Regressing To The Future!

   By the end of ‘Fall Out’ the former Number 6 had returned to the society of London after having received a taste of a possible future. For in The Village there have been a number of technological predictions, the cordless telephone - the credit card - a cashless society - the International Community of The Village as a blueprint for world order, that would become the European Community of today. The electronic defence system developed by the Rook, that idea reflects into the one time idea Of the “Star Wars” missile defence system that never saw fruition. ‘the Prisoner’ gives us a lesson in education, and demonstrates the reliance on technology in The Village.

    The idea of the Penny Farthing was to be a symbol of man's progress and the speed at which he is progressing technological wise, and that perhaps we should slow down, is a good analogy for how technology features more and more in out everyday lives, and our ever growing reliance on that technology. The mobile phone has become part of the human anatomy, and is something many people can no longer live without. It is their way of communicating with people, people on social websites whom they are never likely to meet in real life.

   Number 6 also took part in the first “Virtual Reality” game, that of ‘Living In Harmony.’ Nothing was real, it was all played out in the Prisoner’s mind. One can imagine for example Number 6 as The Man with No Name riding along on a horse, but not actually riding a horse, but running along slapping his thigh as children do when playing cowboys and Indians, well when they used to play that game, I don’t think they do so much these days. And of course when The man With No Name is in a fist fight with the Judge's boys, he’s actually fighting imaginary people. And that also goes for the gun fight in the Silver Dollar Saloon.

    Today people play video games, like that Wii game thing. I watch the commercials on television for Wii and there they are, a group of people with a games controller in their hand, linked up to a game being played on television, as they seem to be playing musical instruments in a band on the television screen. But if you look at the idiots in the room, waving about a white game control around in their hands as though playing a guitar, banjo, or holding that game control to their lips as though playing the flute, or clarinet, take a step back and see just how ridiculous they look!

  I mean, if people want to play a musical instrument, why don't they go and actually learn to play the flute, clarinet, or guitar for real? Now I can see the point Patrick McGoohan was trying to make in ‘the Prisoner,’ and his idea of the Penny Farthing and man's technological progression - but I fear it is already far too late!

Be seeing you.