Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2023-04-25 12:24 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2023-04-25 12:24 pm
Entry tags:
Please Stop Talking About Jack Shephard.
'If you asked both me and someone who hated Jack to write individual assessments of his character, we'd probably hit on similar points,' I wrote in my last entry.
Nobody asked me, but, perhaps inevitably, I ended up writing the assessment anyway. Here is an entry entirely devoted to analysing Jack Shephard of Lost.
Jack is stubborn, can't let things go and has a tendency to overvalue his own judgement: these aspects form the core of Jack Shephard's flaws, and just about every bad decision he makes can be traced back to them. He's impulsive and can be petty or condescending. Obsessive and paranoid. Self-loathing. Can be aggressive, both as a person (acting aggressively when in conflict with someone else) and as a leader (taking aggressive action against threats to their group).
Jack generally takes an ends-justify-the-means stance, but I think it's shaken slightly when he realises he agreed to let Sayid torture Sawyer for information that Sawyer didn't have; he later fought very hard against Henry being tortured. This doesn't seem to be an objection to torture on principle, as he feels he was mistaken to object after learning that Henry was one of the Others, so I suspect he was afraid of torturing an innocent person again. Basically, Jack feels that the ends justify the means but that, beyond a certain threshold of morality, you need to be certain of those ends. Unfortunately, his tendency to overvalue his own judgement means that he can be a little too certain.
On the softer side, Jack is compassionate and has a desperate drive to save people. If he sees a stranger in need of medical attention, he'll help first and ask questions later, most notably with Henry, a stranger on an island where most strangers have proved to be dangerous. If he's had positive experiences with someone, he's prepared to accept them as part of their community, to extend kindness and trust to them, even if the rest of the group rejects them; we see this with Ana Lucia, with Juliet, and in Jack's patience with Charlie after Charlie makes himself unpopular with the rest of the group. Under normal circumstances (and assuming you haven't made an enemy of him), if he finds you in either physical or emotional distress, he'll want to help.
Jack sometimes makes promises he can't realistically keep, in the full belief that he'll be able to keep them, perhaps due to working apparent miracles in the past. He takes his promises seriously and takes it hard if he fails to keep his word.
Related to his inability to let things go: Jack will throw himself into trying to save people long past the point where things seem hopeless. Sometimes this pays off; sometimes it leads to him almost destroying himself by pouring his own blood into a man who can't be saved.
Jack is generally not great at self-preservation or at taking a back seat. He'll put himself on the front line of any conflict, in a position where he's able to know what's happening and make decisions; he always needs to be in control, down to insisting on playing an active role in the removal of his own appendix. What this means is that he constantly ends up putting himself in danger with little thought for what will happen to the group if he's killed; he's their leader and doctor, so they can't really afford to lose him.
It's worth noting that Jack's failures are almost never a result of apathy or not trying hard enough. Jack is competent and skilled, and he tries very, very hard. If a situation deteriorates and Jack is responsible, it's not due to neglect; it's because he is actively making bad decisions. The exception here is Jack's marriage, which I do think failed because he didn't put the effort in - or, rather, because he put too much effort into another area of his life (his work as a surgeon), meaning he never spent time with his wife.
While we're on the topic of Jack's love life, he's not typically a person who makes the first move. People kiss him, not the other way around; unless you're in an established relationship with him, he's not going to take the risk of kissing you. The one exception is when Juliet warns him not to get involved with her for his own safety; he doesn't like being told what to do!
He's not a very emotionally open person, but he might decide to show a glimpse of his heart if it feels appropriate for the situation. Although he has an impulsive streak and can sometimes say things without thinking, he never blurts out anything that could suggest romantic interest; when he does admit to romantic interest, it's because he's thought about it and made a conscious decision to do so. Interestingly, he doesn't always do this in the hope of starting a relationship. When he tells Kate he loves her in 'Through the Looking Glass', he doesn't seem to have any expectations of romance; he just wants her to know.
Jack's actions frequently cause problems for the people in his life, but he's not malicious; he's a fuckup. There's a crucial distinction. He genuinely cares about his fellow survivors and doesn't want to cause them harm, but his impulsive nature and his overconfidence in his own judgements can lead to bad outcomes. He's able to handle pressure on a practical level but not on an emotional one, meaning that, in high-stress situations, he's capable of taking action but incapable of thinking straight; it's a dangerous combination.
If Jack could choose what happened on the island from a menu, everyone would survive together peacefully until being rescued as soon as possible. That's always what he's trying to work towards. Unfortunately, it's not that simple; it's a constant battle against external forces and against his own flaws.
In conclusion, Jack Shephard has a lot of frustrating qualities, but he's a great character and I love him. I know not everyone finds him interesting, but I think he's absolutely fascinating, as evidenced by the fact that I just wrote all this rambling about him for fun.
Nobody asked me, but, perhaps inevitably, I ended up writing the assessment anyway. Here is an entry entirely devoted to analysing Jack Shephard of Lost.
Jack is stubborn, can't let things go and has a tendency to overvalue his own judgement: these aspects form the core of Jack Shephard's flaws, and just about every bad decision he makes can be traced back to them. He's impulsive and can be petty or condescending. Obsessive and paranoid. Self-loathing. Can be aggressive, both as a person (acting aggressively when in conflict with someone else) and as a leader (taking aggressive action against threats to their group).
Jack generally takes an ends-justify-the-means stance, but I think it's shaken slightly when he realises he agreed to let Sayid torture Sawyer for information that Sawyer didn't have; he later fought very hard against Henry being tortured. This doesn't seem to be an objection to torture on principle, as he feels he was mistaken to object after learning that Henry was one of the Others, so I suspect he was afraid of torturing an innocent person again. Basically, Jack feels that the ends justify the means but that, beyond a certain threshold of morality, you need to be certain of those ends. Unfortunately, his tendency to overvalue his own judgement means that he can be a little too certain.
On the softer side, Jack is compassionate and has a desperate drive to save people. If he sees a stranger in need of medical attention, he'll help first and ask questions later, most notably with Henry, a stranger on an island where most strangers have proved to be dangerous. If he's had positive experiences with someone, he's prepared to accept them as part of their community, to extend kindness and trust to them, even if the rest of the group rejects them; we see this with Ana Lucia, with Juliet, and in Jack's patience with Charlie after Charlie makes himself unpopular with the rest of the group. Under normal circumstances (and assuming you haven't made an enemy of him), if he finds you in either physical or emotional distress, he'll want to help.
Jack sometimes makes promises he can't realistically keep, in the full belief that he'll be able to keep them, perhaps due to working apparent miracles in the past. He takes his promises seriously and takes it hard if he fails to keep his word.
Related to his inability to let things go: Jack will throw himself into trying to save people long past the point where things seem hopeless. Sometimes this pays off; sometimes it leads to him almost destroying himself by pouring his own blood into a man who can't be saved.
Jack is generally not great at self-preservation or at taking a back seat. He'll put himself on the front line of any conflict, in a position where he's able to know what's happening and make decisions; he always needs to be in control, down to insisting on playing an active role in the removal of his own appendix. What this means is that he constantly ends up putting himself in danger with little thought for what will happen to the group if he's killed; he's their leader and doctor, so they can't really afford to lose him.
It's worth noting that Jack's failures are almost never a result of apathy or not trying hard enough. Jack is competent and skilled, and he tries very, very hard. If a situation deteriorates and Jack is responsible, it's not due to neglect; it's because he is actively making bad decisions. The exception here is Jack's marriage, which I do think failed because he didn't put the effort in - or, rather, because he put too much effort into another area of his life (his work as a surgeon), meaning he never spent time with his wife.
While we're on the topic of Jack's love life, he's not typically a person who makes the first move. People kiss him, not the other way around; unless you're in an established relationship with him, he's not going to take the risk of kissing you. The one exception is when Juliet warns him not to get involved with her for his own safety; he doesn't like being told what to do!
He's not a very emotionally open person, but he might decide to show a glimpse of his heart if it feels appropriate for the situation. Although he has an impulsive streak and can sometimes say things without thinking, he never blurts out anything that could suggest romantic interest; when he does admit to romantic interest, it's because he's thought about it and made a conscious decision to do so. Interestingly, he doesn't always do this in the hope of starting a relationship. When he tells Kate he loves her in 'Through the Looking Glass', he doesn't seem to have any expectations of romance; he just wants her to know.
Jack's actions frequently cause problems for the people in his life, but he's not malicious; he's a fuckup. There's a crucial distinction. He genuinely cares about his fellow survivors and doesn't want to cause them harm, but his impulsive nature and his overconfidence in his own judgements can lead to bad outcomes. He's able to handle pressure on a practical level but not on an emotional one, meaning that, in high-stress situations, he's capable of taking action but incapable of thinking straight; it's a dangerous combination.
If Jack could choose what happened on the island from a menu, everyone would survive together peacefully until being rescued as soon as possible. That's always what he's trying to work towards. Unfortunately, it's not that simple; it's a constant battle against external forces and against his own flaws.
In conclusion, Jack Shephard has a lot of frustrating qualities, but he's a great character and I love him. I know not everyone finds him interesting, but I think he's absolutely fascinating, as evidenced by the fact that I just wrote all this rambling about him for fun.
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