June 29, 2006
The New Man vs. The Obsolete Man
Last night I was channel surfing and I came upon an episode of The Twilight Zone called The Obsolete Man. As I watched the episode, which stars Burgess Meredith, I began to reflect on fidel, ché, the so-called Cuban "New Man", Cuba's independent librarians and the ALA and the case of General Arnaldo Ochoa.
I have pieced together the following summary from various online sources:
Serling begins the episode with the following narration:
"You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads to the future, not a future that will be but one that might be. This is not a new world, it is simply an extension of what began in the old one. It has patterned itself after every dictator who has ever planted the ripping imprint of a boot on the pages of history since the beginning of time. It has refinements, technological advances, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom. But like every one of the superstates that preceded it, it has one iron rule: logic is an enemy and truth is a menace. This is Mr. Romney Wordsworth, in his last forty-eight hours on Earth. He's a citizen of the State but will soon have to be eliminated, because he is built out of flesh and because he has a mind. Mr. Romney Wordsworth, who will draw his last breaths in the Twilight Zone."
In the world of the future, the harsh and ultra-repressive State controls all aspects of human life. All religion is banned and ownership of a book is punishable by death. But still there are those who will not conform to tyranny. One such man is Romney Wordsworth, a God-fearing librarian who has been judged "obsolete" by a chancellor of the State.
He is sentenced to die. Wordsworth is permitted to choose the manner of his own death, which will be televised to the populace as a lesson and a warning. The method of "liquidation" will be a secret known only to Wordsworth and his executioner.
An hour before the appointed time, Wordsworth invites the Chancellor to his apartment to witness the execution. Once inside, Wordsworth locks the door.
Wordsworth tells the Chancellor that he instructed the executioner to place a bomb in his apartment, full of his beloved books, and that it's set to go off at midnight. He explains to the Chancellor that now he too, will die at midnight. Wordsworth begins to read a bible (a crime punishable by death). He shows the Chancellor and the nation, watching on TV, how a spiritual man faces death. Wordsworth will prove whose will is stronger, his or the State's. The Chancellor is calm at first, but as the minutes tick by he begins to panic. He finally cries out, "In the name of God, let me out!" Wordsworth hands him the key, and the Chancellor runs from the room just as it explodes.
The final scene shows the Chancellor, now on trial himself for being obsolete.
Serling's final narration sums up the episode nicely:
"The Chancellor - the late Chancellor - was only partly correct. He was obsolete. But so was the State, the entity he worshipped. Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete. A case to be filed under 'M' for mankind in the Twilight Zone."
Posted by Henry Louis Gomez at June 29, 2006 12:42 PM
Comments
Henry,
I've been a SF fan for practically all my life (and a Fantasy fan and RPGer since late teens/early adulthood). I've seen that TZ ep. about a bazillion times-it's one of my all-time favorites! (Along with Death's Head Revisited, with Oscar Beregi, and The Mirror, with Peter Falk playing a Central American revolutionary named Ramos Clemente-who bears more than a slight resemblence to a certain real life scumbag....)
The thing that's interesting is that as heavy as censorship was back then (part of the reason Rod Serling created TZ was he was sick of the petty reasons sponsors wanted script changes made on shows-one drama he wrote about the Nuremburg trials, none of the characters could say anything about "gas ovens" because the sponsor was a natural gas company! He felt that it was easier to say what he wanted to say if it was coming out of the mouth of a martian 100 years in the future, than a present day person in "realistic" setting), you probably could *never* get away with a story like that today on any show due to the overt and open religious references. And yet, when it comes down to it, I would say the real "humanist" was Wordsworth, as *he* was the one who saw people as being of inherent value in and of themselves, and not merely as cogs helping to power the government "machine".
Posted by: Peshkatari ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 29, 2006 01:32 PM
Nobody in Hollywood would have the guts to produce a show like this today. Individual freedom is no longer valued like it was in Rod Serling's time.
Castro is the obsolete man.
"History will dissolve me."
Posted by: Scott at June 29, 2006 02:40 PM
you must have had insomnia too. I saw that last night and thought it was brilliant!
Posted by: Cigar Mike Pancier at June 29, 2006 05:10 PM
Serling was a brilliant man. I haven't seen this particular episode, but now I'd really like to. Quite an insightful truth that does indeed apply to castro and men like him.
Posted by: dramaturge at June 30, 2006 10:56 AM