I have to ask....

[martini1214]

.....how important to the show do you think the character of Charlie is? I know it's only been on for a month, but I've been to other boards and some people seem to think that this character is useless (they must be insane). =)

Anyway, I was just wondering what you guys think. Personally I'm intrigued by his character....

[Suil Liath]

We don't know how important he'll be. It's only four or six days later. Same as the Korean couple or Hurley or anyone -- just what do they bring to the party?

All will be revealed!

-Kit-

[mnemosyne23]

WARNING: What is it with me and writing books? This one should have chapter headings. LOL! Anyway, my thesis on why Charlie IS important. Read at your leisure. LOL!


Right now, really the ONLY characters who have proven themselves to be useful on Lost are Jack, Sayid and Locke. I could throw Kate in there, but I won't, because most of what she's done has been organizational, and really any one of them could do that. But whether a character is important to the group isn't what matters -- it's how important he or she is to the continuance of the story. And Charlie is VERY important to that.

Here we have a character who is, in many ways, conflicted. He's a good guy, but he's done some bad stuff. He's come from a world where he was famous one minute then sunk in oblivion the next. Now the roles are reversed. He's gone from being a no-name passenger on a trans-Pacific flight, to being one of only a handful of survivors, which means ANYTHING he does will be noticed by someone else. He's desperate to make the others notice and like him, but at the same time, he feels like a "coward;" like he's unworthy of their praise or attention.

He's already having to lie about himself by hiding his drug addiction, and he doesn't know what's going to happen when that baggie comes up empty someday. He's barely made an impression with anyone yet, but after he's finished howling from the withdrawal, they'll ALL know who he is. "Oh, he's the junkie, right?" And he'll have to fight tooth and nail to get them to look at him as anything other than a druggie after that, which must frighten him, because he won't be able to hide ANYTHING anymore. Every action will be scrutinized. Charlie likes attention, but only when he asks for it.

Which means DRAMA. And good drama means good ratings.

Here you have this guy who wants people to take him seriously, to notice him, to praise his actions and ignore his faults. Which means he'll do anything to try and make them see his good side; and perhaps some of the choices he makes will turn out to be bad ones. Perhaps he'll fall in with the wrong faction on the island, and end up doing the wrong thing in a crucial situation. "Did you hear? The druggie's the one who let the kid wander into the woods. He's the reason the boy's missing. He said the boy wanted to find his dog, so they both went looking for it, and Charlie came back, but the kid didn't. He should have listened to Jack -- NO ONE goes into the woods after dark!"

Charlie's character could easily go either way -- good or bad, light or dark, cool or warm side of the pillow. Other characters are already staunchly established on the side of good (Jack, Kate, Claire), and only a VERY extreme circumstance could make it believable that they'd go over to the dark side. But Charlie? He's a work in progress. And that is FASCINATING to watch. :D


8) M

PS-- Then there's the fact that ABC KNOWS Dominic Monaghan is a HUGE chunk of their bread and butter on this show. He's the only actor on the show who has HIS OWN COMMERCIAL, for heaven's sake! LOL! "He's gone from Middle-Earth... to the middle of nowhere." Have you all seen that? There's no WAY they're going to let his character hover on the sidelines doing nothing. And they won't let him get killed off, either -- at least not immediately. He's too important to sustaining the show's ratings until it's fully established. I think we've only seen the tip of the iceberg where Charlie's concerned. WOO-HOO!

[Barbara1969]

I love your post-books. If I print this out and mail it to you will you autograph it for me? You articulated (perfectly, I might add) exactly what I was thinking. Thank you.

[breathexin]

I was going to reply to this board with my answer, but basically, it's all been said in the "book!" lol

[MsHllywdJenn]

menm pretty much summed it up. The PS says it all I think. Did anyone else see the TV Guide scans on StarDOM?? There's a VERY interesting comment by JJ on this very same topic. Check it out!

Personally, I love Dom! Dom and Billy should rule the world and we'd all be better off. Hmm... well... maybe not better off but we'd sure have a good time! :lol

Whatever the purpose of Charlie is on the show I sure hope he sticks around for awhile. :hat

[SweetieHobbit]

*Raises hand* I am in full agreement that the world would be a much happier place if Dom and Billy were rinning it!!!:rollin

[Tigerlily]

Dom and Billy SHOULD run the world.

Haven't seen the Dom commercial... but A LOT of the fanbase is Dom fans. Anyone could tell you that. He was the reason I started watching, and I'm sure a lot of people would say the same. But I get into the not-Charlie scenes anyway....

He's a big part of the show itself though, as far as I'm concerned. The Pilot made him into the sidekicky part, and he's comic relief a lot, plus major eyecandy, but he has that dark side to him. HE's got a past, and no doubt it'll keep us on the edge of our seats, which subsequently had been moved closer to the TV. And when the writers go down that road, no way anyone will be able to call Charlie useless.

[Master Xander]

In a character-driven series, his mere presence and his personality make him important. Just the way he interacts with other people at this point... that's important.