PDA

View Full Version : Thoughts on the significance of the French distress call


Radagast de Brun
10-11-04, 07:09 PM
The translation of the message as far as I could make out is as follows (note: I am not a native speaker, but I have been learning French for the past 8 years):

"If someone can hear this [strong indication of doubt that anyone can], they have died. Come help us. I will try to go as far as the black rock. It/he killed them. It/he killed them."

Iteration break [number is missing the leading 1 compared to all the other numbers].

"It/he is outside, come help us, come help us. It/he is outside, help us. They have died."

Iteration break

"It/he is outside, it/he is outside and Brendon took the keys. Come help us. They have died, they have all died. Help us they have died."

Iteration break

"They have all died. Help us. They have died."

Iteration break

"It/He is outside, come help us, come help us."

Iteration break

"If someone can hear this, I will try to go as far as the black rock. Come help us. They have all died. They have died. It/He killed them. It/He killed them all. I will try to go as far as the black rock."



This brings up several points in my mind:

Firstly, the message is not actually iterated, as the text varies between the iterations. I assume that this was simply editing of the show in order to meet time constraints. If not, something very strange is going on and apparently someone is deliberately trying to deceive the survivors.

On a less technical note, the woman starts the message by saying "It[he] is outside." This implies that she is inside of something, presumably a building. It further indicates that she feels relatively safe inside whatever she is in.

After much shouting about how everyone else is dead she says "Brenden took the keys." This begs both the question of who is Brendon and what the keys open. Assuming that Brendon is not the "he" who is killing everyone, he is presumably dead and the keys are lost or in the possession of the killer. The keys presumably open the building where she is taking refuge. If she is concerned about locking the building, it implies that whatever she is scared of can distinguish between a locked and a closed door. The ability to use keys and open doors further implies that the "monster" is both highly dexterous (presumably with opposable thumbs) and intelligent enough to use advanced tools. This strongly indicates that she is afraid of a human. The fact that in the next line she says that "I will try to get to the black rock" further implies that she is no longer certain of her security in the building. [Alternatively the keys could be to some form of transportation and she is simply indicating that it may be difficult for her to get to the rock without it.]

The above assumes that she is referring to something external killing her party; however, the text seems to belie this interpretation. If "they [her party] are all dead," why is she asking people to "help us[clearly in the plural]"? If others are alive to be helped, we must ask what are "all dead"?

Sorry, this is quite long and probably disjointed. Hope you found it interesting though and any thoughts would be appreciated.

azteclady
10-13-04, 08:46 PM
Wow, cool! Thank you for posting this!

My command of French is not as good as yours and I have not been able to watch that scene again, but I remember thinking that it didn't sound as if the lady was repeating the exact same message over and over again. And, like you say, this opens the door to all sort of speculations on whether she (the lady speaking in French) is still alive.

If indeed, the message was edited for time, I for one am going to be quite upset with the writers - we've all spend quite a bit of time pondering the significance of this and other details, for it to mean nothing! >:

Beyond this, there is the whole question of what power source has been working on the island, in order to keep the message in the air for 16 years and 5 months.

Beto

ninsianna
11-12-04, 08:50 PM
I'm hoping we'll get to meet the French lady soon, so we can find out what all she was talking about!

leftofpunk
11-12-04, 08:57 PM
Awesome. Thank you for validating my concerns over the fact that they're not true iterations.