Wadi 1
Asmaa Wadi
Com 320: History of Film
Professor Neuendorfer
October 10, 2015
Rod Serling and JJ Abrams Expressing a deep social conscience in nearly every piece he?s worked on, Rod Serling?s legacy continues to grow. His career expands over writing and producing in television and theatre to teaching. Most known for The Twilight Zone, Serling has won the most amount of Emmy awards for dramatic writing than anyone in history. Serling took an interest in film around the age of six, acting out dialogue from magazines and films he had seen. His family recalls many occasions where he would speak whether someone responded to him or not. Testing out this theory, his family travelled two hours in a car, all silent except young Rod?s nonstop …show more content…
?Through an ingenious mixture of morality fable and fantasy writing, he was able to circumvent the timidity and conservatism of the television networks and sponsors. Self-producing a series of vignettes that placed average people in extraordinary situations, Serling could investigate the moral and political questions of his time. He found that he could address controversial subjects if they were cloaked in a veil of fantasy, saying ?I found that it was all right to have Martians saying things Democrats and Republicans could never say?? (?About Rod Serling?). The Twilight Zone is an exploration of the human condition on how people cope with fear of the unknown. Serling says that even in science fiction, he is most compelled by stories that are relatable in human terms, believing the unbelievable. In a 1970 interview, he explains that the hardware should be identifiable, ?I would probably shy away from the year 2500. I would much rather deal in 1998... I like to know what happens Thursday, not in the next century? (LaFrance). The Twilight Zone also dealt with controversial topics such as race and gender. And although the show was cancelled twice and revived each time, The Twilight Zone had only moderate ratings over the five years and five seasons that it aired on television. 92 of the 156 episodes were written …show more content…
His grandfather often took apart electronics with his as a young child so Abrams would called him ?the ultimate deconstructor?. ?He got me a Super 8 camera when I was ten years old? it let me make things? he humored my obsession with other things too, like magic. One of the things I bought at this magic store was a Mystery Box. It represents infinite possibility? mystery is the catalyst for imagination. Mystery is more important than knowledge. Mystery boxes are in everything in what I do!? (?The Mystery Box?). The mystery box is the idea of what you think you?re getting, then what you?re really getting. To exemplify the mystery box, he describes the movie Jaws. So in this movie Jaws, you think it?s about sharks who are attacking people but that?s not what Jaws is about. Jaws is about a guy dealing with his masculinity, family, his place in the world, and how he?s going to make it in a new town. During his TED Talk, a scene in Jaws is shown where a father and son are sitting at a kitchen table solemnly and the son is copying every move his father is making. The father notices shortly after and asks his son for a kiss, the son asks why and the father responds with, ?because I need it?. Abrams describes this scene as the stuff inside the mystery box- the investment of a character. The most incredible sort of mystery is what comes next which is what Rod
Asmaa Wadi
Com 320: History of Film
Professor Neuendorfer
October 10, 2015
Rod Serling and JJ Abrams Expressing a deep social conscience in nearly every piece he?s worked on, Rod Serling?s legacy continues to grow. His career expands over writing and producing in television and theatre to teaching. Most known for The Twilight Zone, Serling has won the most amount of Emmy awards for dramatic writing than anyone in history. Serling took an interest in film around the age of six, acting out dialogue from magazines and films he had seen. His family recalls many occasions where he would speak whether someone responded to him or not. Testing out this theory, his family travelled two hours in a car, all silent except young Rod?s nonstop …show more content…
?Through an ingenious mixture of morality fable and fantasy writing, he was able to circumvent the timidity and conservatism of the television networks and sponsors. Self-producing a series of vignettes that placed average people in extraordinary situations, Serling could investigate the moral and political questions of his time. He found that he could address controversial subjects if they were cloaked in a veil of fantasy, saying ?I found that it was all right to have Martians saying things Democrats and Republicans could never say?? (?About Rod Serling?). The Twilight Zone is an exploration of the human condition on how people cope with fear of the unknown. Serling says that even in science fiction, he is most compelled by stories that are relatable in human terms, believing the unbelievable. In a 1970 interview, he explains that the hardware should be identifiable, ?I would probably shy away from the year 2500. I would much rather deal in 1998... I like to know what happens Thursday, not in the next century? (LaFrance). The Twilight Zone also dealt with controversial topics such as race and gender. And although the show was cancelled twice and revived each time, The Twilight Zone had only moderate ratings over the five years and five seasons that it aired on television. 92 of the 156 episodes were written …show more content…
His grandfather often took apart electronics with his as a young child so Abrams would called him ?the ultimate deconstructor?. ?He got me a Super 8 camera when I was ten years old? it let me make things? he humored my obsession with other things too, like magic. One of the things I bought at this magic store was a Mystery Box. It represents infinite possibility? mystery is the catalyst for imagination. Mystery is more important than knowledge. Mystery boxes are in everything in what I do!? (?The Mystery Box?). The mystery box is the idea of what you think you?re getting, then what you?re really getting. To exemplify the mystery box, he describes the movie Jaws. So in this movie Jaws, you think it?s about sharks who are attacking people but that?s not what Jaws is about. Jaws is about a guy dealing with his masculinity, family, his place in the world, and how he?s going to make it in a new town. During his TED Talk, a scene in Jaws is shown where a father and son are sitting at a kitchen table solemnly and the son is copying every move his father is making. The father notices shortly after and asks his son for a kiss, the son asks why and the father responds with, ?because I need it?. Abrams describes this scene as the stuff inside the mystery box- the investment of a character. The most incredible sort of mystery is what comes next which is what Rod