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@whumpgifathon | Day #29: “terrible childhood” Lost, 3x20, “The Man Behind the Curtain”
Roger: “She was just seven months pregnant. We went for a hike, but you had to come early. Now, she’s gone. And I’m stuck here on this island… with you.”
hope you revised bc here i am, back with my LOST ramblings.
here, here, here and here to read my prev posts.
the main gist is to explore how food is used as a manipulation tool on the island. more specifically, bc people on the island aren't actually ever hungry, how nurture is used against people held in captivity to make them compliant. my main point is that Ben uses acts of service and care, generally considered "feminine" activities, as means to exploit men who are percevied to be much physically/authoritatevly stronger than him and who are therefore put into cages to be contained.
let's analyse this dialogue from "He's Our You":
[On-Island - Sayid is locked in the DHARMA cell. Young Ben enters the nearby surveillance room, where Phil sits watching the monitors.] YOUNG BEN: Hey Phil. PHIL: Hey. YOUNG BEN: I brought another sandwich for him. Chicken salad this time. PHIL: Yeah, I don't think it's the menu. He's not eating. Save yourself the trouble kid. YOUNG BEN: But Horace told me to. PHIL: Why does he care so much? That guy's a hostile. YOUNG BEN: That doesn't mean he's not hungry. PHIL: Whatever. [Young Ben enters the room where Sayid is imprisoned.] YOUNG BEN: Brought you a sandwich. And a book. I read it twice. It's good. SAYID: [Takes the food and book.] Thank you. YOUNG BEN: Did Richard send you? [Sayid turns to look at young Ben.] Richard. He's your leader, right? [Sayid looks up towards the surveillance camera and makes a small nod in its direction.] It's just a camera. They can see, but they can't hear. Four years ago I ran away into the jungle and Richard found me. I said I wanted to leave. That I wanted to join you. So I've been patient. And if you're patient too, I think I can help you.
This is a good scene. It establishes that Young Ben has been bringing food for Sayid for some time now and that people in Dharmaville are trying to somehow accommodate Sayid, they "care" about him even though they themselves had put him behind bars. So they've tried "chicken salad this time" but it's clear to them that the issue isn't food per se: Sayid refuses to eat. Young Ben might be young but he's already smart: just because he's not eating, it doesn't mean he's not hungry. By refusing to eat, Sayid is trying to enter a negotiation stage with his captors. In other words, he wants something Young Ben can provide. He can help him.
Now this is important because, by showing up with a tray of food, Young Ben is trying to demonstrate that he can, indeed, help Sayid, that he's got something to offer him. On the other hand, Young Ben isn't doing all this because he actually "cares" about the wellbeing of a prisoner, he's doing it because he also wants something from Sayid. So, in a way, Young Ben isn't exactly trying to manipulate Sayid (he sincerely wants to join the Other and he thinks Sayid is one of them) but he's learning something important here: men can be manipulated when they're hungry. And by hunger here, i'll repeat it in case you haven't read the whole thread, i don't mean actual hunger: it's a hunger for nurture, love, and care.
The second scene with the chicken sandwhich proves my point:
[Mop clatters. Ben enters with a sandwich and stops when he sees his father.] ROGER: What the hell are you doing here? YOUNG BEN: [inhales sharply] I was bringing you a sandwich. ROGER: A sandwich? [Roger scoffs.] ROGER: You never made me a sandwich in your life. YOUNG BEN: Yeah, well... I-I made one for myself... ROGER: Uh-huh. YOUNG BEN: So... So I just thought that I'd bring you-- ROGER: Oh, yeah? You just... [He grabs Ben by the arm.] YOUNG BEN: [gasps] Dad, don't! ROGER: Don't you lie to me. What are you doin' down here? [He pushes Ben into the bars of Sayid's cell.] ROGER: You made this sandwich for him, didn't you? Hmm? YOUNG BEN: [voice breaks] Yes. ROGER: Who told you to do that? YOUNG BEN: Nobody. ROGER: [whispers] Nobody? YOUNG BEN: I just thought that-- ROGER: You "just thought," huh? Go home. [Releases him.] YOUNG BEN: [cries] ROGER: Go on. I'll tell you what to think. [Ben leaves. Roger looks at Sayid, then throws the plate and sandwich at the wall. He slams the door as he leaves.]
This is another interesting scene. It reveals that we, the audience, have also been manipulated by Ben: Dharmaville doesn't "care" about Sayid, they aren't sending him different "menus" hoping he will eat. No, it's Young Ben who thought to do that, "nobody" told him to do it. More importantly, he's not just bringing food, he's actually making it. He's a much more active agent than we might have initially thought. He's been planning this for some time, from start to finish. And how could he come up with such a plan? is he an evil little child? OBVIOUSLY NOT. He could come up with this little machination because, and this scene demonstrates it, he's also a prisoner: a child neglected by his father who doesn't care for him, doesn't provide him with nurture, but keep him close to him, apparently for no other reason than to make him feel inferior and useless. So much so that Ben wants to leave him. prisoners understand other prisoners' needs.
That we've been fooled it's also shown by Young Ben quickly changing tactics: as soon as he sees his father in the cage with Sayid, he immediately comes up with a lie and says that he brought the sandwhich for his father. This is important because it shows how the relationship between father and son is inverted: children aren't supposed to provide nurture, it's the other way around. Roger gets mad when jealousy kicks in: Ben, his son, has never made a sandwich for him (as it's actually correct because he, the father, needs to provide), but now he's making one FOR THE PRISONER? Unacceptable. Finally, Roger, the father who neglects and doesn't provide, tells Ben that he is the one to tell Ben what Ben must THINK- At its very core this is, ladies and gents, Ben Linus' future philosophy. He tells people what to think, that is to say that he manipulates people.
I need to point out that Roger is a janitor who's mopping the floor of Sayid's cell. Before this dialogue, Roger provokes Sayid and calls him dumb. In retaliation, Sayid makes fun of his occupation basically saying that he might as well be dumb but who's mopping his floor?
so this scene is a scene about masculine pride. On top of learning about the importance of nurture, Young Ben here also learns that one must be cautious with wounded men. They can act irrationally and violently and if you're in a weaker position (like Ben is because he's young now but, later in life, he won't be as physically strong as other male characters in the series) you will get hurt.
In other words, this is how he learns to delegate: many years after this incident Ben will put Jack (a much stronger man than him, both physically and authority/charm-wise) in a cage and will send Juliet to do what should've been his job. Not only he uses her, he also endagers her because he knows he's putting her in a possibly violent/dangerous situation (wounded men in cages can act irrationally). He knows that firsthand. That is, like, his whole point, he's learnt the lesson: he doesn't have to do anything, he just needs to tell people what to do and they'll do it for him.
She died the day he was born. I tried to do what I thought she would want me to. But… I guess a boy just needs his mother.
A small(ish) Ben & Kate Rant
Having watched and re-watched LOST a hundred million times the funniest thing to me will always be the relationship between Kate and Ben because seriously what is going on there??? And no one ever talks about it???
Like okay here is a man that I (presumably) hate. And I go back in time to when he’s a kid and someone tries to kill him and like. Okay I could be all “aw man it’s bad to kill kids but he is evil in the future so let’s just go with it, sucks to suck” OR I could
-beg the doctor to save his live, then when he refuses:
- give him my own blood
- sit with his father and assure him he’s gonna be okay all while taking genuine interest in his life and upbringing
-when it becomes clear the blood isn’t enough, offer to take him to The Others myself
- STROKE HIS HAIR (??!!)
- Offer to carry him for Sawyer
- Demand to know where he’s being taken when Richard takes him away
“That woman Kate has some kind of a weird thing for my kid…”
I’m confused too, Roger. I’m confused too.
And then Jack lmfaooo
“I know that woman, Kate. And she would never to anything to hurt your son.”
NEVER??
ANYTHING??
And the hilarious part is that Jack is correct, because Kate saves Ben’s life (or at least helps him out of pickles) like 5 times, when she seemingly has no reason to.
Anyway.
I think about this a lot.
roger linus
fuck
marry
kill
pick a lost dad:
Mr. Kwon (Jin's dad)
David Reyes (Hurley's dad)
Ben Linus (Alex's dad)
Michael Dawson (Walt's dad)
Roger Linus (Ben's dad)
Anthony Cooper (Locke's dad)
Charles Widmore (Penny & Daniel's dad)
Woo-Jung Paik (Sun's dad)
Christian Shephard (Jack's dad)
Pierre Chang (Miles's dad)
these are dads from lost! vote for your favorite, or the one you think is the best, or the hottest, or whatever! the winner will be entered into a poll tournament with 63 other fictional dads.
if you have one that is not listed above, please comment!