episode #137 - Number 12 Looks Just Like You

Air Date: 1/24/64    written by John Tomerlin, based on story by Charles Beaumont    Directed by Abner Biberman

Set in some future (Serling's intro arbitrarily suggests the year 2000), this depicts a society in which people select perfect-like bodies for themselves upon reaching adulthood (18 years old).  There are only a few different models for females and males - meaning that most people look alike - so we see different characters played by the same actors (mostly Richard Long and Suzy Parker).  A young woman (Collin Wilcox) has just reached that age, but resists the pressure from family and professionals to make the decision on a model/body, mostly due to her relationship with her dead father, the rare citizen who prized individuality.

This was a commentary on the then-already-big fad of plastic surgery and cosmetics to prettify everyone. But, it goes far beyond just those superficial medical techniques, projecting what eventually will happen with political correctness and conformity. In this future society, anyone who is different must be changed to match the majority, thereby costing the person his/her identity and individuality. It ends up as a reflection of our real modern world, with people increasingly placed into clumps and out-of-control partisanship to satisfy the needs of various groups. People behave more like drones or robots rather than human individuals. The ending is suitably downbeat and pessimistic - society doesn't change for the better in such scenarios.  BoG's Score: 7 out of 10