Talk:Richard Alpert/Theories

From Lostpedia

I have a problem with the richard is magnus hanso theory that i didnt want to directly change til i got someones input. the blast door map has a spot marked "here lies magnus hanso," most likely referring to a grave. if so, how could richard be him? --Beanpolekt 10:51, 11 May 2007 (PDT)

Aging

How are we sure that the man was Alpert? Judging by how it's unanimously taken as fact, I'm sure there must be an explaination; but as far as I can see, it's not 100%.

• He clearly is the same actor.. maybe you should watch the episode again.. higher quality maybe?. It clearly is him right after the purge (the scene where he takes the mask off), and then Ben was older but not as old as he is now (take the reference of the bodies, they are all decomposed by now...)

Maybe he's an alien. Count his toes! Boloboffin 03:06, 14 May 2007 (PDT)

Ok here are some responses to the idea that Richard 'doesn't age':

"Richard and Ben are roughly the same age now, Ben is a little older, so when Ben was a child, Richard would have been an even younger child."

We haven't been given Richard's age. We know Ben's but not Richard's, and it hasn't been stated that Ben is older than Richard. This also doesn't make sense in that if Ben was older, then in the 70s when he met Richard, Ben would have been eleven or however old he was, and Richard, although looking twenty or so, would actually be younger than eleven?

To clarify, I meant that Richard and Ben look like they are of similar age now (2004). Richard is obviously older because he clearly looks older than Ben when Ben is ten or so. Richard ages differently.

"Richard's appearance to young Ben was obviously supposed to come as a shock to the audience, and now Ben is clearly older than Richard (in real life, actor Michael Emerson, who plays Ben, is 12 years older than Nestor Carbonell, who plays Richard)"

It's presented as a 'shock' moment because it's surprising to find that Richard wasn't part of the DHARMA Initiative, but living in the forest beforehand. The age of the actor's is irrelevant. As an actor myself, I have on many occasions played alongside people younger than myself who were portraying people much older than my character. It simply isn't an issue.

The age of the actor, in this case, is an issue. Richard appears to be a 30 something man in the 1970's and in 2004. That span of time is simply to long to shrug off. That's 30 years. People look different after 30 years. They have used child actors to portray Jack, Charlie, Sawyer, Ben, and Sun. The fact that they didn't with Richard means that there is something different about the way he ages. It is ridiculous to claim that there is nothing going on with him.

"A concerted effort was made in making Roger Linus look a lot older during the purge. The Fact that Richard only gets a haircut is surely no mistake."

It's a lot easier to make someone looks older than younger. They clearly have tried to make Richard look younger, but things like bone structure (especially the nose) and voice make it very difficult without plastic surgery. If they had wanted to show that he was the same 'age', they would have made him look the same as now to make it super clear. There's also the case, as stated before, that they hadn't anticipated this direction for the character until after he'd been in the show once already. They could have put make up on him to look older in the present time, but to be honest that would be expensive and stupid.

"His odd clothing"

I don't see what's unusual about his clothing to imply lack of aging.

"His very old gun"

He could have found it, or been given it.

"You do remember birthdays don't you" Spoken by Ben

All this means is that The Others don't celebrate Birthdays. Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate them either, but they age just like other people.

"no matter how much time you spend on the island, you never get tired of this view" Spoken by Richard

We know, regardless of aging, that Richard has been on the Island since the 70s, thirty years is long enough to be able to make a comment like the above. Again, it says nothing about his aging.

"you're gonna be amazed at how time flies once you're there" Spoken by Richard

This could mean anything, it's too vague to be evidence of Richard not aging.

Unless something in the show specifically makes it clear that he does not age, or the producers confirm that there's something odd going on, I do not believe there is anything afoot.Liquidcow 07:53, 23 May 2007 (PDT)

Richard has also said to Locke that no matter how long you've been on the island you never grow tired of the view. This could be hinting at not aging or aging slowly. Or we are going to be lead to believe this only to find out we are wrong. But typically if you which shows over again you get a hint as to the losties life's before the episode that shows their flashbacks. Ex. Claire being interested in if Kate is a Gemini hints to why she ended up on the island, via trusting a psychic.[rosesrred 10:45 pacific coast time June 5th, 2007]

People say things like 'you never get tired of the view' all the time. It would be reasonable to say it after a year or so of living somewhere. It says nothing about his age, nor is it in any way related to the idea that he 'does not age'. I don't see how it supports that theory. And while we're on it, neither does the comment about 'you do remember birthdays?' - it just means they don't celebrate them. Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays and I'm pretty sure they age normally.Liquidcow 03:00, 14 June 2007 (PDT)

"You do remember birthdays don't you" Spoken by Ben

We can't ignore this, I think this is exceptionally important. Not celebrating birthdays is one thing, but to suggest that he's *forgotten* the concept of birthdays is quite another. It implies that Richard at one time did recognize birthdays. Nickypoo

I'm sure it was just a figure of speech, I don't think Ben seriously thought Richard had forgotten birthdays. The fact that they obviously did recognise birthdays but don't now just means they stopped celebrating them at some point. Most likely they've set up a society that doesn't put any importance into celebrating birthdays.Liquidcow 06:40, 15 June 2007 (PDT)

Alpert...ghost?

Just throwing this out there: have we seen Richard directly interact with anyone aside from Ben, John and Juliet? I guess ethan too, off the island. I can't think of an instance. Either way, is it perhaps maybe possible Alpert is a ghost? It explains the not aging, and maybe he appears off island using ghost powers? Come to think of it he talked to Juliet's sister. Regardless, my point still stands, is that concievable?

He's not a ghost. That's just /silly/. --Shodan1138 21:22, 10 June 2007 (PDT)

He has directly interacted with at least four characters in the show, so it seems highly unlikely that he's a ghost, or not real. If he'd only interacted with one person (as per Dave) you might have a point, but four makes it clear that he's real.Liquidcow 02:53, 14 June 2007 (PDT)

Cleanup

I did some cleanup on this article. The text can be more consolidated if redundant theories are removed. I am going to stop here for now. Maybe someone else can continue where I left off.--Messenger 16:12, 26 May 2008 (PDT)