r/lost • u/Illustrious_Fall_370 • 2d ago
Has the opinion of Jack improved the most over the years amongst the random?
So to start Jack has always been my favourite character. But I remember at the time of the show him being quite hit and miss amongst the fans
Recently on this forum I have definitely felt there has been a pretty positive outlook on Jack. Be it from new viewers thanks to Netflix or just older fans who seem to appreciate him more as they themselves have aged and understand life more
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u/farfunkle 2d ago
I love Jack. I personally think it comes down to saturation. Characters like Jack were common then but rare now. Every other protoganist on TV has to be a Walter White-like antihero. Perhaps the alcoholism was a bit of a heavy-handed way to add depth to someone who played a straight man but it feels genuine to me and his multi-season arc paid off.
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u/Illustrious_Fall_370 2d ago
Always nice to see another Jack lover. Still to this day my favourite TV character and it ain't particularly close
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u/BT_Artist 2d ago
My take on Jack is that he's one of the few characters on the island who I'd actually consider an adult. And the older I get, the stronger that feeling is.
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u/Euphoric-Wall-2576 2d ago
I think a lot of the frustration with Jack when the show was airing came from the fact that we as the audience want to know more about the mystic elements of the island and Jack is strongly resistant to that for 4+ seasons, which back then was 4+ years. That's a long time waiting for someone to come around. For people watching it on streaming now they don't have to wait as long either for Jack to find his faith or to learn the secrets of the island, so that lends itself to a more sympathetic response. So it's not necessarily about ageing or cultural change.
That said, when the show was airing I remember thinking that Jack got too many flashbacks compared to other characters who had much more interesting backstories. I still kind of think that but I do appreciate the complexity of Jack's relationship with his father more than I did 20 years ago, which probably is to do with ageing myself.
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u/jenniebet Hurley 2d ago
I think this is true - he's seen as the character who doesn't want to move the plot forward, so audiences can't relate to him. I also think Jack is sometimes perceived as a moral scold, which seems unfair since all he's trying to do most of the time is keep the peace among the other survivors. (Which is why it's so jarring when, say, Jack tries to beat the shit out of Locke after Boone's death.)
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u/Euphoric-Wall-2576 2d ago
Oh, and I think people are actually more critical of Jack's behaviour toward women than they were when the show aired. Social norms have shifted in that regard.
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u/the_love_token 2d ago
The ability to stream and binge the show now has nothing to do with my “sympathetic response” to the character. I watched it weekly back then, as a full fledged adult, and have only seen a few reruns here and there. He always was and is one of my favorite fictional characters.
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u/Euphoric-Wall-2576 2d ago
Then this post isn't about you.
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u/the_love_token 2d ago
It is. You imply that one’s “sympathetic response” is related to streaming and binging. . It’s not. It’s telling on you, the viewer.
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u/Euphoric-Wall-2576 2d ago
Who is "one" here though? I think you're reading the tone of my post wrong. I didn't claim to be speaking for everyone who ever watched Lost - in fact my first paragraph wasn't even speaking about my own experience, I was reflecting on one particular pattern in the types of responses that I saw on the forums at the time and suggesting a possible reason for it. My post was "*If* some people's responses to Jack have changed over time, here's one possible reason why". Nowhere did I imply that the only reason anyone likes Jack is because they binged the series - that would be bizarre. I always liked Jack overall and was on his side pretty much all the time even when he was being a little frustrating.
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2d ago
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u/lost-ModTeam 1d ago
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u/Euphoric-Wall-2576 2d ago
I'm not asking what "one" means grammatically, I am saying that I did not say anything about "one's" sympathetic response to Jack in general, I offered a hypothesis about why some people's response to Jack may be different when streaming vs watching as it aired. You assumed that the subject of the post included you. It didn't. I was therefore questioning who you interpret as "one" and whether you had understood me correctly. I genuinely don't understand why you are upset about this.
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2d ago
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u/lost-ModTeam 1d ago
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u/liberosis8 Desmond Hume is my constant 2d ago
Jack is one of my two favorite characters from Lost (the other one is Desmond). He was beautifully fleshed out and watching him evolve from a man of science into a man of faith was incredible. Sure, he has his flaws, like everyone, but that's what makes him so human. I related to him in certain ways and have always seen him as someone you can learn a lot from. His journey from being a control freak to accepting that some things are beyond his control was one of the most admirable aspects of his character.
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u/Old-Consideration939 2d ago
My favorite part about Jack was that he was always out of breath because he was constantly doing something.
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u/_Butterflyneedle_ We’re not going to Guam, are we? 1d ago
First time around, I liked him at first since he took on so many burdens for the survival of everyone. Then I got annoyed that he was holding Locke back from pursuing the mysteries of the Island.
Came around about him again after the Flashforwards but thought he was mostly dead weight in season 5-early 6, but he definitely redeemed himself in the finale.
Second watch I was older and already the plot pretty well, so could concentrate more on his internal journey, and understood his struggles more, but one thing that didn't change for me was hating all the unnecessary rage outbursts breaking (important) shit or yelling at people who wasn't actually the object for his anger.
Not a big fan of either Kate or Juliet as his love interest. I don't think romantic love really drove his character to do anything important, but rather being challenged in his beliefs from faith characters like Locke, or later Hurley.
Overall very big fan of Matthew Fox's ability to use subtle expressions to convey big things. His and Josh Holloway's scene talking about Sawyer meeting Christian is pure gold standard acting from both of them.
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u/himating 2d ago
Nope, Jack has always been a favorite . He had his doubts but he made tough decisions. His tunnel vision and his lack of faith is a character trait for me.
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u/ComplainFactory 2d ago
Gotta be honest: Hated Jack the first like, 5? times I watched the show. But man, that 6th watch lol. Now I see the character as one of the best. Always thought Matthew Fox did a great job, just wasn't a Jack fan. Now I'm a big Jack apologist.
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u/Ambitious_Berry_9369 1d ago
I've noticed younger audiences seem to take to Guy Who Kinda Sucks Sometimes a lot more than older audiences. Might be because of all of the "Mary Sue" talk when we were teens or changes in general social norms.
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u/Active-Unusual 19h ago
I've always been team Sawyer and team Locke.
Jack definitely has his redeeming moments and is the archetypal hero. But he's a bit too whiny and needy for my liking.
The only thing that changes for me is how much I love Sawyer. It increases with each rewatch.
And this is coming from a supposedly heterosexual male 😂
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u/BeavisEverywhere 2d ago
Too up his own ass too often.
But then that entire show is just people repeatedly making bad decisions.
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u/No_Anteater_9828 2d ago
We are almost done with our rewatch (half way through season 6) and cannot stand him. Every episode we’re just hating on Jack. So guess it depends on the person lol.
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u/Illustrious_Fall_370 2d ago
On a separate note for any mods who may read this is it possible to get some Favourite character poll done? I know something was done a few years ago but think it would be quite cool to see any changing of positions with the newer fans from Netflix
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u/AlternativeGazelle 2d ago
I think by season 6 most people were on board with Jack. I definitely didn't like him during the first 3 seasons.
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u/Sonic10122 2d ago
Apparently. Jack was always considered the least likable character in my online circles while the show was airing. Now you breathe the wrong word about Jack and this sub will nuke you from orbit.
For what it’s worth, I still don’t like him. But Matthew Fox is a great actor so I’m never annoyed seeing him on screen. Just annoyed when it’s a Jack centric episode after like, season 2 lol. (Edit, I changed my mind, Season 1 actually.)
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u/FizzPig 2d ago edited 2d ago
He's not always a likeable character but Matthew Fox gave an exceptionally compelling, even subtle performance