Eye of the Beholder

Description: Season 2, Episode 6

Air Date: November 11, 1960

Plot Summary: A disfigured woman attempts her 11th surgery to look "normal" in a world where not all is what it seems.

Review: Once again we come to one of the classic, and more legendary, episodes. There are actually quite a few different themes going on here, and I'll try and address each one. But I think we all know this story, right? A woman is believed to be unbearably ugly to the point that she will be removed from society if her last surgery doesn't create a change. Surprise, surprise, it is revealed that she is actually beautiful, by our standards, and everyone else in the world looks grotesque. The twist is presented excellently--with a fantastic buildup coupled with superb editing and lighting trickery. It's a timeless tale, and the episode itself never specifies when or where this story could be taking place--just somewhere out in the Twilight Zone. A great touch to a great episode.

The first thing I want to examine is the title itself: eye of the beholder. On the surface, this is self-explanatory as beauty is subjective and this weird world doesn't see beauty as we would. Going deeper, we see that beauty in this world is shaped purely by society rather than any kind of innate attraction. This is interesting as beauty is a shifting idea and can change quite easily. I don't necessarily agree that society completely shapes what is beautiful, but definitely allowing others to determine beauty will create unusual outcomes. Modern society is trying, in vain, to skew what others should find attractive despite there being innate factors at play that are biological. Though, most of these kind of debates will always break down into a nature vs. nurture situation. I'm not sure when plastic surgery would have become a mainstream phenomenon, but TZ was probably ahead of the game in presenting this idea. Although, the episode mentions that they're more experiments than surgery.

It's important to note that this TZ world values normalcy above any kind of personality traits an individual has; essentially, this is as shallow as it comes. Normalcy is also seen as synonymous with conformity as this world is under some kind of totalitarian regime; I suppose this could be interpreted as a shot at communism with a Stalin-esque leader. At the same time, the desire for one, ideal look could be similar to the nazis and the aryan traits. Regardless of the intention, I think most would agree variety is preferable to one (or technically no) choice. I'm just surprised TZ didn't go the extra mile and say non-normal people would be eliminated rather than being dumped in a commune of some sort.

With so many interesting plot elements being presented at once, it's no wonder this episode would stand out among the others. There are numerous philosophical aspects to consider as well as being a grim interpretation of a world comprised of conformity run rampant. After all, you can't control what would be considered the desired traits or what would be the general consensus of normalcy. Besides being a cool story (bro), the technical aspects were well done. These innovative approaches were usually present in the best episodes and is what makes them timeless and relevant.