Existential themes of Lexx

[SadGeezer]

I’m just realizing the exisential themes of many guest characters in episodes of Lexx. Take VLV, for example. There was that fat guy who was getting back into the family. He had big dreams, wanted to do something important. Something other than becoming a desk clerk in his cousin’s hotel.
But what happened to him? This ambition led to him getting killed trying to avenge his stepbrother’s first cousin or whatever and his nannies’ former roomate. This is in direct contrast to someone such as Joseph Van Helsing in Vlad who actually did try to run away, and got killed for his efforts. I’m sure there are more. I just can’t think of any right now. Maybe the DJ in the End of the Universe.
Does this say something for the end? Will Kai die a compeletely pointless death, or maybe even kill Stan or Xev because of the sun? It’s as good a theory as any.

[Flamegrape]

Well, I’ve noticed that most people get killed on Lexx. For example, in Haley’s Comet, I knew that everyone would get killed. It was a question of how.

One of the basic themes of Lexx is control of the most powerful weapon in the universe. And the easiest way to do that is to kill the key-bearer. Naturally the plots revolve around death. And since Prince is death, then his role in the show makes sense.

[bonnee]

I originally wasn’t sure what you meant by ‘existential’ themes at first Warsaw . This philosophical term has a variety of permutations across quite distinct schools of thought, and it could even be argued that Lexx offers an essentialist view of the universe (existentialism’s alleged opposite).

Nonetheless, I think you’ve hit the ontological nail on the head by drawing attention to the apparent contradiction between essence and existence within Lexx, and a suggestive approach might consider the relation/tension between them. Thanks for suggesting it by way of your own considerations.

My understanding of existentialism’s basic meaning is its purported challenge to essentialism (an essense is that by which a thing is what it essentially is, as opposed to the contingincies or randomness of everyday existence). There are as many ‘existentialists’ (nietzche, kierkeggaard, heidegger, bultmann, satre, camus) as there are many ‘themes’ (eternal recurrence – cycle of time !- , anguish in the face of death, authenticity by way of facing up to death, demythologising life and death, radical freedom, absurdity of choices, etc). The trouble with existenialism is that offers another form of essentialism. If you recall, one of its essential mantras is ‘existence before essence’ – but that just renders the question of existence a Divine Predecessor (as an essence passed from one non/existent to another). It essentailises the question of existence my making it a part of the universe’s mode of being or essence.

It therefore seems to me that Lexx might encourage a comprehensive reading of many of these themes, especially how they may or may not relate to one another within the scheme of things (across the two universes, with respect to individual lives and particular choices, the meaning and consequences of various actions, etc).

[ 14-05-2002: Message edited by: bonnee ]

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