The Prisoner

AMC (the cable channel) has attempted to remake the old 1967 TV series The Prisoner. Looks like the original is still the best, although their website does have a section devoted to the original and the remake, taking the concept in some interesting directions. The original show starred Patrick McGoohan, later of Ice Station Zebra fame, and Braveheart after that, (at least, that's the two movies I remember him in). It dealt with The Village, an island community run by a mysterious para-governmental organization. No one ever spells out exactly who or what runs the Village, or to what end. However, the extraction of information from the residents by any means necessary seems to be the order of the day every day. While not exactly openly torturing people, the Village powers that be are relentless. McGoohan, who is identified on two occasions (both times incorrectly) by name is Number Six, who refuses to offer information voluntarily to the Village, and remains fiercely independent, putting his own ideas of right and wrong as well as his sense of self ahead of everything. He is, it's implied, a former agent of some government, and is possibly involved in espionage- James Bond on steroids. He is, or was, in posession of a considerable amount of knowledge regarding secret operations on (again, it's implied) a near-global scale. In other words, a very valuable and risky government commodity. So upon resigning his post, he is drugged and taken to The Village, in an obvious attempt to disorient and confuse him. Everything in the Village seems superficially set up to take care of the residents, although underneath this, the Village demands that its residents surrender individual identity to the collective, and hold back nothing from any figure either actually in or giving the appearance of authority.
Number Six (no one is identified by name, only number) continuously fights against this process, refusing any and all information as the Village's methods become more and more creative in their attempts to break his mind. As time goes on, it all begins to hinge on one question- "Why did you resign?" The Village authorities begin to think that if this one question is answered truthfully by Six, it will represent the breaking of his mind, and in so doing, he will surrender any and all information after that. The conflict escalates, descending quickly into the surreal, finally culminating in Number Six being introduced to Number One, the presumed head of the Village, and the bane of Six's new found existence. The show ends with Number Six ultimately defeating anything and everything the Village throws at him, and still retaining his sanity. He is then free to return to his previous life, but at the same time, the question is raised, how free was he in the first place? And by extension, how free are any of us? We are all, either voluntarily or involuntarily, confined in some form of Village. We have to be, to function as a part of society. Often, these things are so small that they generally escape our notice. If we did, would we not all descend into twitching paranoia, unable even to move out of fear of being observed? There exists a balance, although many people would gladly throw away that balance for material comfort and security. In the Army, I find this too. We have considerably less privacy than the average civilian, yet at the same time are well taken care of. Is it worth it? In this case, yes. No one forced us into this position, so who do we complain to? Only ourselves. I hate to say it, but it's not that bad. We occupy a unique place in society- our lives are by necessity open books, yet other people are not. There are still, no doubt, secrets we all keep, but others keep far worse ones, and life goes on. My intent is to do my job, retire and hopefully not wind up in any Village except one of my own choosing. Knowing my knowledge and skills would be used for evil would probably put me in a similar position- perhaps I would have to resign. But luckily, things are, at least at first glance, a bit simpler than our friend's, and besides, any effective organization like the Village would have to give the appearance of complete freedom anyway. So if there is one, perhaps what should lead us to suspect its existence is the complete absence of evidence of it in the first place. But again, this puts us squarely in the realm of paranoia. Draw your own conclusions, dear readers.