So he said to me, "Why haven't they done a Lost one? It would make perfect sense." I said, "Oh, I'm sure they're waiting until the final season to do it, since it's essentially the show's Last Supper in a sense." We mourned the fact that neither one of us is particularly capable with Photoshop, or we would just make our own. I said to him, "Locke would be Christ... though Jack thinks he should have that spot." (snicker... oh Jack, I jest...)
Anyway, our wish came true today. I was out doing some shopping and I came home to a flurry of excited emails from Jeremy, talking about the photo. So far the only scan that exists is a badly shot digital photo with a huge flash in the middle of it. I immediately jumped in the car and drove to two different stores, but the issue with the pic doesn't appear to be available yet, at least not in Toronto. If anyone reading this has their hands on a copy and could take a better picture or scan it and send it to me, please do, and I'll post it with credit back to you.
In the meantime, here's the one that exists (posted on the lylyford blog) Click on the photo for a larger version:
In a post Jeremy has done on his blog, he's identified Locke as Christ (natch) and Jack as Thomas the Apostle. This is interesting, given the big speech Ben gives about Doubting Thomas having to see Christ's wounds before he'd believe he was alive. Similarly Jack has had to be zapped to 1977 and actually see the island move before he starts to believe that maybe Locke's not completely out of his tree. Locke is the Christ figure not only in the fact that he's the one who dies and is resurrected, and who has been chosen as the island's Son, but claims to have done everything for the greater good, even when no one believed in him. After his death, everyone seems to believe in him, and has come back to the island... even Kate.
Kate is in the spot of Judas, Jeremy thinks... could this be a suggestion that Kate will be the one to betray Locke -- and, in a way, all of them -- in season 6? I would have assumed Ben in the position of Judas, but he's not. Kate is also in the position of Mary Magdelene, if The Da Vinci Code is to be believed (but let's hope whoever was involved in the placement of this photo doesn't subscribe to the ridiculous notions of THAT book...)
(Argh... I just wrote up a bunch of stuff and then it just disappeared on me. Stupid Blogger. Let's try again.)
Jeremy noted when he was talking to me on the phone that the table they're using appears to be the wing of a plane. Behind Sayid you can see the Swan station logo, and they all appear to be sitting in the concave of the hollowed-out Swan station. You can see two skulls on the ground (Adam and Eve, perhaps?). There are lilies on the table, which usually signify death (which is why I'm particularly unhappy that there's one in front of Hurley!) but they're pink aster lilies, not the white funereal ones, so I'm thinking they might be safe. For now. The sticks on the hilltop in the background could be the remnants of Eko's church, or they could just be symbolic of the broken crosses of Calvary.
Desmond's not there, but presumably this is a cast photo, and as many people have pointed out, Cusick's not in the Season 6 cast, and instead will be a guest only.
In the case of many pop culture Last Supper parodies, the artists put the main people in the middle and secondary characters on the outer reaches of the picture. The main thing taken into account is who will be Christ, and secondarily, who will be Judas. But otherwise, they don't really care who the apostles are and just plop the rest in wherever. Sawyer and Jack are on opposite sides of Locke, showing their different points of view on everything, but it's hard to find significance otherwise. It's not like everyone who believes in free will is on one side and everyone who believes in destiny is on the other. Could it be split into followers of Jacob and followers of the Man in Black? Not likely. (And that brings up another question: is Locke the Christ in the middle, or is that actually MiB?)
There's no Smokey that I can see, or statue, or anything you'd think they might have inserted in there.
Curiously, this photo appears in US Weekly, not Entertainment Weekly. A very strange place for it to be found, and it could suggest that it doesn't mean much of anything. (I don't actually put much credence in ANYTHING a person finds in US Weekly.) If there is no real symbolism to the placement of the people in the photo, I'd be hugely disappointed that they missed the opportunity to do a proper Last Supper parody, since this show is rife with meaning.
What do you see in the picture? Jeremy turned things over to us, saying my readers would probably be able to do a lot more with the photo. But do go on over and check out his blog. Perhaps we'll find more in common with the placement of other people in Last Supper pop culture parodies rather than the original Leonardo da Vinci portrait. So let's see what we can do!
And if I don't hear from you sooner, have a happy new year, everyone!
20 comments:
I absolutely love this photo! I was also surprised it did not appear in EW first, especially with the relationship DocJensen has with LOST's producers. Nonetheless, the photo doesn't look photoshopped, which is something that irritated me about last season's cast group photos.
Let's not look at this from a positioning standpoint as much as from a religious standpoint for a moment. It's easy to get caught up in who is whom -- I know I've spent the last fifteen minutes questioning whether or not it is Kate or Sayid who is in the place of Judas with my son.
What was the significance of the Last Supper? It was for preparation of the sacrificial lamb during Passover, honoring the Jewish tradition. For Christians, it is Christ's preparation of himself for sacrifice as well as preparation for his disciplines in handling his sacrifice.
Here, we may be seeing the preparation of John Locke as the messianic figure of the Island. He already died, but if a reboot is to happen, he may get his chance to die honorably a second time.
John Locke has been a Christ-figure in LOST since the moment Richard Alpert revealed to him that he had to die. This photo could represent the revelation each character will have as a result of Locke's sacrifice and subsequent resurrection. In the original painting, the focus is placed on the reactions of the disciples to Jesus' news of betrayal. Some are outraged, some are bewildered; in this cast photo, the characters that are most startled are those closest to Locke -- Jack, Kate, Sayid, Sawyer, Jin and Hurley -- and they never saw him back from the dead. My son points out that those who saw the resurrected Locke are relegated to the corners of the table. Guys like Richard seem only mildly interested. Why is this?
Suffice to say, I LOVE this photo. I'll be blogging about it in the next day or so, with more coherent thoughts. It's something to fill time between now and Feb. 2, right? By which time we'll think this photo un"lockes" the mysteries of the show, only to be shown it was all smoke and mirrors.
Happy New Years, everyone!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL!!!
Nikki, this Lost Supper pic is genius, thanks for the post! Oh, and i want to send in a pic with your books like Marebabe and humanebean and some of the others did, but alas, I'm behind in the times & don't own a camera (I think I've taken a total of maybe 5 pictures in my entire life) LOL
Which is kinda sad, cuz I'm 22 and technically I should be all "tech-this" and "iPod-that".
Happy New year everyone. LOST starts again soon, so here we are. Love the promo picture and though Darlton say they have nothing to do with the promos, I figure they must have had something to do with this one, just like the BSG crew.
All I can add for now from my poor shipper brain, is how interesting it is that Sawyer is leaning on Kates chair. He could have been 14 other places in that picture, but he is strategically positioned leaning on Kates chair. Just as in the season 6 final poster, both are facing each other. I find that very interesting and doubt there is anyone whether shipper or not who would look at both poster, and this picture and not notice that :)
Sun being far away from Jin in this picture leaves me worried. I don't know why I have the strange feeling that it won't be a happy ending for Jin and Sun.
Rose&Bernard, not there but 2 skulls on the floor-Adam&Eve?
Also funny, atleast to me how there is space for Lapidus and llana, and no space for Juliet..LOL. So, I guess we all can now accept that she is DEAD as an ongoing concern i.e as the story moves forward.
I love this photo too. I usually don't post since you all catch everything so fast! Only thing I thought was funny is the placement of Miles's hand on Frank's bottom???
Sorry to double post. Just to let you know, I'm not 12, just tired...
Perhaps it's just my depth perception, but Sawyer doesn't seem to be leaning against Kate's chair at all. He seems to be behind everyone else, as if signifying he will be separate from everyone else, distanced from everyone else. Doesn't he look farther away in the background, compared to the rest of the cast? After losing Juliet because of Jack's plan, this wouldn't surprise me that he'd want to distance himself from those he felt would be responsible for her death...namely, well, everyone.
Yes, Lee, your depth perception is failing you. Sawyer's arm is clearly laid against the back of Kate's chair. I'm contiuously amused at the Skate-phobic nature of the online Lost fandom.
Juliet is no more. Bygones. Here's to not seeing Sawyer's story dragged down with Juliet-focused melodrama in S6.
Well, I'm happy to see Claire made the photo. They've been telling us for ages that she'll be back, and there she is! I can't wait to get the explanation about where she's been and why.
Sawyer and Kate are meant to be together. Those two are made for each other. Glad to see them positioned together.
Sun seems to be looking at Jin (why look at Locke when she can look at her long-lost husband?) and is still with Lapidus. Still searching? Christian did tell them they had a long journey ahead of them.
Richard and Ilana are together at the far end, because of their connection with the "What lies in the shadow of the statue" situation.
Sayid looks confrontational, the way he's leaning on the table.
I need to go back and take another look, and think about it some more.
How long till February 2nd? Too long!
Lee, I think Sawyer looks a bit further back because of the way the magazine is folded in the middle. It's just a bad photo.
Haven't posted in forever but, this is an AWESOME picture!
Wow, I'm with you Nikki--if this turns out to just be a fluke picture, I'm going to be sorely disappointed because the potential for every detail here to be stuffed with convoluted insinuating goodness is just too good to pass up!
I LOVE the idea that Kate might be the Judas character! I'm sorry--I know you love him Nikki, but I really hate John, so the idea of Kate, one of my favs being his betrayer is just really spectacular. =P
It's interesting that Jacob and the MIB aren't here seeing as they're now revealed as pretty much being the center of this whole thing. I would imagine Jacob as being the Christ figure and MIB as Judas if we were to expand the metaphor to them, you know? I guess that just didn't work for the photo though which makes sense because the Jacob/MIB sphere and the Losties sphere are really very separate still despite their inherent connection to the whole scheme of things.
I actually felt like I saw the opposite reactions in the characters as Ambivalentman. Apart from Ben, it seems to me that all the characters closest to John seem hardly surprised at all to see him alive. The ones on the outskirts all seem unnerved, staring at him intently out of the corner of their eyes or with looks on their faces as though they might bolt at any second. Illana looks disgusted and wary, Richard to me looks in awe, Claire looks creeped out, Ben looks floored, Miles and Sun both looked creeped out too and Lapidus has his infamous "oh great" look on. The central figures however all have different but not necessarily shocked expressions in my opinion. Kate doesn't looked in the least bit surprised at all, she looks more like she's about to punch Locke in the face or cuss him out and walk away or something (in other words, she looks really p.o.-ed). Sayid is staring Locke down and the fact that he's leaning in rather than away suggests that he feels emotionally in the upperhand, not caught off guard or surprised at all--like he's daring John to make a move. Sawyer looks like he doesn't give a damn. Jack looks like he'd almost been expecting this--it's the same look he had when Richard asked him if he knew Locke when they were under the temple with the bomb in Follow the Leader and Jack sort of did this ironic, knowing, cynical laugh and said "I wouldn't give up on him yet." Jack also is leaning in to Locke just slightly, sort of arched over him threateningly, like Sayid he seems to be daring Locke to make a move, like "I dare you to try and get up out of that chair, Locke--I just dare you". Jin doesn't even seem to be looking at John at all but the angle of his head makes it seem like he's staring off into space somewhere in front of Kate. Hurley has a "okay dude, sooooo, what do we do now?" sort of look, very calm and withdrawn.
@Stacy: I'm fairly certain that Miles' hand is resting on on the back of Frank's chair. For one, that would be just plain bizarre if it wasn't (hahah!), and two, his arm seems to be sort of slack which suggests that, wherever his hand is, it's supporting the weight of his entire arm which given the physics of it would suggest that the hand is resting on a fixed point--a butt just couldn't do that. =P Plus, Lapidus is at an angle if you notice--he's on the end of the table, whereas Miles is still on the side, so they're perpendicular. =)
I am not a great believer in Last Supper parodies. They are so over-cliched that they often rob audience's of any real insight by fitting the characters into a mold other than that developed in the story.
But leaving my concerns aside, he's what I see. Both Locke and Frank are wearing the same colour blue shirt--interesting since Illana calls Frank a possible candidate. Similarly, Sayid and Sun have similar coloured shirts (assassin anyone?); and Ben and Kate have the same olive green colour. Is there a link between all these characters? It just may be composition, balancing them on either side of Locke (sides in a war, sides in a game).
The peanut butter jar is in front of Kate, whereas I'd have expected it to be in front of Claire. Has this something to do with Aaron, that he likes both peanut butter and Kate? Will he eventually go back to Kate?
The only one wearing a red shirt is Alpert, ironic given Lost's play on the theme of red shirts. Sawyer is of mixed opinion, given his plaid shirt (red and blue)--can't he make up his mind, or does it reflect his mind in turmoil?
Love the airplane trays lying in front of everyone. Goes with the iconography of the plane wing. And the Dharma beer cans are nicely displayed (even the coconut cup before Hurley--the Holy Grail?).
Too bad can't see Jin, and can't tell what Claire is wearing. But she stands out as a stark contrast between Sayid and Illana (is that a plane seat she is on, I think so).
Is that light in the sky behind them a flash of time travel? Anyway, Jack is wearing purple (royal colour indicating of a royal lineage). And is that pen in front of Locke a reference to making lists?
Personally, I'd have thought they'd have a little more fun with this sort of thing. Say, Ben as Mona Lisa. Who more enigmatic? Or our cast in an Edward Hooper "Nighthawks." Charlotte in a sort of Andrew Wyeth portrait of Helga.
Nice photo - but I'll definitely keep the framed Battlestar Galactica supper from their final season on my living room wall.
I would have hoped, that LOST came up with something more original. Maybe it was US Weekly's idea...
@Duane
As someone just making an innocent suggestion, I'm constantly amused that people like you assume I'm a Skater...or a Jater...or any other ridiculous combination that people have come up.
I am neither. But thanks for so astutely pointing out my allegiance. You sure nailed me.
And, just for the record, I still think he's behind everyone else, distancing himself from everyone else. I think that makes much more sense storywise than him falling back to Kate, which would be a boring regression for his character.
Nah. I doubt TPTB will leave promo pic decisions to a tabloid like USweekly. That it is in US weekly at all is already a surprise but maybe somebody paid or sponsored somebody. LOL. Or maybe the actual article will appear in another paper and USweekly is just "reporting" it.
Lee, yes, your depth of perception fails you here, woefully, my friend:) You can argue that It may mean absolutely nothing but to claim to miss Sawyer leaning on Kates chair even if you just gave the pic a cursory glance and the magazine was folded ten times over, leaves me puzzled. It's as glaringly obvious as the positioning of those two same characters in the final season poster. Just like in the season 5 poster where both were looking at each other through the corner of their eyes and Sawyer seemed angry. Season 5 did involve lots of pining looks between the two. So forgive us poor shippers for reading meanings into such things as mythology fans read meanings into things as well. Its just that sometimes we are right & as a Skater I have been right too many times in the last year, maybe I am getting carried away. ;)
Also, I don't know how you guys are judging the expressions on their faces. LOL. They all look fairly intrigued to me. Like they are listening to something important. No one looks distant, pissed off, angry or whatever.....and I do think the intention is for all of them to be looking at Locke so if Sun is looking at Jin, its just because he is in her line of vision. Am I the only one who finds it strange that Jin is even given such a prominent position i.e sitting right next to Locke?
Ah, the Jack/Kate vs Sawyer/Kate shipper debates. When obviously Jack/Sawyer have the most chemistry...
Thank you for the photo, Nikki. I'll wait for a clearer shot to draw any speculations.
Meanwhile, here's Wikipedia's interpretation of DaVinci's Last Supper
And here I thought that after an entire Lost rewatch with no shipper talk, that people were actually listening to me when I asked to have ZERO talk of it on here. Yes, I love Sawyer, and I love seeing him and Kate together. I also love Jack, and love seeing him and Kate together. And I love seeing Kate on her own not needing either one of them. So I don't swear allegiance to either side, and instead wish we could get on to other things.
I don't mind people talking about how much they'd love Kate and Sawyer ending up together, or Kate and Jack ending up together. What I mind is the rudeness that accompanies it. One person jumps on here and starts it and that post was innocent enough, and then the next person says they don't see it, so the third person says they're a bonehead and you'd have to be legally blind not to see it and they're sick and tired of this, and on it goes. There is no winning with shipping, and therefore it is NOT ALLOWED HERE.
Sawyer is standing by Kate, because he's always been with Kate. He loved Juliet, or at least convinced himself of that, but Kate has always been his soul-mate, in his eyes. So I wouldn't see him standing by any other chair. However, Kate's not looking at him, and it reminds me of the scene where Rose talks about being with the one you love, and she looks at Bernard, he looks at her, Juliet looks at Sawyer, and Sawyer looks at Kate, and Kate... looks at no one. He's with her, but I don't think she's with him. Her love is for a little blond-headed boy living with his grandma right now.
But anyway, on to far more important things... and mine is the last word on this subject. I welcome all Jaters and Skaters and Suliets and whoever else wants to be here to come and chat about lost and mention their love for a character. But you start attacking other people or suggesting they're mentally deficient for not seeing your way, and it turns into something else. Other Lost forums might be minefields of discontent, but not this blog.
Fred: I'm so glad you mentioned the peanut butter jar, because I noticed that, too!! Could it be a sign that Kate might actually be pregnant? (Claire makes a comment that her pregnancy makes her crave peanut butter even more.) I doubt it... but it could be a token of Charlie or something. Hmm... Yes, I still want to see even just a minute of Charlie in S6. ;)
As for who's missing, this is the cast photo for season 6, meaning you have to be a full cast member. That's why there's no Juliet, Desmond, Jacob, or Man in Black; They might still be significant characters in S6, but they're not cast members, so they're not in the pic. Anyone not in here ain't a cast member.
It's interesting to me that Fahey is finally a cast member, because he hasn't been one yet -- even in S4, when he featured so prominently, he wasn't a cast member. So he's definitely going to play a far more important role this time around.
Katey: I really enjoyed your interpretation of how all of the characters are regarding Locke. That's really intersting!!
What is going on behind Ben and Hurley? There is the very large boulder, and then the smaller boulder that appears to suspended on two twigs? I don't get it!?
Post a Comment