"Intertextuality is the interrelationship between
texts. Using this theory, choose two TV Shows that feature a significant
portrayal of intertextuality. Draw a parallel between the Shows and give an
intertexual analysis linking them together. If you can, apply other theories
too.”
According
to Fiske (1987, p. 4), the theory of intertextuality means that “any one text
is necessarily read in relationship to others and that a range of textual
knowledge’s is brought to bear upon it.” In this essay, I will be analysing and
discussing the parallels portrayed between Lost and Once
Upon a Time, as both of them written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz.
Both shows have a similar narrative in which there are multiple storytelling
streams. By taking this similarity, I will outline the character references in
both Shows. I will discuss about the resemblance of the mise-en-scene and I
will apply the theory of intertextuality through episode tie-ins and fan
fiction interpretation featured in both Lost and Once
Upon a Time.
Abrams
(2011, p. 5) states that narratives are action and events which are links
together and revolving around the characters within the story.
Lost
(2004-2010) was a television
series that followed the lives of the survivors whose plane, Oceanic flight
815, crash- landed on a mysterious island. Here we see the survivors battle the
previous occupants of the island, an unknown monster and hallucinations. The
plotline was different from other shows as it took us through a few timelines,
such as flashbacks, flash-forwards, flash-sideways and time travel. Abrams
(2001, p. 7) mentions that the “interruptions of narratives, such as those
caused by flashbacks are usually explained and justified so that they do not
necessarily disrupt the narrative; indeed they can clarify it.” Each flashback
in Lost told the audience how each character came to be who
they are on The Island and the lessons they needed to enlighten to move on or
move past in the episode story.
Once
Upon a Time (2011-present) is a
fairy-tale/drama television series, where a woman becomes a saviour to break
the curse inflicted on a small town called Storybrooke. The Evil Queen who sent
all the fairy-tale and storybook characters alike, from the Enchanted Forest
and to the real world, where time is endless and they have forgotten their
identities, perpetrated the curse. In relation to the plotline, it is very
similar to Lost, as the audience receive different stories
from many flashbacks and parallel timelines. The flashbacks are different
from Lost, because unlike the Lost characters
who could remember their flashbacks, the Once Upon a Time characters
didn’t; hence giving the audience an insight into the different parts of their
lives, which like Lost, complements the central story
occurring in the episode.
According
to the research by Thwaites (2002, p. 17), “a genre may also change by
interacting with other media genres." The different kinds of texts
interact with each other they recycle signs, codes and social values of
different genres. These get transposed to different settings, and assume new
references.”
Once
Upon a Time uses Thwaites’s
theory in its Show by recycling references from Lost into its
storyline. While it may just be a tribute to Lost, I
feel Once Upon a Time is incorporating the allusions to its
own settings, thereby creating new references in the show.
Lost was very well known for the use of its famous
numbers, 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. The use of these numbers were
incorporated into everything, whether it be birthdays, ages, seat numbers,
lottery winning numbers, flight numbers, road signs, names, clock signs…etc. It
also used variations of the numbers together, even 108, which is the added
total of the numbers combined.
There
many allusions to the Lost numbers portrayed in Once
Upon a Time in nearly every single episode. One would need a sharp eye
to catch the numbers as they come in different forms.
For
example, in the Pilot of Once Upon a Time, Regina’s (The Evil
Queen) house number is 108; the clock tower in Storybrooke is frozen at 8:15,
which is a reference to Oceanic Flight 815. When the clock unfreezes, it chimes
at 8:16. The next morning, Regina looks at the clock and it clearly reads 8:23.
In Season 1’s episode ‘Dreamy’, we find out that Storybrooke’s postcode
is 04815. A more noticeable reference was in Season 3, ‘The Heart of the
Truest Believer’, when Henry Mills is born at 8:15.
August
W. Booth is a character from Once Upon a Time, whose identity
is Pinocchio. A sneaky Lost reference is attributed to his
name and character. August is the 8th month of the year, W is
the 23rd letter of the alphabet and in an outside reference,
Booth killed President Lincoln, who was the 16th President of
the United States. In the episode, ‘The Stranger’, a brief Lost reference
can be seen when young Pinocchio looks up at the sky and sees a plane overhead
with a clear Oceanic Airlines logo on its tail; a direct reference to Flight
815.
Thwaites
(2002, p. 18) mentions that even though a text may borrow something of
familiarity, they make the advantages of these seem familiar and obvious. In
many of these references, there are obvious close up shots in the scenes that
show the numbers and objects of reference. The camera shots create the meaning
of significance and tells the viewer that it is important.
Numbers
are not the only references to Lost in Once Upon a
Time. There are quotations and scenes in the show that are exact or
variations of the ones in Lost. For example, in the episode ‘The
Cricket Game’, Regina is told that she cannot defeat Snow White’s army and
in anger she replies, “Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do.” This is an
obvious tribute to Lost character John Locke, who repeats the
line, ‘Don’t tell me what I can’t do,’ throughout the series run.
In
another example to Lost, the Once Upon a Time episode
‘The Heart is a Lonely Hunter’, is a tribute to Lost character,
Desmond Hume. The episode deals with Sheriff Graham, who starts to remember
bits and pieces of his other life through uncontrollable flashbacks. In one
specific scene, he wakes up in the middle of the night because of a dream, but
he says to Regina, “It didn’t feel like a dream. It felt like a memory.” This is
a direct reference to Desmond, who says to his girlfriend Penny, “It wasn’t a
dream, Pen. It was a memory.” I noticed that the Once Upon a Time episode
was similar to Lost’s episode ‘The Constant’, in which
Desmond uncontrollably time travelled through his past consciousness. Though
the time travelling aspect is not featured in Once Upon a Time, the
sudden and uncontrollable flashbacks were similar in both episodes and in my
opinion, another tribute to Desmond Hume.
Bordwell
(2013, p. 7) states that mise-en-scene offers control of setting, costumes,
lighting, acting and movement in the shots. In a few examples, I will use
pictures to illustrate and back up my statements. Once Upon a
Time uses many of the same camera angles and settings in the same
way Lost does too.
There
is one episode in Once Upon a Time, which there a clear nod to Lost.
In the episode ‘The Hat Trick’, Jefferson, who is in fact The Mad
Hatter, resides in house number 316. In this episode, Jefferson remembers his identity
and he desperately tries to find ways to get back to Wonderland. He kidnaps
Emma and forces her to recreate his Mad Hatter hat, which he can use it to
transport through different worlds. This whole episode is in reference to Lost’s episode
‘316’, where some of the characters find a way to go back to the
Island. They take fictional airline, Ajira Airways Flight 316 to go back to the
Island. Ajira Airways is also mentioned in Once Upon a Time’s episode
‘Tiny’, where Henry, Emma and Mr. Gold take an Ajira Airlines flight.
The
‘eye-opener’ scenes are one of the main recurring themes shown on Lost. The
first picture was first seen in the Pilot, as it opens with zoom in
shot to a close-up shot of Jack Shephard’s eye as he lays in pain in the middle
of the jungle, right after the crash of Flight 815. The second picture was
first seen in the ‘Pilot’, as mid-way through the episode, it opens up with an
extreme close-up of Emma Swan’s eye, right after a car crash. Once Upon
a Time continuously alludes to Lost with many
characters in various episodes having the close-up eye shot. Another similarity
I notice between Jack and Emma is that they are both close-minded when it comes
to the mysteries and magic, when all they needed was faith to believe.
According
to Booth (2010, p. 56), “fan fiction is, by definition, peripheral and
ancillary to the primary current media object. It functions as a text outside
and apart for the existing text.” Fan fiction within a fandom as its own set of
texts, which derives from many borrowed works. Like all fiction, it connects to
the rest of its literature through intertextual associations and references to
other works. Fans are no different from any other reader, in which they bring
to the existent media ideas, thoughts and experiences to shape their understanding
of the narrative. For example, when Once Upon a Time and Lost fans
join both fandoms together and create their own universe with their fan
fiction, it gives fans a way to participate in making new characteristics of
the shows, it also helps fans interpret the shows themselves. For
example, a fellow fan of both shows created a fan fiction where it made Jack
Shephard from Lost and August W. Booth from Once Upon
a Time protagonists in a story-crossover. The summary of
Tellshannon815’s (2013) story is linking both Jack and August to a point in
time where they met in Phuket, Thailand and became friends. It is an
interesting interpretation because both characters are linked to each other in
their respective shows. For example, in Lost’s season three
episode ‘Stranger in a Strange Land,’ is a Jack-centric episode
where in flashbacks we find out the origins to his tattoos when he goes to
Phuket. Once Upon a Time refers to this in the August-centric
episode ‘Selfless, Brave and True’, where we find out how August
lost himself in his travels to Phuket. The fans interpretation of both texts is
quite similar to how the references are perceived and by joining both
characters pasts and putting them into one universe, she’s creating an
intertextual link between all texts and creating a new function from outside
the texts itself.
In
conclusion, both Lost and Once Upon a Time are
quite similar in many ways and yet they stand so different from each other.
Using only fragments of these references in relation to each other, one can
conclude that Once Upon a Time is a show in its own right,
creating its own unique universe, while at the same time serving as a tribute
to millions of Lost fans around the world. The use of intertextuality
in evident in Once Upon a Time from the narration, its
characters, certain scenes, and hidden numbered clues to Lost. Especially
in the scenes of the ‘eye opening’ shots, Once Upon a Time is
in fact using many of Lost’s main themes as an acknowledgment
in their own show. Analysing fans interpretations of both shows and using their
fan fiction, gives us an insight into how they distinguish the clues in the
shows. It also concludes that a story taken in any direction, helps construct
the author’s universe and by using the interpreted fiction from both shows and
by using the references, one can create the intelligibility of a new universe
away from the original text. Both Kitsis and Horowitz have created an amazing
universe in both of their shows and it is lucky for us Lost fans
who sit down every week watching Once Upon a Time, while
picking out all the references for fun and linking them together, therefore
linking both shows in relation to one another.
So how do you feel after having watched to and a half season of Once Upon A Time compared to the time you were watching Season 3 of Lost ? :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, Download my Once upon a time app. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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