TO SERVE MAN!
Ironic in today's political environment!
Posted on 07/05/2012 10:50:50 AM PDT by SandyLynn
True fact: it aired on Friday, November 4, 1960. It was Rod Serling's "election special."
(I have the entire collection on DVD)
Openly political messages in screenplays weren’t popular, but serling realized that he could sort of weave political messages in science fiction.
The one where the little girl is stuck under the bed.
That one freaked me out, too! Some of my favorite scary ones..the “Talking Tina” episode where the doll ends up murdering the character played by Telly Savalas character; the episode where the elderly paralyzed lady gets phone calls from her fiance, who’s been dead for years. One of my favorites that pulls my heartstrings..the elderly gentlemen who, along with his loyal dog, drowns..and “Heaven” won’t allow the dog to enter..turns out that it’s actually Hell, I think..and the dog saved him from that fate! Good grief..so many great episodes!
Even if he was a liberal, at that time, the same political ideas today would be considered far-right conservative.
Even if he was a liberal, at that time, the same political ideas today would be considered far-right conservative.
Good post, Boogieman. I agree. Even though his thoughts were considered “progressive” at the time, now his ideas would seem to be conservative.
TO SERVE MAN!
Ironic in today's political environment!
Rod Serling was a classic liberal of the 50’s and 60’s. Not the same as today’s far left “liberals” that demand government control over our lives.
I'd say it was abandonment of principle and citizen's duty but treason is supporting the enemy through word and deed in a time of war.
John Kerry lied before Congress about committing war crimes in Vietnam. Jane Fonda did a pro-North Vietnamese publicity tour posing on an anti-aircraft gun to "shoot at Americans". The Weather Underground engaged in planned riots and domestic bombing campaigns (including one plot against an armory dance). Traitors all.
John Kerry's group also plotted to assassinate congressmen until support for the war withered in Congress.
Well, he smoked about 5 packs a day.
I loved the fact he gave us TZ in so many different ways. A 30 min filmed episode; 30 min video episode, some 60 minute episodes, some live episodes, some directed like plays, etc. Some were silent or partially silent (Agnes Moorehead as the old lady in the cabing being visited by “aliens” that are USAF astronauts or Elizabeth Montgomery (funny, isn’t it) and Charles Bronson in a slient one as two opposing soldiers).
And I loved anthologies. These days all the shows are contiuous and try to keep a thread going. I liked the beginning, middle, end approach. Makes it more timeless.
And it gives you so many more actor options. Just look at the long list of great actors to be (and great at the time as well as “has beens”) that fill Twilight Zone.
The dripping irony was also fantastic.
Serling came out of that 1950s atmosphere steeped in the idea of original sin and the knowledge that the world wasn't and couldn't be perfect and that getting things often meant losing something else. These were people who'd learned some hard lessons in the depression and the war. In that sense, Serling was very different from later liberals -- maybe from later Americans whatever their political views.
There was something in Rod Serling that seemed to like bursting the bubbles of people's illusions. It made it a little creepy watching his shows as a kid, but it was certainly something conservative. Serling certainly did take what were in his day liberal stands, but in those days things were less polarized and less personal. He was too imaginative to fall into a rut and present the same tired ideas in every episode, so his "targets" varied in a way that they don't with today's TV writers.
I googled and came up with this book:
Great title. Sounds interesting.
I LOVE “The Obsolete man”!
Great find, x! Here’s what Amazon.com says:
Spaceships and Politics: The Political Theory of Rod Serling examines the political themes in The Twilight Zone. In this unique show, Rod Serling used fantasy and the supernatural to explore political ideas such as capital punishment, the individual and the state, war, conformity, the state of nature, prejudice, and alienation. He used aliens and machines to understand human nature. While the themes in The Twilight Zone often reflected political concerns of the time, like the Cold War and post-industrial technology, the messages had broader political implications. This book looks at Serling’s mechanistic view of the world and emphasis on fear through Hobbesian themes like diffidence and automata.
I’m a little poor right now, so the price tag of $27.95 means I’ll have to wait..but it sounds like a great read!
Thanks for the link; I just watched it. Good show.
New Year’s Day?
Drats, I’ll have to flip back and forth between football.
Oh my goodness... Talking Tina. Forgot that one.
Shudder...
IIRC it is New Years Eve, not sure about the Day.
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