Twilight Zone is such a cool show. I mean, it was made in like the 60s, so you’d think it’d be some wholesome lame piece of crap, but honestly, it’s pretty rad. It deals with a lot of fantasy and science fiction, culminating in some bizarre, usually macabre, ending.
My favorite episode from the series totally has to be “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”. For whatever reason, I really connect with the protagonist Marilyn, and feel her anguish throughout the story. Don’t know if you’ve ever read the book The Uglies, but this episode totally reminds me of that. Like, I couldn’t imagine being stuck in that kind of vapid world.
So, the backstory is that in Marilyn’s futuristic society, everybody upon the age of 19 goes through a full-body reconstructive surgery to make them the standard of beauty. However, it’s not like you get to choose exactly how you look, you’re given a selection of models to pick from. And, due to the overwhelming popularity of Number 12 for girls, and Number 17 for boys, the majority of people look exactly the same, and are only distinguishable by their name tags.
The surgery eliminates disease, illness, and extends your lifetime by 180 years, while making you gorgeous in the eyes of others. Which sounds totally amazing. However, what they don’t tell you, is that they’re going to f*ck with your head. During the process, they “Correct” the brain, to where you feel nothing but numbing happiness, and can only think superficial thoughts. Any attempt for deeper understanding is futile, your only concern is how to fix your hair, which clothes to wear, or whether to play electronic baseball or super soccer.
Marilyn’s whole issue is that she doesn’t want the transformation. She wants to remain an individual, not caring how others perceive her appearance. She repeatedly tells other characters how she feels, but they’re all unable to comprehend her reasonings. There’s a point where Marilyn breaks down crying, while her best friend Valerie shows no sign of sympathetic understanding, being unable to grasp the magnitude of Marilyn’s feelings.
You later find out that the surgery isn’t optional, and is being ran by world leaders in order to ensure conformity. Which means Marilyn is locked away in a hospital, under the guise of just doing psychological tests to figure out why she’s so unwilling, where she’s then forced into completing the transformation. The last scenes are of Marilyn gushing over her reflection in the mirror, being ecstatic that she looks just like Valerie, having lost the majority of her personality.
Crazy sh*t, right? I connect with this so much, because I feel like I’m also trapped in a world where nobody understands my depth, where everything is just as constantly shallow and superficial as it is in Marilyn’s universe. Just thankfully, I don’t have to be forced into turning into a beautiful mindless zombie. There’s lots of other episodes just as weird and enjoyable as this, go watch some on Netflix or something, so I don’t feel like a loser for being the only one watching this sh*t.
