I must confess to being a relative latecomer to The Prisoner. For whatever reason I never saw it when it ran originally, nor did I catch subsequently on television. But that doesn't mean I didn't read about it, a groundbreaking television show that has launched decades of debate and discussion about its deeper meanings. I finally took the plunge several years ago and picked up the Fortieth Anniversary edition of the show (it seems to have an anniversary edition every five years or so) and watched the episodes and found them interesting and curious, but I must confess they did not live up to my expectations. But that might well have been because of my overdeveloped expectations and not the fault of the show.
Subsequent research and another good close look have convinced me that there's less to The Prisoner than meets the reputation. That is not to say there isn't plenty to chew on and it is not to suggest its standing as a thought provoking entertainment isn't earned. I just don't find it to be as dense an experience as some argue for, and furthermore I find the haphazard nature of the making of the some of the episodes either gifts or curses the show with an ad hoc feeling. One way to think about it which works for me is that it's like a concept LP album, with different tunes by the same band, but each song with different influences, writers, and featured artists. There's even what you might regard as a cover song, the episode in which McGoohan is "replaced" by another actor thanks to a brain-switching device.
Patrick McGoohan's powerful personality made the show possible, but hearing interviews and reading about the show convinces me that his dour insular manner also shortchanged some of the possibilities of the show. Pun intended, "it takes a village" to make a television show and any auteur is not helped by holding too much of the vision inside for too long. It's clear to me that writer George Markstein deserves much more credit for The Prisoner than he's given. All that said, there's little question that The Prisoner raises some provocative questions which a society dependent on a plethora of techniques to calm their masses might find troubling. "Number Six" is an absolute individualist who demands that he be left alone to think and feel as he chooses. That his thoughts and actions are sometimes contrary to the efficiency of the Village. The ending of The Prisoner is beyond bizarre and consequently will always be open to individual interpretation, and I'm sure that enigmatic nature is why the show persists in the imagination.
Rip Off
Yes Rip I agree with some of your comments but to me Patrick McGoohan was an ideal choice for The Prisoner, his eccentric nature first shown in Danger Man here was a great rehearsal for number 6 little snippet to steal your thunder the episode Patrick McGoohan did not appear in was because he was filming Ice Station Zebra where he played another quirky character, some would say The Prisoner was bizarre (especially last episode) but as I get older makes a lot more sense and in my opinion ahead of it's time (sorry for cliche).
ReplyDeleteI remember when Ice Station Zebra was in the theatres. I might've seen it, but all I really remember is the marquee. I've seen it on TV a few times since and it's an odd movie with a strange sense of the unreal.
DeleteI think it had to be viewed in the context of its time in order for viewers to appreciate the full effect, and to me, who saw it as a kid, it also has part of my childhood wrapped up in it. Take away those two elements and its impact will be vastly reduced for most people.
ReplyDeleteCertainly over here in the midst of the Vietnam protests the message was potent and seen by many as undermining patriotic endeavors abroad. Much of the message has gone mainstream, at least in terms of lip service. Choosing not to be part of the larger machine, to stand individually has become easier to express and in some ways more difficult to do.
DeleteI'm with Kid November on this one. :)
ReplyDeleteAs for the final episode, it remains one of TV's finest moments, as far as I'm concerned. All the ideas & philosophies of the mid-20th Century are wrapped up in it, and it has a wonderfully Surreal essence. No wonder John Lennon was such a fan!
And all that it had to say about identity, privacy, individuality, conformity, surveillance, the dangers of the technological imperative -- all of that IS even more timely now.