The Sociology of Lost

Six Degrees of Lois Weisburg focuses on the idea of networking and people who are “connectors.” Well, the final season of the television show Lost started only a couple of weeks ago, and as soon as I read about connectors, I could only think of Lost. First, let me give you a little background. If you watch or know anyone who watches Lost, you understand how it sucks people in. It’s an all-consuming show; missing one episode is enough to put a fan into a panic, because missing one show means not understanding the rest of the series. I jokingly tell people that watching Lost is as big a commitment as getting married.

So what does this television show have to do with sociology? Well, apart from the general case study style of the show (How do people change after crashing on a very strange “deserted” island?), the creators of Lost are hugely into the idea of six degrees of separation. Damon Lindelof, the executive producer of the show said in an interview, “I minored in sociology in college and a couple of the other writers have a background in sociology.” I believe that the sociology that can be found in Lost is very intentional.

Each character is connected in their pasts, presents, and even futures. You can take any character--however minor--and connect them to any other character. It goes something like this: You take a random character, let’s say Hugo Reyes, one of the survivors of the Oceanic 815 crash. Before crashing on the Island, Hugo’s father took him to a psychic. This psychic had only a few lines, and this was back in Season 3.In this week’s episode, the psychic reappeared, this time not in a flashback, but in a “sideways flash” to an alternate universe--what could have happened if the characters had never ended up on the Island. (Confused yet?) This time she was a job interviewer, talking to another major character, John Locke. John Locke was only at this job interview because he had run into Hugo Reyes in a parking lot and Hugo had set him up with the interview. This is just one example of how each character is connected to every other character in a huge circle.

So why do the writers do this? Is it just to drive us crazy with the recurring characters? Is it because they can’t afford new actors? No. They are making a statement about the six degrees of separation theory. The ridiculous number of character connections (most of them unknown to the characters) show how social interactions, even those we don’t notice, shape our lives. Now that we’ve entered the sixth season, a part of each episode is devoted to showing how each character’s life would be different if they had never ended up on the Island. It is interesting to see how different things turn out when the social environment is changed.

For example, one of the main characters, Kate Austen, would have had a very different outcome without the Island in her life. Kate boards the plane in the beginning of the series accompanied by a police officer and wearing handcuffs because she murdered her stepfather. On the Island, Kate is able to escape her bloody past and quickly becomes one of the most popular people on the Island. She uses her natural talents to help the other survivors and strives to keep the others from finding out about her crime. Later, when she is rescued from the Island, she gets out of her prison sentence because of her good deeds on the Island. She is able to live a productive life and even raises a son. But when the setting is changed, and we see what would have happened if Kate’s plane had never crashed, her future is bleak. Upon reaching the intended airport, Kate attacks her police escort and runs away, back to her old way of life. Without the Island, she loses her chance to atone for her crimes and become a productive member of society.

While Lost takes the six degrees of separation theory to a rather extreme level, that does not mean that it does not exist in real life. Who can say how different our lives would be without the coincidental but meaningful encounters with the people in our own lives?

For more information on character connections in Lost, check out this link:

http://lostpedia.wikia.com/wiki/Six_degrees_of_separation

35 Easy Ways to Break Common Folkways

1. Stand backwards in an elevator

2. Tell everyone how much money you make

3. Talk to yourself in public

4. Take things out of the garbage

5. Walk barefoot down the street

6. Cut in front of someone in line

7. Pay only in coins

8. Refuse to hold the door for the person behind you

9. Invade others’ personal space

10. Make unnecessary noise in a library

11. Touch yourself inappropriately in public

12. Stare at a woman’s breasts while speaking to her

13. Share only occasionally

14. Come into a waiting room and sit down on the floor

15. Sit down in a store

16. Men try on ladies’ clothing and vice versa

17. Walk against traffic

18. Slurp from soup bowl

19. Leave tags on clothes while wearing them

20. Put your elbows on the table while eating

21. Chew with your mouth open

22. Refuse to turn down your phone in class/theater/meetings

23. Refuse to shake someone’s hand once it has been offered

24. Sneeze and then touch someone

25. Don’t give up your seat to an elderly or handicapped person

26. Take a tissue from someone, blow your nose, and then hand it back

27. Belch/pass gas in public

28. Wear clothes that are too tight

29. Don't wear deodorant

30. Touch people when you don’t know them well

31. Wear clothing/jewelry that is very noisy

32. Talk on the phone at the table

33. Break into song in public

34. Stretch and yawn loudly in church or other serious social gathering

35. For males only: Be overly affectionate with your male friends

Here are some links to videos of people breaking common folkways:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHBQQRp9h_c&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKGq0Gcvh8k&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eBbZIfLeTA&feature=related

Mating Ceremonies of the Nacirema

Upon hearing of the strange culture of the Nacirema people, I made a spontaneous decision to visit these people for myself, disguised as one of their own in order to observe them in their natural environment.

I set off for a town in the southeast region of the Nacirema territory, and found myself drawn to a building with a peculiar four-sided spire that towered above the surrounding skyline and seemed to have no purpose whatsoever. This building was bustling with activity, and as I came closer to investigate, I found myself swept inside on a tide of Nacirema.

Their clothing was highly decorative and of the variety used in the most important of Nacirema rituals. Inside the building, most of the space was taken up by seating, but the front included a raised dais probably used for many different rituals. Decorations and offerings in the forms of flowers and ribbons adorned the place, and the Nacirema were chattering excitedly. I took my place near the back and tried to be unnoticeable.

Before too long, the chatter subsided and the crowd was silent, craning their necks back towards the entrance of the building. In a highly formulaic way, Nacirema came walking towards the dais in ones and twos. These Nacirema were in the most formal dress of all the assembled people, and they all matched. I assumed this meant that they would be leading whatever ritual was to come.

Before too long, a pair of small Nacirema children made their way to the dais. One spread flower petals on the ground, most probably another expression of offering. The other carried a small box on a decorative pillow. I could only assume that the contents of this box would be used in whatever was to come.

As one, the Nacirema all rose to their feet, and I was quick to follow suit. The mood quickly got more excited, and I realized that the climax of the ritual was coming. A woman in a closely-fitted white dress slowly walked towards the men and women already standing on and around the dais. The dress was so enormous that a good amount of it dragged on the ground behind her, and several young children were holding it up. I could only make sense of this by guessing that the dress was probably passed down from generation to generation because of strong sentimental or magical value, and it had originally belonged to a very tall woman. Besides this, her face was covered with a translucent shroud, most probably to assert purity or religiosity.

Once she reached the dais, she joined hands with one of the men standing there, and when an old shaman came out with a large book of magic and read passages about joining the two together forever, I realized that this was a mating ceremony, and this man was taking her as his own. The man appeared to be a friendly fellow, but because of the spontaneous crying and wailing that broke out among the female members of the audience, I suppose he must actually be a very mean or abusive man for them to mourn for her fate so.

At the end of the ceremony, the two Nacirema exchanged small metal bands, I assume so that everyone could see that she was his, and the pair had a brief moment of lip contact, sealing the agreement. After this, the Nacirema left to take part in celebration rites. Many of the women hung tearfully on the woman in white, probably giving her encouragement to be strong, even though they knew she would have a terrible life now that she was joined with this man.

Teenage Pregnancy in Williamston, SC

For the first week of class, we read a piece by Edin and Kefalas detailing the reasons behind why lower-class women get pregnant at a young age. They attributed this phenomena mostly to: women believing that a baby is the most important thing they can have, women believing that a baby will solve all of their problems, and women using the baby as a way to test men as possible father-figures.

I agree that these are probably leading reasons in most areas, but I believe that my hometown might be different.

I am from a little town called Williamston, SC. It is halfway between Greenville and Anderson, SC and has a population of about 4,000. My high school has about 900 students, and teenage pregnancy is the biggest issue. In the class of 2008, of the 100 females enrolled, 20 of them were pregnant or already had a child at one count. This number was not particularly shocking, as this appears to be the trend. Keep in mind that this number only applies to known pregnancies and does not include abortions or miscarriages.

The pregnancies at Palmetto High School seemed to be, for the most part, planned. In a school where the majority of students were from low-income families, those girls who ended up pregnant were treated almost reverently once they had announced that they were expecting. Pregnancy was viewed as something to be desired, and girls who weren’t pregnant could often be heard expressing the desire to be so as soon as possible.

Bizarrely, many of the teachers encouraged this behavior and would often be the first to hear of the girls’ pregnancies. The school also failed to take a negative stance on the issue. The idea of condom or contraceptive giveaways has been vetoed again and again for no apparent reason. The Palmetto girls are not getting told that their choices are wrong or could have long-lasting negative effects later in their lives.

Groups of friends would often get pregnant right around the same time and then spent their class time discussing the play-dates their children would have with one another.

Luckily, these girls almost always continued school after having their babies, and their parents supplied childcare during the school day. More often than not, their boyfriends stayed with them (since the babies were usually planned by both involved parties), and in many cases, even proposed.

So I’m left wondering what motivating factors were and are driving the teenage girls at my high school. It almost seems to be a simple case of mimicry; the girls seemed to be hemmed in on all sides by this one example of life. In most cases, their mothers followed the same patterns-- most got pregnant in their teens before establishing a career or getting married and then became stay-at-home moms or pursued minimum wage careers. They also see their peers following this trend.

With no other example prominently displayed to them, it seems to be the most logical thing in the world that they would follow this path.

Here is a link to general teen pregnancy statistics in South Carolina. Notice that teen pregnancy has been on the rise since 2004.

http://www.teenpregnancysc.org/documents/Simply+Stated+-+2007+new+data.pdf