The Obsolete Man

There are times when the only way that what I want to say is through someone elses words. At this time in my life, those words come from he pen of Rod Serling, and through the lips of Burgess Merideth and Fritz Weaver.

The episode is "The Obsolete Man." It was broadcast on "The Twilight Zone" June 2, 1962.

In a future totalitarian state, Romney Wordsworth (Burgess Meredith) is a man put on trial for the crime of being "obsolete". His occupation as a librarian is a crime punishable by death, as the State has eliminated literacy. He also believes in God, also punishable by death, as the State has declared that there are no Gods. He is prosecuted by the Chancellor (Fritz Weaver), who announces in front of the assembled court that Wordsworth, in not being an asset to the State, shall be liquidated.

After being convicted, Wordsworth is allowed to choose his method of execution. He cryptically requests that he be granted a personal assassin to whom he may privately disclose his preferred method of execution. He also requests that his execution be televised. Both requests are granted by the court.

We have always had ways to, shall we say, assign humans. Thoughts, faiths, beliefs, all controlled not by a government, but by society's unprinted rule. Ther are many ways that it is done, by suspicion ("Are you conservative/liberal/black/white/Christian enough?"), the leading question, the assumption that you must be A in order to be B. And when subtlety does not work, the time honoured methods of shunning, the boycott, ridicule. Then imprisonment. And when all else fails, death.

This story is a cautioionary one. Imagine what may happen if a small number of people truly wanted to go their own path, and not the path of the mob. We are coming dangerously close to that mob rule when, if your thoughts, action, life, faith do not meet specifics, death would be the only remedy. And, as the tale above shows, some who advocate that may very well become its victims.

It has been said that those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. It is my sad duty to report that not only are we on the way to repetition, we may add to it. Live, in living color. And in high-definition.

My World...and Welcome to it.

Last week, Keith Olbermann began a series of features called "Fridays with Thurber."  James Thurber, the iconclastic humorist/artist, was the favorite author of Keith's dad.  And it was a story of Thurber's that Keith read as his father began that final journey.

On the first episode, Keith read a short take called "A Box to Hide In."  I posted that story on Twitter, only it was read by the great raconteur Jean Shepard.  The story held great meaning for me, because for the longest time I wanted a box to hide in.

Here is Mr. Olbermann's reading, with background on Thurber.




So when I heard that, it made me interested in Thurber's work.  And then, popped a memory from my sordid past.

At a time when NBC's prime time offerings were run by people who had a bit more imagination....and courage (please renew Heroes)...the network put on something on Monday nights called My World and Welcome To It.  Somebody must of thought that people may have been smart enough to understand Thurber...and it could be easier to swallow if it were placed in the form of a standard one-camera sitcom.

That person was Sheldon Leonard.  The orginal embodiement of all things Damon Runyon, whose brilliance  went so far as thing such as Make Room For Daddy, The Andy Griffith Show, and The Dick Van Dyke Show. In short..the man was a genius.

And the cast he assembled was prime: William Windom, a character actor of considerable range who, up until then, was know as the Mr. Morley to Inger Stevens' Farmer's Daughter. Joan Hotchkiss went on to play Oscar's GF on The Odd Couple, and Lisa Gerritsen went on to play the precocious daughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
It lasted one glorious season.

So now, via YouTube.....complete with peacock, the eternal curmudgeons Henry Morgan and Ray Walston, and 1969 commercials...is a bit of brilliance.

It's My World.......and Welcome To It.