Review of
The Mind and the Matter,
season 2, episode 27 of the Twilight Zone
Four out of five stars
The old myth of King Midas retold
Most of the
stories that appear in recent entertainment media are simply modern
restatements of myths. Specifically, those we are most familiar with, those of
the ancient Greeks. This episode is a retelling of the ancient myth of King Midas,
who wanted everything he touched turned into gold. It is a story of being
careful what you wish for, you just might get it and not like it.
Archibald
Beechcroft is a man that lives in a small apartment, rides a crowded subway to
work, steps into a packed elevator to go to the proper floor and shares a noisy
office space where he does paperwork for an insurance company. Fed up with human
clutter and the noise it makes, his wish is that he not have to interact with people.
The one co-worker
that he seems to get along with gives him a copy of a book about the power of
the mind and he devours it. Archibald suddenly discovers that he has acquired
incredible mental powers and he wishes that all people are gone. He is
astonished when that happens and he has the subway, elevators and his office
all to himself.
Of course, with
no other humans to interact with, he quickly finds himself bored and
unstimulated. An exterior version of himself serves as an active critic,
letting him know that things are nothing like what he wanted. Fortunately, when
Archibald reaches the conclusion that his old life was about as good as it was
going to get, he still has the power to turn back the context. He is not
content, just resigned to his fate in what is the best life he could have.
This episode is
a demonstration of the reality that if you want to be successful in creating
interesting and entertaining stories, the best place to start is with the most
ancient of myths. With the exception of technological advancement, nothing in
them has changed all that much.
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