“Portrait of a young lady in love, with herself, improbable? Perhaps. But in an age of plastic surgery, body building, and an infinity of cosmetics, let us hesitate to say, impossible.”

SUMMARY:

 This episode of, The Twilight Zone, based off of Charles Beaumont's 1952 short story "The Beautiful People", stars Collin Wilcox and takes place in a future society where everyone undergoes a procedure called “The Transformation” at nineteen years old. When one undergoes the procedure, he or she gets to choose a new physical appearance from a selection of classically beautiful options. In addition to a physical remodeling, the procedure lengthens ones lifespan and preserves youth.

The episode’s protagonist, Marilyn, is adamantly against undergoing the procedure because of the profound influence of her father who committed suicide because he could not cope with the loss of his identity post-procedure. Marilyn insists to all those who will listen that this procedure is not about giving everyone the gift of beauty and health, but about erasing individual identities. She is informed by literature written by the likes of Keats, Shakespeare, and Dostovesky, all of which is banned in her society. Eventually, Marilyn is sent to the hospital where she realizes that while it is advertised to people as a choice, the procedure is, in truth, mandatory.

Marilyn undergoes the procedure and comes out looking identical to her best friend. None of her concerns pre-procedure exist anymore and she is fully absorbed into her society’s way of life. The episode ends with her staring at herself blissfully in the mirror.

MAJOR THEMES:

Individuality: The social commentary in this episode is directed at the concern for the preservation of individuality in a society where Hollywood ideals have been internalized by the masses. Everyone in Marilyn’s society has chosen to give up their personal identities in exchange for beauty, consequently making them all the same. While this episode is not about cloning, the same fears about the loss of the individual seen in this episode are voiced in the cloning debate by those ignorant of what cloning actually is.

Vanity: This episode also exposes the vanity seen throughout society, where people are so concerned with being beautiful that they do not realize the other implications of the choices they make. The doctors have such an easy time brainwashing the citizenry because they are so excited to look beautiful that they do not even consider the other consequences of the procedure.

Sources:

"MADE IN CALIFORNIA." MADE IN CALIFORNIA. Tumblr, 04 Jan. 2012. Web. 06 Apr. 2017. <http://reti-cent.tumblr.com/post/15307240489>.

""The Twilight Zone" Number 12 Looks Just Like You (TV Episode 1964)." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2017. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734604/>.

“Number 12 Looks Just Like You.” Twilight Zone. CBS. WBZ-TV, New York City. 24 Jan. 1964. Television. 06 Apr. 2017.

"Number 12 Looks Just Like You." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 04 Apr. 2017. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_12_Looks_Just_Like_You>.