Living in the Twilight Zone--A Fourth of July Short Take

By Jessie Seigel / July 4, 2025

Every Labor Day and every New Years Eve, one television channel or another in the Washington, DC area runs a Twilight Zone marathon. And each year, I watch that marathon with both renewed enjoyment and an unflagging appreciation of the creativity, intelligence, and sociopolitical perception of Rod Serling, its creator.

The show’s themes run from the mysteries of the universe or the randomness of fate, to the struggles of the individual against conformity, the narrowness of authoritarians, and struggles with loneliness or isolation, as well as the gamut of human and societal foibles; that is, the variable nature of mankind. As a body, these shows constitute timeless parables—if one is willing to recognize their depth and learn from them.

This year, H&I (the Heroes and Icons channel) made the unusual decision to run the Twilight Zone marathon over the Fourth of July weekend. Given the current state of our nation, this appears a perfectly timed choice.

Nevertheless, I have found viewing it in this particular year to be painful.

It is hard to feel like watching The Twilight Zone when you are living in it. Just a smattering of examples of the parrallels:

In The Twilight Zone’s “The Obsolete Man,” a leader in a totalitarian state condemns a librarian to death because books and librarians have been banned as obsolete and obsolescence is a capital crime.

In our country, in 2025, books that encourage breadth of thought are being banned. And librarians are receiving death threats as well as threats of prosecution.

In the episode, “It’s a Good Life – A Very Bad Man,” a capricious six year old boy who can, with his mind, physically harm anyone who crosses him, forces adults to agree to anything he does and pretend they like it. If they cross him with even a contrary thought, he will disappear them into a corn field or turn them into a jack-in-the box. 

And what are we living with? A  volatile, narcissistic president who attempts, and often succeeds, in taking petty vengeance on any who express a contrary thought about him or the havoc he capriciously creates.

In “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street,” suburban neighbors react to a power failure by attacking one another, suspecting each other of being disguised creatures from outer space. At the end, the real aliens, who have manipulated the power failure from their space ship, comment on how simple conquest will be because it is so easy to get humans to turn on each other.

And how very easy it has been for Donald Trump and his crew to manipulate the MAGA crowd to fear, hate, and turn on anyone different—be they Black, Brown, Jew, Muslim, or just a Democrat or dissenting Republican--that Trump claims is the source of their problems.

One could go on and on referencing Twilight Zone episodes that speak to the nation'sl plight, but to do so would require a book-length recitation.

It is the immediacy of its messages to our present situation that makes it painful to watch the entire series in a non-stop binge. At the same time, often, the hero or heroine’s defiance (in some instances, martyrdom) buoys one to feel the power and honor of fighting the good fight even if you cannot win it.

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