The Prisoner is all in the mind - so they say. Trouble is, I can't get him out of mine!
I Didn’t Resign - I Walked out!
"What I intended, originally, was that McGoohan is held by people and he doesn't know which side he's working for... I walked out. That's why it became silly, you see. It needed a certain hand at the helm."
Gerorge Markstein.
Dance Of The Dead
It has been written that this episode opens with No.6 having been brainwashed. Well this is absurd. Because to brainwash a person, or someone means that what they know has been washed away so that those who have done this thing can then replace that something with something of their own. Its like wiping the memory of a computer so that you can reprogrammed it to do something different. To understand this fully you should watch the film The Manchurian Candidate.
Bearing in mind the face that Professor Jacob Seltzman now wears, that of the Colonel. Can we be sure that the white haired gentleman that we see in the episode Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, is actually Professor Seltzman? In short has Seltzman used his process previously, with some poor victim, so as to hide his true identity. After all he was living in Kandersfeld, working as a barber, under the pseudonym of Herr Hallen.
And that's the beauty of it, we can never know. Simply to speculate.
The Freedom To Think!
I was on the telephonic communication device last night, speaking to an old friend of mine. He made the comment that my articles here are all very thought provoking, interesting to read, and entertaining into the bargain. Furthermore that I have found new angles to come at the Prisoner with, and have formulated new ideas and theories about the series. And that Six of One are losing out on my inspired Prisoner based articles.
It was very kind of my friend to say so, and indeed I was once, and for 15 years from 1986 to 2001, a proud member of Six of One: The Prisoner Appreciation Society, and contributed letters and articles to the society magazine, which were all well received. However it has to be said that ndeed since walking out on Six of One, I have found a new freedom to think. I have developed a fresh outlook on ‘the Prisoner,’ new angles to come at the series. To develop new and fresh ideas and theories about the series. Furthermore I feel that had I remained a member of Six of One, I would not have had the freedom of mind to carry out a fur year study into ‘the Prisoner’ in-depth, to make the fresh discoveries I have made about the series, together with aspects of the series which have never been made mention of in all my time as a member of that society, nor have I read in any of the society magazines or newsletter throughout the 31 years.
Now when I look back, with my new found freedom to think, I can see the restrictions that a society like Six of One puts on its members. The society is too confining. You tailor your thoughts to stay within the structure of what is permitted. Put in short, you fail to think outside the box, to coin a phrase.
More articles to come? You betcha!
Be seeing you
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