The Lure of Forced Utopia: Twilight Zone’s “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”
Watching The Twilight Zone can sometimes seem like a Rorschach test. What seems obvious to you may not even occur to someone else — and what they see can leave you scratching your head.
Case in point: “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”. This Season 5 episode deals with a future society in which everyone must undergo a “transformation” when they reach a certain age. They browse a set of pre-arranged body types, select one of these attractive models by number, and one painless operation later, presto, they look like all the other people with that number (hence the title). Ugliness is a thing of the past.
In the episode, however, one rather plain-looking girl, Marilyn, rebels. She doesn’t want a new face, a new body — or the transformed mind that goes with it. But her mother, her friends, and the others in her social circle will have none of it. They cheerfully keep chipping away at her resolve. In the end, she’s simply forced into it, but now she doesn’t mind. She’s last glimpsed excitedly admiring the fact that now looks just like her friend Valerie.
I’ve given only the barest synopsis here, one that doesn’t really do the episode justice. So if you haven’t seen it, I urge you to check it out. The writing, acting and direction is top-notch. The dialogue is filled with sharp, interesting quotes that underscore what I and many other fans feel is the central message — that the true horror is this so-called utopia, not Marilyn’s resistance. It’s a stirring paean to individuality.
But as a similarly themed Twilight Zone classic notes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. After quoting the episode on Twitter recently, I got this reply:
Love the episode. But is it such a bad thing? Come on, she was quite happy afterward. I suppose other races had their own change machines. They’re just making everybody perfect. Sounds good to me.
— steven wynn (@stevenwynn37) January 24, 2018
I honestly thought he might be kidding. With no facial expressions, tone of voice, etc., to tip you off, you can’t always tell, and there’s plenty of dry humor pinging around the Internet. But no:
I understand your response. But I have to ask myself, after the transformation is there no more racism, murder, poverty,…etc? If so, having to live a sanitized existence is a small price to pay.
— steven wynn (@stevenwynn37) January 28, 2018
I hadn’t expected this. What seemed self-evident to me was anything but for this fan. But I didn’t feel as if I could explain my position adequately with a quick tweet or two, so I told him it would probably take a blog post to unpack my answer.
After all, there is a kind of superficial appeal to his view. Consider what Professor Sig says when Marilyn asks him why she’s being pressured to undergo the Transformation against her will. He explains its origins:
Many years ago, wiser men than I decided to try and eliminate the reasons for inequality and injustice in this world of ours. They saw in physical unattractiveness one of the factors which made men hate. So they charged the finest scientific minds with the task of eliminating ugliness in mankind.
Who wouldn’t want a world purged of inequality and injustice? It sounds ideal, to put it mildly. They’re “just making everybody perfect”, as Steven says. And if all the men are handsome and the women are beautiful, who’s to complain?
Marilyn, for one. And me. And many other fans. Not because the thought of getting rid of the social ills listed above doesn’t appeal — it does — but because it’s not a “small price” to pay. It’s an enormous one, in fact: our very selves.
We won’t be a prettier or handsomer version of ourselves when they’re done. We’ll be robots, programmed to act a certain way. And even if that way is good, the methodology isn’t: we’re not pursuing truth and justice because we recognize they’re good and freely choosing them, but because we’ve been hard-wired to do so, à la A Clockwork Orange.
“The transformation is not merely desirable from an aesthetic point of view,” Dr. Rex tells Marilyn. “Experience has shown us that it plays a very important role in psychological adjustment.”
Indeed it does. Our free will, our personality, our quirks … all of it would be gone. It’s not a “sanitized existence” — it’s a neutered one. Pre-transformation, you’re you, a unique individual who’s never been seen before in the history of the world, and never will be seen again. Post-transformation, you’re the 83,937th version of number whatever. A copy of a copy of a copy.
What virtue is there in studying if everyone is programmed to get all A’s? Or falling in love if you’re doing it because you have no choice? Or pursuing a certain career because “wiser men” selected it for you?
Have you ever thanked a vacuum for making the floor look cleaner? No, because it’s a machine doing exactly what it’s built to do. It has no choice. But if a friend or family member takes out the vacuum (especially without you asking), and runs it over your carpets, you’re going to thank them, and probably quite warmly.
After all, they didn’t have to do it. They chose to do the right thing, even if it meant sacrificing some time in which they could have been doing something for themselves. That’s the key to understanding this episode.
Rod Serling must have agreed, or he wouldn’t have produced Charles Beaumont’s witty and thoughtful script. Serling made his antipathy toward “inequality and injustice” quite plain over the course of his career. So if, in his view, the “wiser men” of Number 12’s world were on to something — if the Transformation was a viable solution — he wouldn’t have aired a story that showed how dangerous this way of thinking really is.
We’re not mannequins. We’re people who must learn to see the value in being virtuous, and strive to do so. And when we fail, we must pick ourselves up and try again. Not because we have to. But because we want to.
***
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Hope to see you in some corner of the fifth dimension soon!
Posted on 02/09/2018, in Twilight Zone and tagged Charles Beaumont, Number 12 Looks Just Like You, Rod Serling, Twilight Zone. Bookmark the permalink. 26 Comments.
Shadow & Substance 
Great post. One of your best.
Thanks, Craig. I really appreciate that.
Very insightful! Enjoyed reading this.
Thanks, Mark!
You’ve made your point in an eloquent way. I can understand where that comment is coming from, there may be immediate benefits to living in that world. But as you said, it’s only looking at the superficial. Who wants to live in a world where everyone looks alike? Where feelings are stamped out? – And the models, there’s only a few set choices. It opens another can of worms about race too – do other countries have models based on their nation’s features? Is there no mixing and matching? We don’t get to see that. Or have these ‘wise’ men decided on the master race? That would supposedly put an end to racism and prejudice, wouldn’t it?
This is almost like a robotic world. I remember as a child how this episode was shocking when Marilyn tells the truth about her father and the only reaction she gets is a vacant smile. It’s still chilling. You wonder how many more holdouts are left around the world, dragged kicking and screaming to the transformation lab. What does this do to human DNA? That will create different features on the offspring and they won’t look like the numbers. Or I suppose children are born and then when they come of age they’re forced to pick a model body? I think that’s what it was in the opening of the episode.
I love all the questions this episode brings out. The story could definitely be expanded.
I couldn’t agree more. The layers to this story are really incredible when you think about it. The ramifications of this mindset are truly frightening. It reminds me of Aldous Huxley’s book “Brave New World”, published in 1932 about just such a designer world. Like Beaumont, he took a dim view of it, and intended his book as a type of warning bell. So yes, this story could definitely be expanded, no question.
Yes, that book came to mind! I haven’t read it in close to 20 years, I’ll need to pick it up again. Out of the big 3 bleak future world books I’d read in college – Fahrenheit 451 was my favorite because I loved books and reading.
I’ll have…a 2/3 caff triple ristretto affogato Number 3, two-pump Number 13, one-pump classic Number 8, 2% Number 12 to the second line, three-scoops Number 1, three-scoops Number 11, two-scoop Number 7-and-4 mix…with, ummm, a caramel Number 2 drizzle!
Ha! See, now when you apply this approach to the wonderful world of coffee drinks, I’m totally on board! Thanks for the laugh, Frank. :)
Excellent post, Paul. This episode was hard to watch, for many reasons. At no time did it seem like a life I’d want to live.
This episode illustrated how easily we might be coaxed into giving up our individuality. I don’t think it’s all that far fetched. Would we trade being an individual if we could live a lot longer?
When I compare that to how much of our privacy and identity we gladly give up in exchange for free email, convenient shopping and somewhat easier travel, I don’t think it’s a reach.
The other thing I never understood about this utopia is the fact that they seem to have created a servant class. I was always upset when Marylin’s mother chastises the maid for not remembering to call her “Lana” with something like “why is it so hard for you people to remember that…”
Thanks, Dan. I agree, this world in no way appeals to me — hence my surprise at the Twitter reply that prompted this post. And you’re right about how easily most people give up their individuality. Marilyn stands out because she is unusually strong-willed (in fact, they finally just force her to take it), but few of us have spines that stiff. Like you said, we give it up gladly just to get free stuff!
And you’re right, there does seem to be a servant class in this world, albeit one that’s only hinted at in passing. Just goes to show you, you can make things “perfect” without making them perfect.
I think you responded well, Paul. It would take a blog post to answer that comment.
That Twitter exchange raises an interesting point, I get what they are saying about racism and hate but without individuality nobody would be special any longer. Also wouldn’t people get confused about who they were talking to if everyone looked identical and had the same name? Also what about age? Do the good looks fade after a time with age or not?
I always wonder as well about this episode is there thought control? Are certain feelings and desires erased along with the transformation? This episode is frightening to me because nobody in this society has free will anymore (it’s a sort of pressure to get the transformation)and they all think that they have to look a certain way to be happy. Today young people are obsessed with their looks, their weight, and with living up to some sort of standard. Just be you for goodness sake, stop trying to satisfy other people over your own needs and happiness.
Why is it so hard for people to just look beyond the physical and see the person inside? In my opinion it is your mind, opinions and actions that count more than your attractiveness, weight etc.
To me the greatest ugliness is the human ability to hate another human because of their skin colour, gender etc. Physical ugliness does not cause hate. A lack of understanding, resentment, stupidity and ignorance cause hate. Making people look beautiful and handsome won’t erase ugliness because that is something that comes from within.
Good questions. There is a reference at one point to people living longer at one point — that the Transformation improves the cells, etc, and enables people to live longer lives that, it seems, are largely pain- and disease-free. So I would imagine there’s either no signs of aging, or relatively few.
As for thought control, I believe it is that most assuredly. After all, Marilyn doesn’t emerge from the Transformation and say, “I resent the fact that you forced me to do it, but now that I see ‘new’ self, I kind of like the idea”. No, she’s like a different person. And that’s the whole point — it’s not just her appearance that’s changed, but her inner self.
Your last two paragraphs are right on target. Hear, hear!
I show this episode to my students when we study dystopian themes. It seems particularly fitting to today’s world, where there is ever more emphasis on the physical and superficial, and surgery to this end abounds. But it promises a better world, at the expense of one’s own identity.
Excellent! Glad to hear it. I hope that they not only absorb the lessons of this episode, but discover the series itself and go on to watch more episodes.
Every semester, I show this in my gender class (and sometimes other classes as well). Afterward, I point out what we don’t know about this world. Are all the patterns caucasian? Do you have to choose a pattern of the same sex as your birth sex? (After all, why would the state care, so long as you are choosing one of their patterns?) Do the psychological manipulations (and “instant smile”) affect sexual orientation?
Also, what does Lana learn in “culture class”? I’ve always been confused about her interaction with Grace, the maid (i.e., Lana wondering why getting “you people to use first names is such a problem”). More needed to be said here. Does “you people” refer to servants? Why would it be difficult to get them to use first names with their employers? Why is Lana so obsessed with getting Grace and Val to use her first name?
All excellent questions, and let’s face it — given time, we could all probably come up with lots more. I’m sure that’s a big part of the reason for TZ’s immortality. It gives us so much to think about.
Yes, Serling brilliantly questioned the tyranny of the State, Left and Right–all dogmatic socio-political assumptions. The Twilight Zone is the in-between realm, the metaxis, the realm where unfettered imagination can undo and remake all things. AND, we do not live in the Twilight Zone–it is another dimension alongside space and time, sight and sound, science and superstition. The Twilight Zone must never be disconnected from the practical Where-we-live Zone. The postmodern brilliance of Serling’s Twilight Zone must be juxtaposed to the romantic notion of the Andy Griffith show, or we have only dissonant disintegration with no hope of harmonious integration. The sperm cell crashes into the ovum in order to create order. After the imagination has crashed into the socio-cultural assumptions, actual order must follow. Not all ideas, cultures and images are equally good, just and beautiful. Complementary balance between questions and answers must be sought.
Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung explores this topic in his little book, “The Undiscovered Self”. Jung wrote his essay in Europe in 1959. Here is a sample quote: “Instead of the concrete individual, you have the names of organizations and, at the highest point, the abstract idea of the State as the principle of political reality. The moral responsibility of the individual is then inevitably replaced by the policy of the State (raison d’etat). Instead of moral and mental differentiation of the individual, you have public welfare and the raising of the living standard. The goal and meaning of individual life (which is the only real life) no longer lie in the individual development but in the policy of the State, which is thrust upon the individual from outside and consists in the execution of an abstract idea which ultimately tends to attract all life to itself. The individual is increasingly deprived of the moral decision as to how he should live his own life, and instead is ruled, fed, clothed, and educated as a social unit, accommodated in the appropriate housing unit, and amused in accordance with the standards that give pleasure and satisfaction to the masses. The rulers, in their turn, are just as much social units as the ruled, and are distinguished only by the fact they are specialized mouthpieces of State doctrine. They do not need to be personalities capable of judgment, but thoroughgoing specialists who are unusable outside their line of business. State policy decides what shall be taught and studied.”
― C.G. Jung, The Undiscovered Self
Ah. Very pertinent quote, Michael. Thanks for sharing it.
Hello fellow Zone fans and I am a little late to the party it seems..I recently found your site through a web search. I owe the DVD ultimate collection and have been watching TZ for decades including marathons and SciFi channel episodes, ME TV, etc. Number 12 reminds me of Serling’s “Obsolete Man” episode where the State determines who fits in and has value and no allowance for individuality even at the point of being ruled as obsolete or transformed in Marilyn Cumberlee’s case. I agree with the other posters about what is true beauty if everyone looks and acts the same and act like automatons. Our world is eerily becoming more and more like episode over 50+ years from when it first aired. Rod Serling was a mystic in his time and foresaw many of today’s problems. He hated censorship and unfortunately, more and more, of this is rearing its heavy boot. One of the last lines that Rod mentions is this current time of plastic surgery and bodybuilding. Wow! 50+ years later and this is still going on (ex: The woman who has surgery to look like a Barbie Doll!). TZ is one of the greatest anthology series ever made. Man do I miss the 60’s shows! The Fugitive was another great show although not sci-fi.
Botox, anyone?
I scoured the internet and am surprised no one has thought of this yet.
As s longstanding TZ fan, the parallels struck me years ago.
Quite scary!
Great analysis. I agree entirely. I like watching the Twilight Zone because it’s one of the earliest glimpses in the TV age of what people thought about in the late 1950s and early ’60s. We always think of those times as more innocent but the same (universal) issues come up as do today.
Thanks, Marshall. They sure do. TZ’s writers tapped so expertly into human nature as they wove these fascinating tales. No wonder they still appeal so much today.
Makes me think of the Mandatory Covid Vaccine Mandates!