This is "real life" through the lens of emotional adolescents who are arrogant enough to believe that they know all that there is to know about life because-- well, just because they are teens and so much wiser than adults. Or, rather, a teen-age boy who is clearly the writer's alter ego.
Just because adults in the 1950s were not blatant and overt about their sexuality doesn't mean that they weren't sexual beings. It means that they understood the difference between public and private. Just because teens have a difficult time accepting that their parents are sexual beings does not mean that they are not. Just because adults in the 1950s were adults, not neurotic messes, does not mean that they were emotionless. And just because teenagers think that sex is the be-all and end-all of life doesn't mean that it is.
In typical adolescent fashion, women are depicted as loving and nurturing and weak, while men are domineering and rigid and authoritarian. What woman wouldn't think of putting make-up on to hide a blemish? She wouldn't need her oh-so-wise son to think of it for her, and certainly wouldn't need him to apply it.
What was the point of sending them into the television show? Yes, the t.v. repairman nattered on about something, but what was the real point? The television show isn't real. The characters aren't real, they are played by actors; the location isn't real, it's a studio set. So, what, really, is the point of trying to "awaken" them? They'll still be ageless fictional characters. Why try to force them to think beyond the boundaries of their fictional town, when it will remain a studio set? Yes, I understand that it's a metaphor. It's a particularly clumsy, awkward, and ham-handed metaphor.
If we are to accept the characters as "real," with lives that are not depicted on screen, then where are those lives? The movie can't have it both ways -- that they are real, but only exist when one of the main characters is around. That sex is unknown, but the town is populated with teens who had to come from somewhere. That the men's bland, placid exteriors cover a seething, hateful exterior, while the women are depressed and unfulfilled -- but they have no emotional life until awakened by their teen-age savior. That there is no world outside the town, but they have food, clothing, utilities, etc. Oh, and how was the town going to deal with the rash of teen pregnancies that were bound to occur? Twilight Zone dealt with similar issues in a similar format and did it so much better and all in 30 minutes. But, then, it was written by adults for adults.
Just because adults in the 1950s were not blatant and overt about their sexuality doesn't mean that they weren't sexual beings. It means that they understood the difference between public and private. Just because teens have a difficult time accepting that their parents are sexual beings does not mean that they are not. Just because adults in the 1950s were adults, not neurotic messes, does not mean that they were emotionless. And just because teenagers think that sex is the be-all and end-all of life doesn't mean that it is.
In typical adolescent fashion, women are depicted as loving and nurturing and weak, while men are domineering and rigid and authoritarian. What woman wouldn't think of putting make-up on to hide a blemish? She wouldn't need her oh-so-wise son to think of it for her, and certainly wouldn't need him to apply it.
What was the point of sending them into the television show? Yes, the t.v. repairman nattered on about something, but what was the real point? The television show isn't real. The characters aren't real, they are played by actors; the location isn't real, it's a studio set. So, what, really, is the point of trying to "awaken" them? They'll still be ageless fictional characters. Why try to force them to think beyond the boundaries of their fictional town, when it will remain a studio set? Yes, I understand that it's a metaphor. It's a particularly clumsy, awkward, and ham-handed metaphor.
If we are to accept the characters as "real," with lives that are not depicted on screen, then where are those lives? The movie can't have it both ways -- that they are real, but only exist when one of the main characters is around. That sex is unknown, but the town is populated with teens who had to come from somewhere. That the men's bland, placid exteriors cover a seething, hateful exterior, while the women are depressed and unfulfilled -- but they have no emotional life until awakened by their teen-age savior. That there is no world outside the town, but they have food, clothing, utilities, etc. Oh, and how was the town going to deal with the rash of teen pregnancies that were bound to occur? Twilight Zone dealt with similar issues in a similar format and did it so much better and all in 30 minutes. But, then, it was written by adults for adults.