is so much mystery with so little clues that the viewers simply have  to keep watching to figure out what is going on and what will happen next. The more you watch the more you need to know what is happening on the island. That is why a show like Lost  is so popular. There is no way to get closure without watching the series to the end.