The episodes from today fit one of two themes: conformity or paranoia.
Eye of the Beholder, Number 12 Looks Just Like You, & The Obsolete Man [conformity]
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street & The Shelter [paranoia]
First, I must say that I enjoy starting class with Bible verses. Today I thought they related especially well. Galatians 5:14-15 extol us to love our neighbors as ourselves. These verses encourage us to accept others as they are (realizing everyone is different, but beautiful in their own way) and also to embrace the value of others, even during tough times when we are tempted to put ourselves first. I think both of these themes fit perfectly with the episodes we watched today.
Lessons:
Eye of the Beholder - it's normal to want to belong, but at what point do we stop trying to fit in and accept ourselves even if the rest of society doesn't; commentary on the Civil Rights Movement ("The state isn't God."); Who decided that the pig-faced people were "normal" and the normal-looking people were actually hideous and "undesirable"?
Number 12 Looks Just Like You - conformity comes at a cost ("Being like everybody means you're nobody."); independent thinkers can be perceived as threats; commentary on relationships (Val couldn't imagine being with the same man for "a hundred years")
Note: Dr. Rex's pinky movements were extremely creepy.
The Obsolete Man - pointed out the value of literature (one's ideas can live on well after he is placed in the grave); it's not right to get rid of people when they fail to serve society any longer (ex. the elderly, disabled, injured)
Notes: The main character was named William Wordsworth, a clever play on words. I also liked that this episode clearly included God. It reminded me that even in the secular world, God is not absent. Mr. Wordsworth talks back to the Chancellor and says, "You can't erase God with an edict." and also proceeds to read the Bible (I don't think that would happen on a TV show nowadays).
The Monsters are Due on Maple Street - trust is a tricky thing; mob mentality is dangerous; "Paranoia will destroy ya."
The Shelter - makes you question whether you'd want to survive a major catastrophe (Would it be worth it?); prejudice can easily surface during times of stress; prejudice makes it easy to find a scapegoat; "For civilization to survive, the human race has to remain civilized."
About Dr. Rex's pinky movement... I think the idea was to have some kind of trait to help us differentiate between all the Rex look-alikes. Sig had a German accent for the same reason. I think the actor had fun switching roles.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts. It certainly makes sense that each character should have some defining characteristic so as not to confuse the viewers. The pinky movement just really creeped me out though. Haha. And about Sig's accent, it was also probably to imitate Freud, since he was Austrian.
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