![]() ![]() The episode was just normal as it rolled along with that idea before the audience discovers that there is a mandate to look normal, to look like everyone else, to be like everyone else. This desperation to conform to what society wants and what society expects is lethal, in this case, and would otherwise rob a normal woman of a perfectly fine shot at life.īeauty as being skin-deep is certainly an idea that has been broached before, but here it's taken to a much farther level. ![]() She even posits having herself killed if the surgery doesn't work. She just wants to belong, she'd do anything. While the doctor does not object to the totalitarian wishes of the state, that anyone who is an "undesirable" must be purged from society and put away somewhere, he does recognize that Janet is just a normal person on the inside, and he wonders if that's really the thing that matters.įor Janet, it's all a matter of fitting in, no matter the cost. Janet and the doctor both provide incredibly insightful takes on what conformity is, and how far it can take someone and how it can truly become so dangerous. And for much of the episode we're led to believe that she's abnormal maybe because of her behaviors, but just because of how she looks.īut there's an interesting scene with the lead doctor where he explains that, despite being so horrendous, she's normal, she's just as human as anyone else, and if she had the face of a normal person, they'd be giving her a shot. Janet just wants to be "normal" or whatever that means, and it's so she can feel loved and accepted. This episode touches a lot upon what beauty and conformity really mean in society, and how dangerous these flimsy concepts can be. She has bandages wrapped around her face that she must wear for the next day or so before they can discover if the surgery worked or not. The basic plot is that a woman, Janet Tyler, has a horribly disfigured face and there is a dedicated team of doctors that have now made eleven attempts to fix her, and this is the last one before she gets sent away. That twist is also what makes this episode so well known among fans and in pop culture. If you enjoyed this post, please enter your email address in the subscription box to stay tuned for more updates.It's rather difficult to talk about this episode without going into the twist near the ending, which is where a lot of the themes talked about in the episode really come to light. Also commendable is Janet’s reveal in the final sequence, which, though somewhat predictable in retrospect, demonstrates a meticulous attention to detail that will appeal to both casual viewers and diehard Serling fans. The quintessential episode of The Twilight Zone, “Eye of the Beholder” suggests that the value of a human being can never be assessed by superficial measures alone. Note that in spite of her “grotesque” appearance, Janet fervently desires to be a productive member of society even at the expense of her own dignity-a sad testament to the fact that many governments would rather exile, incarcerate, or exterminate outcasts than allow such individuals to fulfill their God-given potential. prisons, mental wards, segregated neighborhoods, etc.) so as to avoid interfering with the lives of so-called ordinary people. “Eye of the Beholder” contains a poignant commentary on the cruel, ineffective methods utilized by the state when dealing with “undesirables” who, having been arbitrarily classified as such, are often relocated to artificially erected communities (e.g. Especially worth praising, the voice and mannerisms of Maxine Stuart convey the emotional anguish that one would expect a lifetime of rejection to elicit-an aspect that makes credible a fantastic, if not immediately obvious, fictional reality.Ī series of obscuring camera angles are initially employed in order to conceal the true nature of Rod Serling’s dystopian society and the “normal” citizens that compose it, thereby encompassing Janet Tyler and her caretakers with an intriguing layer of mystery-an outcome that, when coupled with Janet’s claustrophobic, suffocating reaction to the bandages that imprison her, generates a compelling air of suspense prior the unforgettable twist ending for which “Eye of the Beholder” is so iconic. “Eye of the Beholder” creates a nightmarish world from the limited surroundings in which it takes place. If unaffected by treatment, Janet will be forcibly moved to a colony consisting of those with deformities similar to her own. Gordon, Jennifer Howard, George Keymas, Joanna Heyes, Edson Stroll, and Donna Douglasĭisfigured patient Janet Tyler (Maxine Stuart and Donna Douglas) eagerly awaits the outcome of her eleventh medical procedure, the mandatory number designated by the state. ![]()
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