A life time fan and Prisonerologist of the 1960's series 'the Prisoner', a leading authority on the subject, a short story writer, and now Prisoner novelist.
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Friday, 17 August 2012
Tebreak Teaser
The Prisoner was already under close surveillance before his abduction to the Village, that much is plain from the Prisoner's de-briefing on the day of his arrival in the Village. But why was the Prisoner under surveillance, and by whom?
The implication is quite obvious, Number Six has been observed, (pro-)filed and perhaps stamped right from the start of his career and so has been each of his professional steps on duty. By whom? The logical answer: his own service did it. And even if the real MI5 (or whatever its name) by the mid 1960s did not collect any or less personal data it is prospective, that's why The Prisoner has continued to endure and, now more than ever, to be topical considering data-devouring institutions like F***book, G***gle, M***soft and the like and the capabilities of electronic data processing, of combining all those threads together. - BCNU
An interesting comment. His own people have the Prisoner under surveillance, yes I've always been of that opinion myself. But why would they be watching one of their own people? Unless he had become suspect of something! Unless of course it was not the Prisoner's own people watching him, but the Village, and it is they who are gathering information. But then if it's the British who is behind the Village, it's the Prisoner's own people who have him under such close surveillance, and there we are, back at the beginning. It's not so much swings and rounabouts, more like all roundabouts! And it's that which makes 'the Prisoner' so enduring, why it has endurd for 45 years in the memory.
Thank you for the link, I've done some research into Jeremy Bentahm's Panopticon myself for one of my 'Prisoner' based manuscripts, and feel that Bentham's ideas about an all seeing Supervisor, and the effect he has on prisoners in a Panopticon prison, could well be adapted in the Village.
In the New Prisoner, episode "Anvil", the line is heard, "Once you're suspect you're guilty." Intelligence services of any kind, "by nature", are systems of distrust. Paranoia ruling. In the end it doesn't matter so much if No Six' service took him under constant surveillance or if it was a "sub-service" secretly running the Village. Where the hell did I once read about No Six having discovered plans for creating a secret place which eventually lead to the existence of the Village. And that, in turn, was the reason why he was abducted. - BCNU!
Well everyone is guilty of something, aren't they? The trouble in the Village of THEPRIS6NER-09 is, that even the most innocent of actions can see you suspect. Just as with the Communist witch hunts in America during the 1950's, when everyone was suspect!
Now if Number 6 and Number 1 are two sides of the Prisoner's personality, the one being the alter ego of the other, then it is reasonable to say that the Prisoner himself is responsible for the Village.
The implication is quite obvious, Number Six has been observed, (pro-)filed and perhaps stamped right from the start of his career and so has been each of his professional steps on duty. By whom? The logical answer: his own service did it. And even if the real MI5 (or whatever its name) by the mid 1960s did not collect any or less personal data it is prospective, that's why The Prisoner has continued to endure and, now more than ever, to be topical considering data-devouring institutions like F***book, G***gle, M***soft and the like and the capabilities of electronic data processing, of combining all those threads together. - BCNU
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteAn interesting comment. His own people have the Prisoner under surveillance, yes I've always been of that opinion myself. But why would they be watching one of their own people? Unless he had become suspect of something! Unless of course it was not the Prisoner's own people watching him, but the Village, and it is they who are gathering information. But then if it's the British who is behind the Village, it's the Prisoner's own people who have him under such close surveillance, and there we are, back at the beginning. It's not so much swings and rounabouts, more like all roundabouts! And it's that which makes 'the Prisoner' so enduring, why it has endurd for 45 years in the memory.
Thank you for the link, I've done some research into Jeremy Bentahm's Panopticon myself for one of my 'Prisoner' based manuscripts, and feel that Bentham's ideas about an all seeing Supervisor, and the effect he has on prisoners in a Panopticon prison, could well be adapted in the Village.
Kind regards
David
BCNU
In the New Prisoner, episode "Anvil", the line is heard, "Once you're suspect you're guilty." Intelligence services of any kind, "by nature", are systems of distrust. Paranoia ruling. In the end it doesn't matter so much if No Six' service took him under constant surveillance or if it was a "sub-service" secretly running the Village. Where the hell did I once read about No Six having discovered plans for creating a secret place which eventually lead to the existence of the Village. And that, in turn, was the reason why he was abducted. - BCNU!
DeleteHello Arno,
DeleteWell everyone is guilty of something, aren't they? The trouble in the Village of THEPRIS6NER-09 is, that even the most innocent of actions can see you suspect. Just as with the Communist witch hunts in America during the 1950's, when everyone was suspect!
Now if Number 6 and Number 1 are two sides of the Prisoner's personality, the one being the alter ego of the other, then it is reasonable to say that the Prisoner himself is responsible for the Village.
Best regards
David
Be seeing you
Just adding this amendment:
ReplyDeleteThe Digital Panopticon, by Joshua-Michele Ross
http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/05/the-digital-panopticon.html