Will the real John Locke Please stand up?!

[sirchin]

Ever since the beggining of the series I haven't been able to understand
where exactly the writers are trying to lead Locke's character.
I know he's adament on being a man of faith. They portray him at times very
smart and sure of himself, and when he is like this, he is very beleivable as being a leader. And at other times he makes stupid decessions and constantly being manipulated by Ben. When he's like this he seems very weak. In the season finale after Ben tells him, he's now the leader of the island and the others are waiting to follow his every command. He ask Ben "what do I tell them to do?" WTF! That doesn't sound like something a leader would do. A leader would know what to do. That sounds like the actions of a man not knowing what he's getting himself into. Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing Locke, Hell he's my favorite character, has been since episode one. I just don't understand the constant waivering. Locke seem more "Lost" than anyone. I as a Locke fan would love to see him get his act together and become the man he beleives he's destaned to become. But ultamatly it's in the hands of the writers. And from what we have seen in the finale with
"the bad things happening" since the O6 got off the island it looks like were in for more waiting. And I'm getting tired of waiting. Come on writers. Listen to the fans. We choose John Locke for who we want as the leader, the hero, the focal point of the show.
Can I get an Amen?

[Jeremy]

I'm not so sure. One of the things I like about Locke is that he isn't always the same. Sometimes he can be frustrated or utterly lost, while others he can be confident when he's been told what to do. It makes for character development.

As for making him the absolute "main" character, I don't think that would be fair to fans of other characters.

[Eternally-Lost]

I think that John's character is interesting because he isn't truly a man of faith. He is striving to be though, but faith is a difficult thing to swallow and the journey to become a man of faith is riddled with doubts, questions, and unsureness. Like, why do we have to press this stupid button?

[Lost Down Under]

I feel sorry and sad for John. He's had a rather sh*t life, and noone seems to understand him on the island. I felt sad for him when it was Ben who ended up "moving" the island.....John was so convinced that he was going to do it as he said to Jack "just wait until you see what I am going to do". And then he didn't get to do it. Made me think of a little boy bragging that he is going to get something for Christmas and then doesn't get it. I only wish tho that he would tell people about the fact that he was in a wheelchair when he boarded the plane. It frustrates me SO much that he doesn't tell people this....maybe then they would believe him when he tells them the island is special.

I felt sad when we saw it was John in the coffin at the end of S4. I was really hoping he had made a good leader on the island....I guess he didn't. Poor John is what I say.

[Jeremy]

I don't think he tells them about that because he would be ashamed to. He seemed pretty upset in Deus Ex Machina when Boone had to do his work for him.

Perhaps he isn't as good a leader as anyone else because he's used to being led. It also seems as if he believes more in free will.

[Jon]

Originally Posted by sirchin

Ever since the beggining of the series I haven't been able to understand
where exactly the writers are trying to lead Locke's character.
I know he's adament on being a man of faith. They portray him at times very
smart and sure of himself, and when he is like this, he is very beleivable as being a leader. And at other times he makes stupid decessions and constantly being manipulated by Ben. When he's like this he seems very weak. In the season finale after Ben tells him, he's now the leader of the island and the others are waiting to follow his every command. He ask Ben "what do I tell them to do?" WTF! That doesn't sound like something a leader would do. A leader would know what to do. That sounds like the actions of a man not knowing what he's getting himself into. Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing Locke, Hell he's my favorite character, has been since episode one. I just don't understand the constant waivering. Locke seem more "Lost" than anyone. I as a Locke fan would love to see him get his act together and become the man he beleives he's destaned to become. But ultamatly it's in the hands of the writers. And from what we have seen in the finale with
"the bad things happening" since the O6 got off the island it looks like were in for more waiting. And I'm getting tired of waiting. Come on writers. Listen to the fans. We choose John Locke for who we want as the leader, the hero, the focal point of the show.
Can I get an Amen?

That's precisely the beauty of the John Locke character; he has been an unluckly, ordinary man who has found himself in extraordinary circumstances and now thrust into a leadership role. Naturally, he is totally clueless as to where to go next. He doesn't even really understand the secrets of the island, or what the island even is.

It would be bad writing for him to suddenly and confidently take charge of the others when he probably doesn't even know any of their names (apart from Richard). We know Locke can be a good leader when acting as a 'father figure' to troubled characters like Boone or Charlie, but when you up the ante he seems to be riddled with self doubt. And it must be a daunting prospect indeed.

And as for Locke making bad decisions and being prone to manipulation, this is really the side effects of him being a man of faith as this basically is acting without evidence of reasoned judgement.

One of the greatest and best written tv characters of all time IMO.

[hi5]

Originally Posted by sirchin

Ever since the beggining of the series I haven't been able to understand
where exactly the writers are trying to lead Locke's character.
I know he's adament on being a man of faith. They portray him at times very
smart and sure of himself, and when he is like this, he is very beleivable as being a leader. And at other times he makes stupid decessions and constantly being manipulated by Ben. When he's like this he seems very weak. In the season finale after Ben tells him, he's now the leader of the island and the others are waiting to follow his every command. He ask Ben "what do I tell them to do?" WTF! That doesn't sound like something a leader would do. A leader would know what to do. That sounds like the actions of a man not knowing what he's getting himself into. Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing Locke, Hell he's my favorite character, has been since episode one. I just don't understand the constant waivering. Locke seem more "Lost" than anyone. I as a Locke fan would love to see him get his act together and become the man he beleives he's destaned to become. But ultamatly it's in the hands of the writers. And from what we have seen in the finale with
"the bad things happening" since the O6 got off the island it looks like were in for more waiting. And I'm getting tired of waiting. Come on writers. Listen to the fans. We choose John Locke for who we want as the leader, the hero, the focal point of the show.
Can I get an Amen?

people who believe and have faith doesn t mean are always confident..they can loose their path or struggle with their inner demons..the thing is that through faith they find balance...so in my opinion the character is perfect..

[sirchin]

Originally Posted by hi5

people who believe and have faith doesn t mean are always confident..they can loose their path or struggle with their inner demons..the thing is that through faith they find balance...so in my opinion the character is perfect..

Your exactly right hi5, in regard to faith in real life. I like the way you put it.
And I can understand how some of you find that Locke's inconsistancy makes a more interesting character, and I agree. But I want to see John Locke evolve, find his way, before this series is over, but after seeing him in the coffin and Ben telling Jack that bad things had happened since they left. I just don't see that happening soon. Unless that wasn't Locke and Ben's just up to something. Who knows. i just find it frustrating.

[beachblinkette]

Originally Posted by Lost Down Under

I feel sorry and sad for John. He's had a rather sh*t life, and noone seems to understand him on the island. I felt sad for him when it was Ben who ended up "moving" the island.....John was so convinced that he was going to do it as he said to Jack "just wait until you see what I am going to do". And then he didn't get to do it. Made me think of a little boy bragging that he is going to get something for Christmas and then doesn't get it. I only wish tho that he would tell people about the fact that he was in a wheelchair when he boarded the plane. It frustrates me SO much that he doesn't tell people this....maybe then they would believe him when he tells them the island is special.

I felt sad when we saw it was John in the coffin at the end of S4. I was really hoping he had made a good leader on the island....I guess he didn't. Poor John is what I say.

I'm going to wait and see if that is true. Anwar Sadat was assassinated because he was succeeding where others had not, Gandhi was murdered, MLK, JFK, the Pakistani woman politician,(Name?) all murdered because someone or some group saw them as succeeding and changing the status quo. It seems that Ben has ruled through fear and retaliation. Maybe Locke's desire to be a good leader will be so successful that a threatened and vengeful Ben will cause him to die. A new venture calls forth a new faith! I still believe there is a large quantity of strength and goodness in Locke. I hope his character does not die in vain.

[Missie]

I've been confused about the Locke character too. In season one I couldnt figure out wether he was a good guy or a bad guy. He was really mysterious. In season two, we saw more of his vunurable side with the blowing up of the hatch and all. In season three, we see him being molded by Ben and not really have much connection to the Losties. In season four, we see him evolving into the leader of the island, including a portion of Losties and the others. Out of all the characters his is the most complex, thats including Ben. He is also arguable the most loved character in the show. Because he struggles with his leadership skills, I think it makes him more human like. We can all relate to him in some way, because there is so many different facets of his personalty.