Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone: How Television Gives a Window into the Fears of American Society by Alyssa Santisteven A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Arts in English (Honors Scholar) Presented May 28, 2021 Commencement June 2021 AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Alyssa Santisteven for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Arts in English presented on May 28, 2021. Title: Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone: How Television Gives a Window into the Fears of American Society . Abstract approved:_____________________________________________________ Randall Milstein Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone have each left their mark on popular culture. Charlie Brooker and Rod Serling created television shows with macabre and imaginative concepts and brought them to the small screen. “This is like something straight out of The Twilight Zone!” has become a common phrase since the 1960’s, but as society has progressed, our television content has as well. Over the years, using ‘The Twilight Zone’ as a simile for a strange occurrence has been replaced with “This is like something out of Black Mirror!” Both anthology series share stories that leave viewers questioning their values and life choices, and are representative expressions of new, old, and historical fears of American and global society. Key Words: Black Mirror, The Twilight Zone, Charlie Brooker, Rod Serling, Fears Corresponding e-mail address: [email protected] ©Copyright by Alyssa Santisteven May 28, 2021 Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone: How Television Gives a Window into the Fears of American Society by Alyssa Santisteven A THESIS submitted to Oregon State University Honors College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Honors Baccalaureate of Arts in English (Honors Scholar) Presented May 28, 2021 Commencement June 2021 Honors Baccalaureate of Arts in English project of Alyssa Santisteven presented on May 28, 2021. APPROVED: _____________________________________________________________________ Randall Milstein, Mentor, representing Physics _____________________________________________________________________ Joseph Orosco, Committee Member, representing History, Philosophy, and Religion _____________________________________________________________________ Don Wayne, Committee Member, representing University of California San Diego _____________________________________________________________________ Toni Doolen, Dean, Oregon State University Honors College I understand that my project will become part of the permanent collection of Oregon State University, Honors College. My signature below authorizes release of my project to any reader upon request. _____________________________________________________________________ Alyssa Santisteven, Author Acknowledgments First I would like to thank Dr. Milstein for being such a wonderful mentor and for helping me to conceptualize and create a thesis I am, and always will be, proud of. I would also like to thank the ladies of thirteenth street: Desiree Odgers, Canessa Thomas, Shannon Barranger, Mckenna Marshall, Mackenzie Karnstein, and Jenna Bruce. They were pivotal in my survival and were always ready to make a run to the store to get me more Reese’s Pieces. In addition, I would like to thank my partner-in-crime, Aiden Holcroft, for always listening when I went on a tangent about whatever episode I happened to watch that day. He is a constant support system for me and without his help I would have never had the courage to finish. Thank you to the Dutch Bros. on the corner of 26th and Washington, your tables were immaculate and I knew I could always count on you to be open when I needed a change of scenery. Lastly, thank you to my parents, Suzanne and Phil Santisteven. They always supported my endeavors, even if they didn’t quite understand what I was talking about half of the time. Without your encouragement I wouldn’t be who I am today. In the twenty-first century, we are presented with television content dealing with concepts including interracial marriages, sexual identity, violence, political philosophy, and substance abuse. Historically, these types of themes were not considered acceptable to be aired by any television network. For a long time, television networks and their sponsors were controlling and censoring what was broadcast to viewers. Television program creators were forced to adhere to strict rules established by networks in order to ensure their shows were produced and seen by the public. As the world changed to become more socially inclusive television content changed as well. Programming’s inclusivity has not been without the hard work of various writers and producers, as they have fought against network censorship to get more relevant and open content on-screen. Those writers and producers were trying to tell stories reflective of their social reality; some of the stories made it past network barriers, others were left on the writer's room floor. The concepts presented in the television shows The Twilight Zone and Black Mirror tend to be difficult for average viewers to comprehend. For most, television is a way to relax and forget about the worries of day-to-day life. In fact, the most watched television shows of 2021 deal with topics removed from day-to-day life. Viewers are choosing to watch television shows avoiding the realities of routine daily life - especially under the life pressures of living within a pandemic. Television shows such as The Walking Dead, and Tiger King allow viewers to sit back and forget about their daily anxieties. Black Mirror and The Twilight Zone, while no longer in production, are still available to view on streaming and cable networks The Twilight Zone was a revolutionary television series, the series’ creator, Rod Serling, encountered numerous difficulties getting the series greenlit for production. Throughout Serling's career, he focused on telling a compelling story, without sacrificing the important details. He was met with pushback from networks and sponsors forcing him to reimagine many storylines and make them entirely different. The pushback that Serling received from trying to get his script based off the murder of Emmett Till on television was one of the key reasons Serling decided to create The Twilight Zone. Serling knew he had to change some of the important facts of the Till case in order to get his script to air on national television, Serling shared this with Mike Wallace while promoting the premiere of The Twilight Zone. During the interview, Serling shares how he knew socially relevant stories needed to be shared, and because of troubles he faced with his Playhouse 90 script, ”A Town Has Turned to Dust”, he knew he would need to be creative with ways he wrote each of his scripts and the sensitive subjects they contained. Serling tells Wallace, “Better say something than nothing,”1 and continues explaining his core motivation for The Twilight Zone is to share difficult themes in an accessible way for the American public. Rod Serling took a major risk in deciding to write and produce The Twilight Zone. The idea of writing and producing an anthology series was outdated to networks during this time as they focused on getting viewers to come back week after week, and anthologies could not guarantee return viewers. Viewers were more apt to tune in if they had a continuing storyline to follow, along with recurring characters they were familiar with and could form an emotional connection to. Serling was so intent on creating The Twilight Zone he decided to use his own money to produce the series, taking a huge risk that could have left him with a tarnished reputation and no money left to support his family. Without Serling taking the steps to create the television show he wanted to create, we would’ve never gotten Black Mirror years later. While writing each episode of The Twilight Zone, Serling was aware he could not simply write about racial injustice, the fears of getting old, or the concept of fate without getting laughed 1 Wallace, Mike, and Rod Serling. “The Mike Wallace Interview.” The Mike Wallace Interview with Rod Serling, ABC American Broadcasting Company, New York, New York , 22 Sept. 1959. out of network meetings. Serling knew, based on his previous experiences having to rewrite entire scripts, that he had to make sure the stories' themes were just outlandish enough he could claim they were not a direct commentary on society: they were simply silly stories about an unknown place called ‘The Twilight Zone.’ Most episodes of The Twilight Zone were written by Serling himself, though as the seasons continued Serling wrote original scripts less and less. Though he continued to be present in the creative process until The Twilight Zone ended in 1964. Outside of the writing process, Serling was protective over the look of the show and wholeheartedly trusted George T. Clemens to be his director of photography throughout the entire run. Clemens was the main reason each The Twilight Zone episode maintained their signature eerie otherworldly atmosphere, promoting a not-earth contextual environment2. In fact, The Twilight Zone became so known for its signature look that when CBS decided to shoot a few episodes from Season Two on videotape instead of film, the two episodes have a distinctly different tone which disappointed audiences enough that they switched back to film. Surprisingly, Serling was not as adamant about who directed episodes and based on my research, I find there is no pattern as to why a specific director was chosen for an episode, outside of special guest stars such as Ray Bradbury. Fears Centered in the Military Throughout Season One of The Twilight Zone, what inspired Serling to write each of the episodes, were the anxieties and fears of being a person living in America during the 1950’s and 60’s. Many episodes of The Twilight Zone are inspired by short stories written by various 2 Mortenson, Erik. “A Journey into the Shadows: The Twilight Zone’s Visual Critique of the Cold War.” Science Fiction Film and Television, vol.