The Twilight Zone: Science Fiction and Culture Industry:

                 “Real life is becoming indistinguishable from the movies”
 
   The Monsters on Maple Street: In this episode of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone, the community of a small city block of 1960s America hears a mysterious object flying above their homes, and shortly after all of their electronic devices and appliances stop working. The inhabitants of Maple St. come out of their homes to discuss what’s going on. Through a series of conversations, the idea that a member of the community is an alien invader from outer space begins to spread. leading to eventual mass hysteria and self-destruction of the community. The episode ends with the reveal that alien invaders had landed close by Maple St. and had allowed the panic, mob mentality and self-preservation inherent in mankind to destroy us instead of having to do it themselves. “This behavior, it’s the same every time?” “Yes, the world is full of Maple Streets.”
    This episode aired only six years after the American “Red Scare” which was the name given to the fear and anxiety that Communist agents of sympathizers we’re hiding among us in the US. The space invaders in this episode could be seen as an allegory for foreign agents coming into the country to cause riots, revolt, and unrest. I also think that Serling is providing commentary on the Social Contract, the idea that some individual freedoms are given up in exchange for safety and protection in our society. The Social Contract is broken once someones personal survival is put in jeopardy. The spreading of false information as fact is also brought into question in this episode. When forces outside the common persons understanding the strings to manipulate the masses, this can lead to internalized biases and fears. Charlie is quick to point fingers and even impulsively kill a man because he’s acting out of self-preservation and is impulsively acting on false information. We see this happening in our current political climate with President Trump calling for a Muslim Ban and increased security for the US/Mexico border to protect our country from “killers and rapists”. I think the major thing being put into question with Maple St. is this: Do we as humans in modern society cooperate out of a desire to live together as equals with others, or do we simply put on a front for our own self-interest/self-preservation? In short, is it so hard to believe that we really are the monsters?
     
     A World of Difference: This episode begins with up and coming businessman Author Curtis starting his workday. He drops off some paperwork with his secretary at the front desk, and after entering his office, hears someone yell “CUT”. The camera pulls back, and Arthur’s office is revealed to the set for a movie set, except Arthur isn’t an actor, and doesn’t know what’s going on. The people on the set claim his name is Jerry, and that he’s the lead for a movie. After a series of events, Arthur find his way back on the set, and he’s transported back to the TV world, but we as the audience never know if either Jerry or Arthur was the “real” man. This episode can be seen in many ways. One way is to look at it in terms of fictional characters becoming fully realized as “Real” people. In the moderns era, it’s not that uncommon for someone to know the entire canon Superman comics going back to the 1940s, but then not be able to remember their mothers birthday. Modern audiences love consumable media and their favorite characters so much that they almost become a part of our reality. The lines between fiction and fantasy begin to blur, and we begin to filter our lives through fictional characters and worlds. Another way to look at it would be to see the episode through the lens of escapism. It’s often very tempting if your an outcast, or have bad things going on in your life to want to escape from your real life problems. It’s possible that Jerry wanted to escape from his crummy life and his awful wife, and so fooled himself into thinking he really was Arthur Curtis, up and coming businessman going on vacation with his cute wife, and having playful banter with his secretary. Jerry wishes to escape his complex world for one that is more predictable, simple, and static. The ending can be seen as Jerry becoming a ghost of the real world and becoming fully committed to the fictional one.