

Reluctantly the doctor agrees, and the staff prepares for the removal. “Who decides what is normal? Who is this state that makes these rules? The state is not God! The state does not have the right to make ugliness a crime. “Who are these normal people?” she asks accusingly. You know you couldn’t live any kind of life among normal people.” His words are harsh, but his voice is sad and patient. “Miss Tyler!” the doctor remonstrates sharply. “People of my kind? Congregated? You mean segregated! You mean imprisoned! You are talking about a ghetto-a ghetto for freaks!” Her voice rises in a crescendo of anger. One of the alternatives, just in case the treatment is not successful, is to allow you to move into a special area in which people of your kind have congregated.” You know, there are many others who share your misfortune, who look much as you do. “Well, to look normal, the way you’d like to look. “In your case, think of the time and effort the state has expended, to make you look-” “Each of us is afforded as much opportunity as possible to fit in with society,” he says. If this effort fails, she can have no more. He reminds her that she has had treatment after treatment-eleven in all. Perhaps this time the treatment will be successful. When will he remove the bandages? Will her face be normal? Janet questions him with a mixture of fear and hope. We see only his hands, his shadow, his back as he looks out a window. With a consoling pat, the nurse moves away.Ī doctor enters Janet Tyler’s room. I never wanted to be beautiful, to look like a painting. The very first thing I can remember is another little child screaming when she saw me. “It’s pretty bad, isn’t it? Ever since I was little, people have turned away when they looked at me. “When they decide they can fix your face,” the nurse replies. “When will they take the bandages off?” Janet asks urgently. The nurse, visible only by her hands, answers kindly but briefly. Only her voice and her hands seem alive as she pleads with a nurse to describe the weather, the sky, the daylight, clouds-none of which she can see. A rigid mask of gauze bandages covers her face. Meet the patient in room 307, Janet Tyler. The following paragraphs provide a synopsis of the story: “Eye of the Beholder,” one of Serling’s most provocative episodes, probes our ideas about what is “normal” and how those ideas influence the way we think about ourselves and treat others. But the stories were far from ordinary because they took place in an imaginary world just beyond our own-“the twilight zone.” In creating the series, producer and writer Rod Serling hoped these stories would prompt thoughtful discussions of social issues. The episodes often had familiar settings and featured characters that seemed quite ordinary.
#Beholder meaning tv#
The Twilight Zone, a popular TV show that ran from 1959 to 1965, blended science fiction with fantasy and horror.
