Since last Wednesday, after the airing of “Two For The Road”, I have been hearing people speculate that Michael has been brainwashed by the “Others”. “Brainwashing”, though a popular trope in fiction, is a very unscientific term. It came into the English language in the 1950s and is thought to be an interpretation of the Chinese term “xi nao”, a precursor of “thought reform” techniques that the Chinese Communist Party systematized in order to reconstruct thought patterns of Chinese citizens, and later used on Western war prisoners. This idea was popularized in America with the 1959 release of Richard Condon’s novel The Manchurian Candidiate.
In the novel, US soldiers who were captured in Korea were subjected to Soviet brainwashing techniques in order to create “sleeper” personalities dissociated within their psyches. Through drug administration, torture, hypnosis, and post-hypnotic suggestions, each soldier had a “sleeper” personality, along with false memories, implanted in their minds, and were released as heroes. They could then be controlled by subconscious triggers, without their knowledge.
In this scenario, the subjects’ free will is not applied; their minds are controlled by outside agents. I don’t think that this is what is happening with Michael. I think it’s important to remember that on LOST, the concept of free will is one of the over-arching themes. Everyone has to make choices for themselves, and deal with the consequences. I believe Michael is being coerced into facilitating not-Henry’s release, and the “Others” are using Walt as collateral. They may have told Michael that they will release Walt if he does what they ask, or they may have told him that they will kill Walt if he does not. This is physical coercion–a “gun to his head”, or to Walt’s head.
“Brainwashing” is more closely related to coercive persuasion, a form of psychological coercion, in which persuasive techniques (psychological pressure, threats, anxiety, etc.) are used to change a person’s ideas or beliefs. Michael clearly is being coerced; he pauses, and even says “I’m sorry” to Ana-Lucia before shooting her, which is an important clue. He knows that what he is about to do is wrong, and apologizes. He is making a rational choice; his mind is not being controlled.
I agree that these ‘brainwashing’ theories are false. It’s most likely he “had a gun to his head”. Good post.
Brainwashing stands more true than a threat to Walt’s life.
One of the few things Henry gave away in the last few episodes is that the others would NEVER hand over walt. Obviously it would be just as obvious to Micheal, having been partial to the goings on in ‘the Others’ camp, that Walt is very very important to them. So why believe they would kill him.
If you ask me, it’s not going to be brainwashing OR hostage blackmail. Both are too obvious. Try freedom.
Has Michael been brainwashed? -No, Job makes a good point that Michael understands his actions when he apologizes to Ana before killing her.
Is Michael trying to trade fake Henry for Walt? -No, fake Henry indicates that the Others would never hand over Walt. In addition, what would Michael gain by killing Ana if the purpose is to arrange a trade?
I think Michael is just trying to further make a case for attacking the Others in order to get Walt back. Not only has Michael implied that the OA #815 survivors could easily defeat the Others by saying that they have few guns and are mainly women, but now he makes it look as if fake Henry has attacked him, Ana, and Libby. The survivors would have to go on the offense against the Others, and Michael believes that this is the only way to get Walt back.
[quote comment="1861"] The survivors would have to go on the offense against the Others, and Michael believes that this is the only way to get Walt back.[/quote]
Hi Job !
You’re right, Mickael is definitely not brainwashed, it’s obvious, he’s shaking when he shoots, and he seems so ashamed. He would never do that unless he was forced to.
I really thought that suicide would have been what follows next, because he’s screwed everywhere, among the losties and the others (if he acts to unlease his son, that means they are dangerous and evil and he can’t live with them).
I also thought he would kill Henry, because Henry says during the episode, that he felt threatened for his life : this would have been more logical too.
Now what can Mike expect ? Nothing for him, nothing from the others, nothing from the losties that he betrayed. I really don’t think this is possible he would make Jack and John think that Henry murdered everyone, they know Ana had the gun, and Ana is a great cop : does Henry look like Rambo ?!
The situation is good, because at any case next episode that will be a twist.
My theory :
Mike is gonna let Henry escape and confess why he did that to the losties. What he said about the others is true, but they released him provided to get Henry free otherwise they would kill Walt, he doesn’t have more information except what he said, and the simple blackmail. He doesn’t know for instance that Walt is so precious for the others.
This last shot for himself is just a deception for the audience : this is not something important at all, this may be unintentionnal.
What?!
How on earth would Micheal justify killing an innocent human being to get back Walt. That would make him out to be totaly crazy and possibly the current worst parent on the planet. That would also make the producers of Lost out to be totaly crazy, and land the program in a lot of trouble. It wont be justified.
How’s about this:
The Others civilisation can see the future, or at least a characters definite intention. Just like the malfunctioning cereberus sytem (the smoke), when confronted with Mr.Eco, saw his past. (p.s has anyone slowed down that scene and captured the single frame images in the smoke yet?) Some of which include the smallest snippets of images of Mr.Eco’s story which I presume is yet to aired (the woman, his mother?). So Imagine they can read all the islanders this way. And Ana was a threat. Not just to The Others but to Micheal, and most importantly to Walt.
Micheal isn’t brainwashed. And he’s not a prisoner against his own will. He’s an Other now. Agreed to their way of thinking by what he’s seen. It’s just obvious he’s at pains with being more on the fence than a convert.
He new he had to stop Ana to stop whatever disaster would have come from a result in her living.
Job
Another great article. I agree that brainwashing is not the reason Michael did what he did. I feel he was sent by the Others to handle the “non-Henry sitution”. Henry had said that if the Losties did not kill him than the Others would. That he was “already dead”. At first I thought Micheal would kill non-Henry and then try to con the Losties into thinking that non-Henry killed Ana and that he fought non-Henry, got shot and that he killed non-Henry in self defense–that the Others were using Michael to get non-Henry out of the way. I am not sure now that the Others actually want non-Henry dead. Maybe they have something else planned for him.
Thank you for the insight and the background information on brainwashing. Clearly brainwashing is not involved here. Please keep the articles coming, you have a fan here!!
Kathi
Thanks for your comments, everyone. I want to address a few points:
1. Brainwashing is out–for the reasons I outlined above—but the “Others” are probably using coercion to get Michael to do their bidding. Walt is the most likely collateral.
2. I don’t think Michael is doing this on his own, for a couple of reasons. I am almost positive that he was told to kill Ana-Lucia, in retribution for Goodwin, and the other “Other” that Ana-Lucia killed in “The Other 48 Days”. If he were acting alone, what reason would he have for murdering her?
Also, what reason would he have for releasing not-Henry, and shooting himself in the arm? Framing not-Henry to incite the 815ers to go after the “Others” seems a bit far-fetched. He already made his little “we can take them” speech.
Not-Henry is now free, and I assume he is armed. Why would Michael allow that? If he were acting alone, wouldn’t he try to interrogate not-Henry for information about Walt’s whereabouts?
These questions are easily answered if Michael is being coerced, and not acting alone.
3. Michael is not an “Other”. I don’t believe he has become one of them; rather, he is being used as a pawn to further the “Others’” agenda. Walt is the only thing that matters to him, so of course, that is what they are holding over his head.
Thanks for reading, and keep the comments coming!
Myles, your theory is imaginative but look, it’s definitely not coherent !! Indeed man, so far, Lost is quite realistic : everything can have an explanation by current science.
I know there is this a weird cloud (electromagnetism ?), and this dark territory but “to see the future” is way more too irrealistic for this show, even in X Files that never happenned.
The fact Mike kills Ana to save Walt seems quite obvious to me : it’s like Tony Almeida in season 3 of 24 who saves the biggest terrorist who could kill all Americans rather than letting his wife infected by the virus … Thus, MIKE BECOMES A WEAPON USED BY THE OTHERS because human love is stronger than every bullet …
Here is my 2 cents,
Mike has not made alot of good choices so far but does have a painful father/son relationship that is driving him into more bad decisions.
I do think he murdered Ana for the Others. Her death and the release of not-henry are his offering to them for the release of Walt. I believe the others are using the children in various experiments tied into the Hanso website offerings.
In a string of bad choices I believe the Losties will attempt to attack the others, where Mike will try to free Walt in a double cross of sorts.
I dont think John or Echo are buying the whole Mike story and will refuse the journey into bad decisions as their own personal faiths will lead tham into further exploration and revelation.
I agree with you that Michael was not brainwashed. However, I have to wonder if Ana had not had the gun, would he still have killed her? Was it just luck that she chose to stay in the hatch, and the she was armed? Maybe it was a snap desicion. If the Others told him to get Henry out, no matter what, it’s possible that Michael saw the situation as a prime opportunity, and did what he felt must be done. I do think that a parent will do anything to ensure the safety of their child, and Michael would do anything humanly possible to get Walt. I don’t think that the Others will give Walt back, however, even if they said they would. They just want Henry, and they knew that dangling Walt in front of Michael would be the easiest way to do it.
I think that the Others are definitely using Michael. They definitely wanted to get Henry back. I think Henry was planted by the Others to spread discontent amongst the leaders of the survivors, and Michael was the means for bringing him out. The Others either told Michael that Walt would be harmed or that he would be returned if he would free Henry. They probably also told him to free Henry by all means necessary, even killing some of the survivors. Or they could have included in the terms that Michael was to kill Ana (the whole “she killed our guys” thing). Michael shot himself so that Jack and the rest would believe that Henry killed Ana, and Libby. Even if there was no gun, I’m sure Michael would have resorted to a knife or some other weapon.
Good post. You make some good points Job. I’m wondering if Ana’s death has anything to do with her off camera troubles. Ana’s death didn’t seem planned. Leah makes a good point about seizing the moment. Also, how do we know that non-Henry was freed? I didn’t see next episode’s preview.
Nice analysis Job. I agree that Michael is not brainwashed, nor is he an Other. Also the Others did not like Ana-Lucia. I do find it interesting that Not-Henry knew so much about her and would have us believe he learned everything from Goodwin. But Goodwin would not have been away from camp that much without arousing suspicion. (When the other fellow -Nick??– disappeared for 20 minutes he was questioned, remember?). All the Others probably wanted her gone based on their collective knowledge – she was strong-willed and she hurt their ranks. In addition, we know Not-Henry had the ability to hear all the goings on in the hatch while locked in the armoury – how can they gather so much information??? The Others know so much more than the Losties even realize. The Others want Not-Henry back — their only bargaining chip is Walt using a distraught father prone to emotional decisions. Not-Henry is a liar and would say anything to save his own skin. Michael made a choice to kill Ana but was surprised into the situation with Libby. He was likely drugged (like Claire) and probably not thinking coherently but made a conscious choice just the same (he said sorry first) based on his need to save his son. If it had been Hurley instead of Ana would he have done the same thing? I am guessing he would….. Remember when he was on the raft with Sawyer? We got a glimpse of his character then. He blamed Sawyer for the whole situation (because of the flare) and only much later admitted he should never have taken Walt onto the raft. He has blamed himself for Walt’s abduction and he needs to make it better, at whatever cost. I do believe he shot himself to get the Losties on his side and to explain the missing Not-Henry and the women because he clearly now needs their help. Looks like John and Jack were beginning to see through everything before he set his plan in motion though. It seems they also now have a more urgent need to confront the enemy but in their own way I suspect. It is going to get very interesting!
Oops, I forgot to mention that Michael looks considerably older. His face is different when compared to the images before he left to find Walt and he walks like a much older man; shuffles actually. He never explained what happened to his rifle either…
I think that Michael set out to kill Ana Lucia and then shoot himself making it look like not-Henry was trying to escape and had shot them trying to escape (when Michael would invetiably go in after hearing about him) in an effort to make everyone from the crash form an army. Libby had to be shot because she saw what happened.
However, i thought of this and then realised that Kate found dirty clothes possibly showing the others were dressing up, and numerous times we have seen them dressed smart in flashbacks by Claire. Michael told us the others lived dirty, possibly suggesting “brainwashing”.
Good post though.
I didn’t read all the posts so I’m not sure if this was mentioned, but it seems to me that the only reason Michael killed Ana Lucia was that she probably would not have just stood by and allowed him to free fake Henry. When michael found out she had a gun, he saw an opportunity to carry out his mission and he took it.
I hope they kill micheal next after what he did he deserves to be the next to die.
As much as I would like to believe this show is advocating free will and emphasizing the power of choice, there is one HUGE element I have to point out.
At the end of “?” there was an unusually long focus on Michael standing in the locker room with Ana Lucia’s body. As it zoomed into his face, it seems as if we were watching Michael’s inner conflict over his “choice”. However, as it was closing in on his face I noticed he had something on his forehead. Possibly, dirt but the more in focus it became I realized he had something drawn on there and it looked very much like a bug. In next week’s episodes that mark is caked over with some dark substance.
Why is this interesting?
Because victims of MONARCH mind control are tattooed with butterflies. If you research MONARCH you will see the parallels between it and the show; i.e., Kate is a victim of sexual abuse and Hurley has MPD. There is so much more to it then that but the list goes on. Seriously, if you are truly into the conspiracy aspect of this show, check it out.
Sorry to disappoint guys,
But it is Brainwashing.
can we get a screen cap of that close up frame?
[quote comment="2283"]can we get a screen cap of that close up frame?[/quote]
Sure thing. Here goes:
http://homepage.mac.com/bronxred/.Pictures/M2.png
I see two problems with this theory. 1) That doesn’t look like a bug to me, although I can see how it might to someone with an active imagination and a theory to prove. *wink* 2) If Michael had a tattoo of a bug on his forehead, would we only see it NOW, at the END of the episode, and nobody on the show would notice it and ask him “Hey Michael, what’s with the bug tattoo on your forehead?”…just seems farfetched to me.
It’s been well set up, dramatically, that Michael would do *anything* to save Walt, and seeing his backstory I can’t say I blame him. I don’t think he needs to be brainwashed, and frankly this kind of brainwashing would take a lot of time if it were even possible to apply to an adult.
If you watch the episode again, and focus on Michael’s reactions, it seems obvious that he had no idea that his fellow survivors had captured an “Other.” He looked shocked and dismayed when Ana Lucia told him the story.
He has a plan to get Walt back, which requires getting the Losties to attack the Others, and when he discovers they actually have one on hand he sees his plan falling apart… what if they get info from not-Henry that conflicts with Michael’s story? As others have pointed out, his backstory has made it very clear that he’d do anyhting to protect Walt. Seeing his plan in jeopardy, he siezes the opportunity to get rid of not-Henry while also putting more pressure on his “friends” to be stampeded into his plan.
I think Michael THINKS he’s got a plan worked out that will allow him to get Walt back, and he THINKS it’s his own plan – thus a captured Other would be a threat to it. Now it may be that he’s being manipulated by the Others, but if so it’s subtle, via misdirection and an understanding of his personality and motives. If not-Henry is representative, the Others are master psychologists and mind-twisters.
On a side note, has anyone else considered that not-Henry might actually be the “great man” that the Others work for and are afraid of? If so, his capture might have been really accidental, or a very calculated part of his overall plan (although it seems pretty risky to me, he might be confident enough in his ability to manipulate his “captors” so as to avoid death).
Anyway, I’m convinced Micheal knew nothing of not-Henry and acted on the spur of the moment, in desperation to save his plan to recover Walt.
What if Michael actually was told a small part about what the Other are planing to do, and he made a deal with the others to free Henry in exchange for Walt. What if The Others convenienced Michael that there are “Bad People” in there group and he is helping take some of them out. (because the Others keep referring to some of the survivors as bad people!)
I’m going to attempt to post a picture of Michael’s forehead “tattoo” or whatever that spot seems to be.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/coffeez/michael-spot.jpg
Will see if that works.
What I did was a close-up of this mark – and it appears to have writing in it. Of course, as one said, could be just imagination, too, but the ‘R’ at the end sure looks like an ‘R’! ;o)
Not sure what this says ‘Hip R” or “Nip R”?
Oz
Sorry all – that was a very small photo – try it again as I tried enlarging more:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/coffeez/michael-spot.jpg
Oz
Okay – once more:
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/coffeez/michael-mark.jpg
Check out the mark on his forehead. Then again – with as much trouble as I had getting it enlarged and all – lol – it’s probably nothing other than the make-up artist’s initials for fame! ;o)
Oz
well he is not fair he has to shot two people just to rescue walt is that even fair what did they do to him?
he even let the boss go out just for the sake of walt!