"Be Seein Ya"... The Illusion of Displacement in the Prisoner

in #informationwar5 years ago

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When most people think of Patrick McGoohan, they think of The Prisoner, the British TV show of the 1960's. For whatever reason I don't, although I enjoyed the show, I always think of him as Judge Noose in A Time to Kill. Be that as it may... One of the key elements in any work of science fiction- if in fact that's what the prisoner is- is the feeling of displacement... such as when the POV character awakens in "the Village." In reality, however, and the village is a reflection of reality, it's a metaphor for self- the village within which we all exist is one of our own creation... there is in fact no displacement.

The show itself was the creation of Patrick McGoohan who was becoming burned out on the Secret Agent series and wanted to do something different. He wrote several episodes both as himself and under pseudonyms such as Archibald Schwartz. A cult immediately arose, mostly of intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals who began to dissect the show on many levels looking for hidden meanings. According to McGoohan himself the aim of the show was to showcase the evils of materialism and consumerism and a rejection of progress. McGoohan believes it will be progress that causes the downfall of civilization... faceless, nameless bureaucrats driven by technology- or a technocracy if you prefer.

Everyone in the Village has a number instead of a name- just as we are all becoming numbers, with Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, etc., all designed to destroy identities and individuality, as anyone with experience in the military can attest. Our existence mirrors life in the Village... a prison that we ourselves craft and facilitate. By indulging in the materialistic, consumerist world we trade our souls for conformity... a prison that even McGoohan admits we are incapable of escaping. Progress is our enemy. Not because it is inherently bad, but because we race headlong into newer and better technologies before thinking through the ramifications of what we already have. As we succumb to the allure of technology, Technocrats are given more and more power over our lives- individuality is destroyed... for evidence one need look no further than China.

The elusive # 1 as it turns out is none other than ourselves. We all live in a little Village- externally a symbol for the milieu in which we live. Symbolism is a big part of the subplot- the bicycle, which I always found silly, is a symbol for progress. The monkey mask in the last episode, a symbol for humanity... monkey see, monkey do. Perhaps most profound is the door of McGoohan's former residence opening on its own... it tells us that no matter where we are, we are all still trapped in the Village. The Village is actually internal, we carry it with us no matter where we are... "Freedom is a myth."

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I think I've heard of this show, but have never seen it. It sounds really interesting though. You know, when I saw the title I thought it would be like about actual prisoners and that sounded interested too, but then I read it and found it's a whole different way of interesting.
And very resonating in this weird ass world of ours. I think we can just be "free" within the confines of our prison.
Very well-written!

McGoohan believes it will be progress that causes the downfall of civilization... faceless, nameless bureaucrats driven by technology- or a technocracy if you prefer.

Well he must be some kind of prophet cause we are heading down that road fast

He does indeed... if you watch the video (which is pretty old itself- 80's) he says that was pretty much the thrust of the show.

The force of evil is strong and cunning. It knows no mercy. It knows only destruction, lies and death. Yet the power of Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the Life, is much stronger than anything that exists. And on Him i build my life, the foundation is the Rock that is the Creator.

Jesus has already won the war. The battles still to be fought always honor God when we carry them out in faith.

The beauty of a Christic life is that there's never any displacement, nor is there a prison. They can imprison my body but my soul is free.

Yes each of us are no more than a number to our government. A mere corporation ID for which they can enslave us as a prisoner as we are saturated in the ills of debt. The parallels are there. Thanks @richq11

Thank you my friend... the funny part is that back when the show was on very few knew about what it really meant!

great entry for the contest.

I spammed the link to some of the commenters before i realized that might not not be the most etiquetty of thing

mi cupla mi culpa maxima mi culpa ;>

Oh well... what are ya goin to do! Glad you liked it... I just happened across that interview and loved the contrast between McGoohan's reality of the show and all the crap read into it by the "intellectuals."

loved the contrast between McGoohan's reality of the show

ROFL

eggheads like to hear themselves yap (and I'm guilty myself on occasion lol)

I snuck the interview link into the main post hoping folks would actually fully read, and thus find it. A great inteveriw, and while I don't fully agree with everything McGoohan says, he makes good arguments in a rational manner

One of the overlooked points in the already overlooked interview is that we as humans are not fully adapting our selves to new tech before we jump into the next tech advance. So psychic of him considering what instant gratification mobile devices are doing to us 30 years later.

All comes back to the choices we make.

Like he said, he's a fellow Luddite... the whole show was a rejection of progress. He was also spot on about the illusion of freedom and the societal demand for conformity. Technology is how conformity is enforced... he may have even used the term technocracy- I forget.

I'd go with it's a rejection of progress for the point of progress. he seemed to say that we are playing with these tools without understanding them (oh, the big boys understand them in terms of societal control, but the bulk of humanity doesn't even care)

and i don't remember if i am putting words in his mouth here, or if it's just my own biases hitting my memoery (its only 36 minutes, maybe watch it agian)...but it is the individual that CHOOSES to play with the toys and rules the big boys provide...without examing if there is anything else in the shiny package

Technology is how conformity is enforced.

Snort of laughter at this image ;> tech started out as a bone club ;>

Conformity is not alweays a bad thing. But like progress, conformity for the sake of conformity misses the point.

When progress, or conformity, don't make for a better human, there is not point

the big boys understand them in terms of societal control

but I don't think they understand in terms of consequences either

I think that's a lot of his point.

very much so. but i think equally he puts the onus on people for not choosing wisely. well, honestly i think he puts more onus on the big boys, he he does call out the little guy too

there is a related point here as well. They made the show for the 20% of folks that would "get it" (i dont recall if that was this interview or a different one I read), if other people like it, all well and good, but it was made aiming at the 20%

"Without understanding them"... or more importantly the consequences- or perhaps consequences be damned. What's a few million people, more or less!

I think he's trying to say that the "Big boys" will force them on you if the shiny package ruse doesn't work... Remember, he wasn't offered a choice to go to the Village or not- it was imposed.

Here's another important element of the show I bet nobody else even comes up with... non-violent resistance. It wasn't until the final episode that he actually fought back.

and he did make note of that in the interview as well!

when it comes down to it, force IS the ultimate resolution...it's why tyrannies tend towards "success" (as far as maintaining power), and free societies that pretend that self-defense is a "bad" thing are not long for the world

Having grown up in the UK I used to watch that every week, and it is all you said and a lot more.
Though the last bit you stated I have to disagree with to some extent.

"Freedom is a myth."

It may well be if you live within the norm of passports and drivers licenses, though when you free yourself of those bonds (ages) like I did and move somewhere nobody knows you and authorities do not even know you exist, freedom is attainable, and I love it.

Funny you should disagree... I was quoting McGoohan.

1 of my favorite scenes = there is no I - only a number.

We are all our own # 1... My favorite episode was 7, Many Happy Returns.

Superb episode as were they all.
Have you seen the Roald Dahl tales of the unexpected series? You can download every episode on line for free, they were also superb viewing with a twist, bit like the twilight zone you guys had.

No but it sounds interesting... I wonder if YT has it.

I would think so, if not you can download the whole lot, they are roughly 30 mins long each, :-)

https://torrentz2.is/c424587d75a0f77d1e20356f34d783c5098f1e0d

YouTube has them all... Thanks!

Yes I know, hence saying I disagree.

It is attainable, and he was writing from his personal perspective, as in he was trapped into the bonds of his own life, most probably with a BBC contract, and that is like signing up to the devil itself.

earlier in his career he was stuck in a production contract

That would explain it then, cheers.

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