The Obsolete Man
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| "The Obsolete Man" | |||||||
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| The Twilight Zone episode | |||||||
 Burgess Meredith, awaiting his fate, in The Obsolete Man |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 65 |
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| Written by | Rod Serling | ||||||
| Directed by | Elliot Silverstein | ||||||
| Featured music | Uncredited stock, almost all of it from Bernard Herrmann's score for a radio adaptation of "Brave New World" | ||||||
| Production no. | 173-3661 | ||||||
| Original airdate | June 2, 1961 | ||||||
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Burgess Meredith: Romney Wordsworth |
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| List of Twilight Zone episodes | |||||||
"The Obsolete Man" is an episode of the television series The Twilight Zone.
Contents |
[edit] Opening narration
Opening narration (help·info):
| “ | You walk into this room at your own risk, because it leads to the future; not a future that will be, but one that might be. This is not a new world: It is simply an extension of what began in the old one. It has patterned itself after every dictator who has ever planted the ripping imprint of a boot on the pages of history since the beginning of time. It has refinements, technological advances, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom. But like every one of the super states that preceded it, it has one iron rule: Logic is an enemy, and truth is a menace. This is Mr. Romney Wordsworth, in his last forty-eight hours on Earth. He's a citizen of the State, but will soon have to be eliminated, because he's built out of flesh and because he has a mind. Mr. Romney Wordsworth, who will draw his last breaths in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
[edit] Synopsis
In a future totalitarian state, Romney Wordsworth (Meredith) is a man put on trial for the crime of being "obsolete." His occupation, to the shock of everyone, is being that of a librarian (a profession punishable by death, as the State has eliminated literacy) and he also believes in God (also punishable by death, as the State has declared that there is no God). He is prosecuted by the chancellor (Weaver), who expresses in front of the assembled court that Wordsworth, in not being an asset to the State, shall be liquidated.
After being convicted of obsolescence, Wordsworth is given a choice as to his method of dying. Drawing a somewhat questioning reaction from the court, he cryptically requests that he be granted a personal assassin to whom he may disclose his preferred method of death. He also requests that his execution be televised.
Later, a camera is installed in Wordsworth's study to broadcast live to the nation, so its citizens may see the condemned in his final hours. He summons the chancellor, who shows up at 11:15 PM. After some discussion, Wordsworth reveals to the unsuspecting chancellor that he has locked the door, and that his chosen method of death is by an explosive hidden in the room and set to go off at midnight. He intends to show the nation how a spiritual man faces death, and proceeds to read the verses of Psalm 23 and the beginning of Psalm 53, among others, from his illegal and thus cherished Bible. He also points out that, as the events are being broadcast live, the State will risk losing face by trying to rescue a high-ranking chancellor. As the time winds down, Wordsworth's calm acceptance of death stands in sharp contrast with the chancellor's increasing panic.
Moments before the bomb explodes, the chancellor, in a desperate plea, finally begs the old man to let him go: "In the name of God, let me out!" Wordsworth immediately obliges, but not without repeating the mention of God—which the State had "proven" not to exist.
The chancellor bursts out of the room and down the stairs just as the bomb explodes and kills Wordsworth, who dies with dignity.
In the final scene, the chancellor, now stripped of his rank and reduced to a criminal, is declared obsolete. The crowd in the courtroom eventually surrounds him, and proceeds to drag him, kicking and screaming, out of the room.
[edit] Closing narration
Closing narration (help·info):
| “ | The chancellor, the late chancellor, was only partly correct. He was obsolete, but so is the State, the entity he worshipped. Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, the dignity, the rights of man, that state is obsolete. A case to be filed under "M" for mankind—in the Twilight Zone. | ” |
[edit] Preview for next week's story
[This was actually a repeat of the first episode (10/2/59)]
Announcer: "And now, Mr. Serling."
| “ | I'm about to show you a picture of something that isn't what it looks like. (cut to what appears to be a...) Pleasant little town? It isn't this at all. It's a nightmare. (back to Serling) It's a chilling frightening journey of one man into a mystifying unknown. You're invited to join that man on a most unique experience. Next week, Earl Holliman asks, and you'll ask with him, "Where Is Everybody?". | ” |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- DeVoe, Bill. (2008). Trivia from The Twilight Zone. Albany, GA: Bear Manor Media. ISBN 978-1593931360
- Grams, Martin. (2008). The Twilight Zone: Unlocking the Door to a Television Classic. Churchville, MD: OTR Publishing. ISBN 978-0970331090
