At first glance the sign “walk on the grass” seems rather strange and eccentric, and yet it is simple psychology. The regular sign “Don’t Walk On The Grass” automatically makes one want to walk on the grass, thus breaking the rule. However the open invitation to walk on the grass instantly takes away the desire to do so. In other words, take away the rules, and there’s no point in rebelling!
Be seeing you
Your conclusion may be right, David. But there's another possibility left deliberately open, as I would think. This call for disobedience could as well be meant as an act of subversion, less for the Villagers but for the audience, who knows. Either way, the sigh serves both doesn't it. - BCNU!
ReplyDeleteHello Arno,
DeleteYes it does, I take your point. But to what purpose might leaving the door ajar for such a call of deliberate disobedience, this act of subversion be? The Prisoner does walks upon the grass and nothing happens to him, as indeed other Villagers do and they are safe enough. Perhaps the sign is nothing more than a joke. In the outide world one cannot walk on the grass, but here in The Village you are invited to do so.
At least we can discuss the meaning of this sign, which is more than can be said for the "Free Sea" sign by the pool and fountain. Unless that means feel free to have a paddle, or even to go boating in it!
Very best regards
David
BCNU
Of course, nothing happened either to either No. 6 or to any other villager walking on the grass. There may be a simple reason: because there wasn't a paved path to walk on. However, I believe this sign, and the "6 private" as well as the "Free Sea", on an elevated level of interpretation, are but an ironic twinkling, a (subversive) nod by the script directed towards us viewers familiar with prohibitive signs of all kinds in veryday life. In the case of "6 private" there's nothing left for No. 6 that could be called "private" or "privacy". And the "Free Sea" ultimately is a mere mockery at the expense of those trapped in the Village. Double think rules. - BCNU!
DeleteHello Arno,
DeleteThere is certainly irony in those signs, and probably because there is no paved path to walk on the Villager is permitted to walk on the grass, is invited to walk on the grass. Yes you make a good point in the signage for citizens homes, when there is no private or privacy for anyone in The Village, not even in Number 6’s bathroom as demonstrated in ‘Dance of The Dead,’ the camera behind the mirror. Now there’s something for the mind to conjure with, as citizens, male and female are at their daily ablutions!!
And yes, the sign “Free Sea” is mocking the citizens. Come to think of it, the sea is a prison for the Guardian, from which at times segments are allowed “day release,” before being returned to its underwater containment!
Very best regards
David
BCNU