Games and how they live their lives
A great many games are presented in Lost in different contexts and with different aims.
When locke introduces Backgammon to Walt he seems to view it as a cultural thing. He presents the game as oposing forces held in balance.
Hurley introduces Golf as a relaxing exercise played just for fun. But in a later episode Jack and Kate reveal something of their characters by playing an extremely competitive game. They are players who do not just like to win, they NEED to win.
When playing ping pong Sawyer sees it as a physical game he can use to intimidate and dominate someone with.
In poker Jack and Sawyer take the measure of each other and Sawyer is found wanting. This is that much more galling for a man who is a professional lyar and bluffer. Knowing your oponent and knowing when to walk away is a matter of life or death. But Jack remains an enigma in many ways.
When playing Risk in Dharmaville, Sawyer and Hurley are back in a “having fyn” mode. And yet there is an edge to even that game.
And then there is baseball, where anything can happen. But there are those who think that the complexities of even that game have a pre-determined conclusion. “That’s why the Red Sox will never win the world series” Jack’s father used to say. And yet Jack is shown the videotape of the Red Sox winning the series by Ben Linus. So every surety is brought into question.
Jacob versus MIB ? Who will win? Are humans predictable? Is fate a sealed envelope waiting to be opened?
Great theory. Well thought out, isn’t there somekind of scientific reasoning called game theory.
over the christmas period i have been watching a few of my Star Trek TNG episodes and one comment springs to mind when reading your ideas.
in one of the episodes the Enterprise crew has got some free time to use how they please. Wolf the Klingon and Tasha Yar are going to play some (made up) game when Riker bumps into them. Riker tells Worf that the game is just a bit of fun and not to be taken too seriously and that it’s not about the winning. Worf replies quite cleverly with ‘If the game is just a bt of fun then why keep score?’
Put simply, no matter how casual a game is, there is always competition to win otherwise there is no reason to play. The important thing though is not entirely the actual winning, it is what you win afterwards. Be it pride, money or prizes, that is what is important and matters so if there is nothing to win, you won’t play.
What game Jacob and Nemesis are playing is anybody’s guess and what they are hoping to achieve at the end of it still remains a mystery.