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The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street

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posted on Mar, 25 2010 @ 01:49 PM
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The episode is titled "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street" and although it was created in the 1960's (March 4, 1960) we can see how it's relevance still holds true today. And with all of the threads circulating about doomsday prophecy and complete and catastrophic destruction occurring on all fronts, we need to take a moment and step back for a second.

In this episode, please consider where you would fit among Maple Street. Are you the child, the father, the wife, the alien, the politician or other. Who do you see filling the roles of the other characters? And can any lessons actually be learned from watching an episode of the Twilight Zone?


Skip the ex if you want to avoid spoilers. Videos and corresponding links are provided below.


UPDATE: There is a 2003 remake that is also available a little further down in the thread.








Video 1/3
Video 2/3
Video 3/3


On Maple Street, a strange whoosh is heard and the flashing of lights is seen. Shortly thereafter, almost all the electronics and machines on the street stop working. A small group of neighbors is unsure what has caused this. One little boy suggests it's the work of aliens, but his assumption is excused as ridiculous.

As the neighbors continue to talking, one neighbor's car starts on it's own. The group instantly grow suspicious of the man and his family. The owner of the car denies any knowledge as to why this is happening, but few are seldom to believe him.

The blame keeps getting passed around, as someone reports of a neighbor who stares up at the sky on some nights, looking for something, as well as tinkering with something in his basement.

As night settles, a dark figure is seen coming towards the group. One man pulls a pistol out and shoots the figure, who crumples to the ground. Upon further inspection, it is revealed that the figure was another neighbor, who had supposedly left the street to see if anyone over in nearby streets was experiencing the same issues.

The person who fired the gun is then further surprised when his house's lights turn on by themselves. Several people attempt to stone him, before he crazily yells that he believes the alien to be the boy from before, who talked of aliens.

As the panic rises, lights and machines all along the street begin turning on and off, sending the once simple people into a mad panic, placing blame on each other and causing chaos.

On a hilltop some distance away, two aliens observe the panic, explaining to the other that mankind is very easy panic, and that they can just as easily turn on the other, which will make domination over their species by the aliens rather easy.




[edit on 25-3-2010 by patmac]



posted on Mar, 25 2010 @ 02:14 PM
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reply to post by patmac
 


There is some truth behind those old Twilight Zone episodes.
Another good example is the one about the bomb shelter!



posted on Mar, 25 2010 @ 02:16 PM
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I would have called an electrician.



posted on Mar, 25 2010 @ 02:21 PM
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reply to post by patmac
 


Absolutely love this Episode as it perfectly demonstrates the paranoia that we humans are so susceptible to. In it's day it was likely a warning against the paranoia of the Cold War, everyone suspecting their neighbor as a Commie.

Another good study on how situations break down in an emergency is The Mist, it's a monster movie but the real monsters are INSIDE the store, they're human.

The Joker has a good line about just this in The Dark Knight:


You see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you. When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each other


Take away the power, break down the infrastructure, and we become the same panicked apes that crawled out of the jungle.



posted on Mar, 25 2010 @ 02:32 PM
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Originally posted by mamabeth
reply to post by patmac
 


There is some truth behind those old Twilight Zone episodes.
Another good example is the one about the bomb shelter!


That's another great one, called surprisingly enough "The Shelter". Which will be terrifyingly close to reality for some, if any of these events unfold as described.

However, with this 'Maple Street' episode in mind. Can we all safely assume that the aliens act as a symbolic reference for anything that has 'the power to manipulate and/or control us from the shadows'?

If the protagonists can be swapped in and out symbolically and still retain some coherence, then we can also apply the same method of thought to the name calling and blatant witch-trial that takes place on Maple Street.

For the sake of argument, they can be screaming nearly anything at eachother. Everything from 'Liberal!', 'Truther!', 'Commie', 'Nazi', 'Teabagger', ect ect and the relevance still holds together, as it's not important WHAT they shout at eachother, but rather THAT they BEGIN to shout at each other.

This of course comes from a small fear that was instilled into their collective minds by a few short words muttered by a child. A child who read of an alien encounter from a comic book.

Immediately passed off by the citizens, this child's words ferment and fester in the paranoid minds of the people on Maple Street. Will it be our wild imaginations and fear of the unknown that will be the igniter?

Is this to come of us?



posted on Mar, 25 2010 @ 02:57 PM
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For those of you who are more inclined to watch the more modernized 2003 remake, I will provide the videos for them as well. It's pretty decent actually. It touches heavily on terrorism and our fears.

I almost didn't want to watch it, as I'm a TZ purist and didn't really like the remakes. But I'm glad that I did. Great ending as well.







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