Yes, I’m watching The Twilight Zone again…

If you really examine these episodes, aside from getting a bit of a Nazi-esque feel from them (conformity, wanting perfection of race, some flat out have to do with ex Nazis or neo Nazis). But, aside from that, Rod Serling was a man ahead of his time. Some of the topics he touched upon way back in the early 1960s are topics that are actually issues today. Sometimes it’s as if he was able to see into the future…

Today’s episode was one of my favorites, “Number 12 Looks Just Like You”. For those who have never watched it, it takes place sometime in the near future (Rod pulls the year 2000 out of a hat, which is comical in a way). The government sends brochures to those turning 19 so they can make a transformation into one of the models pictured. Okay, I have to do this… BWAHAHAHA! The government actually paying for cosmetic surgery! Good one, Rod…

Everyone is thrilled to make this transformation and be beautiful/ handsome, except for poor, homely Marilyn. She doesn’t want the transformation and wants to “stay ugly”. Her family is concerned for her, thinking she must be a very sick girl for not wanting to have this procedure done. Wow, how dysfunctional is that… Normal family would be supportive of her decision to not have it done. And they’re damn good reasons, too. She doesn’t want to look like everyone else and doesn’t want her life to be as meaningless as everyone else’s. She feels there’s more to life than electronic baseball and discussing where to buy your clothes. The transformation also changes how you think and feel, you see…

Marilyn’s mom, Lana, decides to do what any normal mom would do if their child didn’t want to be transformed… She takes her to the doctor to find out what’s wrong with her daughter. Mother of the year material right there!

The doctor runs a test on her brain (which was good) and had asked Marilyn if her late father, who she adored so much, ever told her transformation was bad. Her reply was, “Not exactly… He said it was tragic…” Lana explains her late husband had some rather non-conformist ideas. This is when the doctor decides to keep her at the hospital, find out why Marilyn doesn’t want the transformation and make the necessary corrections. Sucks to be Marilyn… She’s getting it done whether she likes it or not it seems…

While in the hospital, she gets a visit from her mother, Lana, and friend, Val (number 8, the one chosen for Marilyn).

The scene often cut out on television (probably because of it being a trigger) is when Marilyn flips shit on Val and explains that the story of her father dying in a war was false. Her father killed himself after he had given in and had his transformation done because he felt he had lost his identity in the process. Of course, Val is appalled by this and, like everyone else, is such a bubble head since the transformation that she can only comprehend happy thoughts. That’s fucked up…

While trying to escape, Marilyn ends up walking right into the “operating room” (it’s nothing more than a table with a plastic bubble that comes down over the one being transformed) and into the hands of the doctor and his nurse who think she’s changed her mind. Marilyn is screwed, now… She’s getting transformed and there’s no escaping it now… She fought so hard and it was all for nothing. Shit’s gonna go down either way you look at it.

In the end, Marilyn comes running out to show off her “beautiful” new look to her mother and friend and utters those words, “And the nicest part of all, Val, I look just like you!”

At this point, Marilyn turns to the mirror to admire herself, Rod Serling tells us, “Portrait of a young lady in love… with herself…” Truer words never spoken. The transformation makes you “beautiful” on the outside, happy and narcissistic.

Rod Serling wasn’t very far off…

We have pills to make us feel happy and change how we think and feel. Facial cosmetic surgery has been around for a long time, even back in those days… People would get facelifts to tighten their skin in a vain attempt to look younger (and it just made them appear as if their skin was pulled overly tight) and nose jobs to make their noses smaller or more attractively shaped. And it just branched out into crazy areas from there… Changing eye shapes (and color with contacts), brow lifts, cheek implants, chin implants, getting rid of flab in the neck and jowls, collagen injected into lips to make them fuller, botox injections to get rid of frown lines, injections to get rid of laugh lines… The receptionist at my doctor’s office gets the latter and, after the injections, it looks like someone socked her in the mouth and she’s so black and blue it looks horrible. I don’t think it’s worth that…

And it didn’t stop there…

Liposuction came along… Now, admittedly, no one wants to go walking around with a flabby gut and muffin top. Midsection fat is also a health risk as that particular fat causes more strain on your heart for some reason. But liposuction is a dangerous procedure. Have you ever watched it being performed? It’s brutal! No wonder there are people who have suffered various organs getting punctured accidentally. The doctors just blindly jam that tube in your gut to get out the fat cells.

Let’s not forget boob jobs…

I seriously don’t understand this procedure. For one, you can always tell fake boobs from a mile away. They’re too round, too perfect… They can stand up without a bra… But, as someone who was cursed with naturally large breasts, I don’t understand why women get this done. Boobs are heavy! I mean really heavy. It honestly feels like you are carrying cantaloupes around on your chest. Your upper back muscles constantly ache and, if you’re unlucky like me, you’ll have muscle spasms from them…

Last but not least… Ladies and gents, I present to you the Kardashian ass…

This has got to be the most ridiculous cosmetic procedure I’ve ever seen. Why would you want a gigantic ass?! When did this become attractive?! And I’ve heard of some pretty awful things happening with ass implants… like a cheek blowing out… I can’t imagine how that must feel. Yikes!

No offense to those who choose to take this route…

I can’t say anything about taking pills to make you happy. I take them myself (because I have a mood disorder). And I won’t say I’m happy with myself. I’ve got flab where I wish I had none (it’s my own fault, I’m too lazy to diet or exercise), big boobs kill your back, I’ve always despised my naturally curly, frizzy hair and I’m seeing lines on my face I wish weren’t there because it reminds me I’m getting old… The only things I can honestly say I’m vain about it my teeth (hey, healthy teeth are a good thing) and trying to tame my wild hair so I don’t look like I stuck my finger in a light socket. But the rest of me…? It’s just how I was made. I’m comfortable in my own skin… And I hope we never become a society so fixated on appearance that things end up becoming a real life episode of The Twilight Zone…