Conceptualizing Otherness with Lost: Foucault, Lacan, and the Mediation of the Gaze

Abstract

It goes without saying that the television series Lost has left significant repercussions in its wake. Following in the footsteps of various other contemporary TV series, Lost had a significant impact on the possibilities that the medium's form offers in terms of narrative, aesthetic, and subject matter. When it comes to narrative form, it seems that Lost demonstrates a general tendency toward narrative forms that can be qualified as complex 1 ; indeed, the show proposes a narrative in which the audience must mentally invest if they hope to piece together the meaning of the show's events. These events fall simultaneously within the scope of the diegetic present, past, and future, as well as the parallel present. The show was also innovative in terms of metanarrative-using online content and a gaming universe to set in motion a diegetic universe that is both fascinating and complex. These innovative spaces developed by the show's creators have continued to attract attention since the show's initial airing in 2004, and much remains to be done to understand the impact that this narrative has had both on the public and on the history of television. 2 The impact that the show has on audiences plays out on multiple levels. Notably, Lost makes extensive use of philosophical references, which in turn deepen an informed audience's experience of the show. For example, character names are often used to evoke existential conflicts between different belief systems. Although the link between Lost and philosophy has already been analyzed at length, there has been little study of the show in terms of psychoanalytical theory. More specifically, it must be noted that the question of the eye that looks and the gaze, as well as their role in the reception of the show, remain largely unexplored, despite their overwhelming presence in the show's narrative structure. Of course, the show's references to the philosophical ideas of Michel Foucault did not go unnoticed, especially when thinking of surveillance and