I’m caught in ‘The Twilight Zone’
Which isn’t in some far away galaxy or a hidden dimension of time. It's right here ... right now.
Since it’s one of the best TV shows ever, I’ve recently been binge-watching old episodes of “The Twilight Zone.” I don’t know if I recommend this form of entertainment because I now feel like I’m a character inside a “Twilight Zone” storyline.
It’s like I’m living in a dream and my dream includes its own dreams, which may or may not even be a dream.
As everyone who’s watched a few episodes of Rod Serling’s classic TV series knows, many characters in “The Twilight Zone” are living through some nightmare existence that slowly dawns on them.
The horror comes from the characters’ knowledge that they might be the only person who sees that something Big and terrifying has changed in the world.
I can’t say we’re all living in a real-world “Twilight Zone” episode … because most people on the planet still think everything is the same or as normal as ever. It’s only a certain percentage of (unlucky) citizens who “get” what’s happening.
If everyone thought the same things and viewed the world exactly the same way, our story would lack the requisite “dramatic tension.” For drama to exist, someone has to know something’s not right here.
In many “Twilight Zone” episodes, when a character tries to scream this out, he’s met with blank or sad stares and is told he’s the crazy and dangerous person.
A central part of the horror comes from the fact the organizations and intelligent people who are supposed to know what’s happening either don’t know this … or they are actually responsible for our new “Twilight Zone” rules and order.
(What is the “Twilight Zone?” Short answer: Our “New Normal.”)
The main characters in our dramas are really looking for proof they’re not insane, that some “adult in the room” has also picked up on what’s happening and will ultimately save the world.
But our dreams - which have now become reality - show this isn’t going to occur either. The alleged “truth-seekers” either can’t see the truths or these people and organizations now exist to conceal these truths, which would mean they are all a part of some massive insanity-producing conspiracy.
The layers of horror only multiply when our protagonists realize that it’s not just, say, Covid lies that are being promulgated. The thought quickly occurs to anyone stuck in “The Twilight Zone” that a litany of truth-concealing conspiracies must have been occurring all along and are still occurring.
The real jolt of horror comes from the realization that, moving forward, this is probably the way things are always going to be.
This would be a captivating ‘Twilight Zone’ episode …
A riveting episode of “The Twilight Zone” might depict, say, a U.S. president who has obvious dementia, which gets worse every day he serves in the White House. The episode could chronicle awkward episodes from this patient’s every-day life that make it clear he’s suffering from serious cognitive issues.
But the real horror wouldn’t come from these events. Instead, they would come as the script’s author increasingly reveals all of the officials and journalists who know this is happening to the leader of the free world … and none of them care.
Indeed, their daily activities increasingly consist of covering-up this reality from the public. The horror comes from the fact the audience sees the massive number of people are who are determined to hide these truths from the public.
That is, viewers learn this is no small conspiracy. It’s a massive conspiracy. And if these trust-worthy leaders and officials are pulling off this conspiracy, they must be involved in many larger and even more scandalous conspiracies.
How would Rod Serling have treated Covid-19?
It would be interesting to see how Rod Serling and his team of writers might have treated Covid-19 in a series of “Twilight Zone” episodes.
Traditional Hollywood would show us that a deadly virus had assaulted the world and government scientists fought the virus and saved most people. But this would be fiction.
The more original and provocative story might be the true story. The world’s alleged leaders “protected” the world from a virus that wasn’t even that deadly and all the horror came from the draconian responses to the non-threat.
The protagonists of this story would be the people who figured this out. Modern-day “Twilight Zone” episodes would show how these people were vilified and punished for not going along with the official story-line. Or made to feel crazy and worthy of commitment.
Viewers would learn that every important organization that is supposed to reveal the truth is, in fact, completely captured.
The investigative journalists are captured, as are all the brilliant people at all the colleges … all the politicians and most of the doctors, plus the prestigious scientific organizations and the great companies of the world, etc.
They were - and still are - all in on it.
The horror of our real “Twilight Zone” episode is that some people can now so easily see how “The Twilight Zone” became possible. All it takes is for every important organization to become completely captured.
The few people who, for some reason, weren’t captured - who didn’t drink the Kool-Aid - are the people who are left living through a real episode of “The Twilight Zone.”
Stephen King doesn’t understand the real horror story of Covid
After Rod Serling, the master of horror became prolific author Stephen King. Perhaps King’s most memorable novel is The Stand, which tells the story of how a super flu kills 99 percent of the world population.
That flu was created by mad scientists, who allowed this virus to escape onto the world. The irony is that King is in the group of influencers who bought the official narrative that the super flu of Covid-19 was naturally-occurring and that the public should have been locked down for years to protect them from this non-deadly virus.
On top of that, according to King, the public should have lined up to get experimental mRNA shots produced by the Military Industrial Complex and Big Pharma.
That is, even Stephen King never realized who the real villains (the real “monsters” in this horror story) might be in the Covid story. In the authorized story, the villains were the citizens who didn’t believe Anthony Fauci, the people who didn’t want to take these shots or who were not afraid to leave their house.
Still, King told his millions of fans: Be very afraid … do what Anthony Fauci says … or you too might die.
As it turns out, the “good guys” were the government and the mega companies …. and the Fourth Estate published only the truth.
The real Twilight Zone was not in a galaxy far, far away …
I say Stephen King is no Rod Serling.
For my part, I think Serling would have gotten what happened and why … and what the truly terrifying story was.
I’ve now watched dozens of old “Twilight Zone” episodes. I’m struck by how prescient many of these storylines were. What scares me is that “The Twilight Zone” isn’t some place far out in space or some alternative dimension of reality. It’s right here on earth … right now.
We’re all living in it, if only 15 percent of the population realizes this.
All it takes is every important organization and leader to become captured, which wasn’t really that hard to achieve.
For almost four years I feel like I’ve been living in a “Twilight Zone” episode. I’ve even written columns about this, basically screaming: “Someone help me! Something is wrong here!”
But sending out a message-in-a-bottle on Substack hasn’t worked for me. I’m still in this dream. I haven’t woke up yet.
Truth be told, I don’t know how this story’s going to end. Rod Serling didn’t tell us how to get out of The Twilight Zone.
Have been very disappointed in Mr King who, it turns out, never really believed that his government could be capable of such evils, unless of course it was led by Donald Trump, then of course it IS evil personified. But only President Trump. Everyone else is fine, great folks only care about the little guys. That the man who wrote The Stand could believe that Fauci is a saint boggles the mind. What has happened to that lost generation, the hippies of the 60’s who hated the government and everything it stood for? That they now firmly believe everything the government says is astonishing. And depressing. I pray to be a little wiser in my upcoming dotage.
What separates us from the protagonists in the Twilight Zone series is they were truly alone. We have Substack and a handful of other information exchange platforms, have begun to sort ourselves out in our day-to-day lives with others who are awake held closer than those who are not. That 15% or so not feeling completely isolated, totally alone makes a big difference. And would've made a big difference in the Twilight Zone episodes if they found just one other "sane" person in the twisted reality of the absurd they found themselves in. So there's that. For now, anyways.