THE 'TWILIGHT' OF TOLERANCE

On March 4, 1960, CBS aired the 22nd episode of the first season of THE TWILIGHT ZONE. Written by series creator, Rod Serling and starring Claude Akins and a young Barry Atwater (who would later star as the vampire Janos Skorzeny in THE NIGHT STALKER), the story was called "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street". The tale is a cautionary one on the surface, but a deeper look reveals an allegory that is instructional to the nature of mankind and the limits of its tolerance.

Set in Anytown, USA, the episode shows the townsfolk reacting to a series of strange occurrences that they start to blame on each other. Word is spread that an alien invasion has occurred. The paranoia rises to a fever pitch until someone shoots another person who is walking out of the darkness. It turns out to be one their own, returning from a hunting trip. The entire scenario is viewed from above by a crew of alien beings in a spaceship who have created the scenario to observe how humans would react under the conditions. They agree that using this strategy will help them to conquer earth. TIME magazine called this episode one of THE TWILIGHT ZONE's ten best, and I would agree.

While the story is played for pure drama and terror, Serling masterfully intertwines a lesson on morality into his trademark irony, revealing that it really doesn't take much to create a heady -- and dangerous -- atmosphere of intolerance. It is a lesson that we can all learn from based on the paucity of it today in many areas, most notably in the increasing noisome realms of the social and political.

The theme is presaged by a story by G.L. Vandenburg that appeared in the October, 1957 issue of FANTASTIC. While not of the caliber of Serling's story, it is nevertheless noteworthy to share. In "The Barabarian", we see a similar plot unfold that follows citizens of a town who are panicked over the arrival of a creature from space. True to form, they misunderstand its intentions to a disastrous effect. Vandenburg's story was reprinted in the December, 1973 issue of THRILLING SCIENCE FICTION.