It Means What It Is!

     "It Means What It Is," those are perhaps the most profound words McGoohan was heard to utter in the entire series of ‘the Prisoner,’ "It means what it is" brilliant. Now it has to be said that I have, in my time, taken the Prisoner quite seriously, indeed I have seen the Prisoner as a reality because for me it has been easier for me to look at, and understand the series in that way.

   In my years of appreciation for ‘the Prisoner’ I have joined in debates, discussed, theorised, put ideas forward, and interpreted certain aspects of ‘the Prisoner’ in the best way possible using reasoned logic, and without delving into the realms of fantasy. In other words I have never taken ‘the Prisoner’ to any great extremes, unlike.........Well quite recently a piece of text fell into my possession, well it didn't really fall into my possession, it was sent to me in the post, and when I read this particular piece of text I could hardly believe what I was reading. It would appear that a certain Professor of religious studies, who will remain nameless here, at an American University, and the author of three books, who professes to offer new perspectives on biblical, cultural, ethical, or religious issues and whose writing has a broad application for a general audience, has made the following statement, indeed she is convinced that;  "When we truly understand ‘the Prisoner,’ we will know the meaning of life and our place in the universe."

      That's one hell of a statement that's been made there, and it would only take a Professor of religious studies, and an American to boot, no offence intended to my American readers, to make such a bold statement. Now I have arrived at an understanding of ‘the Prisoner’ which, if I may be so bold as to say, is second to none and which suits me. I have spent four and half years making an in-depth study of the Prisoner, and I have to say that I haven't even come close to knowing the "meaning of life and our place in the universe" through ‘the Prisoner,’ but perhaps if I'd spent a further six months, and looked in other places.............who knows, what other delights I may have discovered?! I mean lets be completely honest about this, ‘the Prisoner’ is nothing more than a television series, which unfortunately has become a cult, and that is what Patrick McGoohan was afraid of. Patrick McGoohan was also adamant that there was no religious content of any kind in the Prisoner series. Okay, I take ‘the Prisoner’ seriously, but not to extremes as this American Professor of religious studies, but if she thinks that understanding ‘the Prisoner’ leads to the meaning of life and our place in the universe, then she's completely off her head! My god, Patrick McGoohan would spin in his grave if he thought that anyone would take his creation to such lengths, that anyone could be serious enough to come to such a conclusion. And quite frankly, so am I.

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