The Twilight Zone
The show ran from 1959 to 1964. We’d watch episodes as part of media class in school. I loved it. The key to my heart is a good unexpected twist.
Shift my perspective.
Two specific episodes will forever stand out: The Eye of the Beholder (1960) and Time Enough at Last (1959).
The Eye of the Beholder is a poignant reminder that beauty depends.
[Spoiler Alert] A woman has her entire face wrapped in bandages. She’s undergone the maximum allowable amount of surgeries attempting to make her look normal. The doctors and nurses describe her face as a “pitiful twisted lump of flesh.” Unable to bear the bandages any more, she begs the doctors to remove them early. They peel the bandages only to discover that the procedure was a complete failure and her face did not change. She looks like us…where the doctors and nurses all look like piggish, droopy, asymmetric Things. Normal society is where ghouls are beautiful, and so she’s cast back into the ghetto fringes of the city. [/Spoiler]
There’s beauty in everything. It’s all on how we see it.
Time Enough at Last is in the juxtaposition.
[Spoiler Alert] A bookish little man has tumultuous relationships with people. He retreats from the tribulations of society through his love of reading. After waking up as the sole survivor of a nuclear holocaust, he desperately searches for other survivors…and finds none. He’s at the brink of despair, but miraculously finds a library with all books in great condition and a lifetime supply of canned foods. It’s everything he really needs. With all he truly cares about finally at his fingertips, he bends down to pick up his first book…and his eyeglasses fall to the ground and shatter into a thousand pieces. “That’s not fair. That’s not fair at all.” [/Spoiler]
Life is but a series of events and how we adjust. Life just happens.
Stories define culture through the sharing of perspectives. It teaches us that everyone is living a life as beautiful and complex as your own (ie. sonder). Cities have two tales. History is written by the winners. Life’s richer when we can share more than just our own. Tell me about the others in your shoes.
Perspective.