Friday, September 27, 2013
Xenophobia On Maple Street?
How does The Twilight Zone Episode: The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street address the concept of xenophobia? What alarms you regarding the inhabitants actions and attitudes? How does this episode align or differ with stories we have already read? Other thoughts? Please respond by 2:30p.m. on Mon., September 30th, 2013.
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I believe that this episode of The Twilight Zone was a pretty clear example of xenophobia and how it affects the human race. Xenophobia is a fear yes, but I believe that, with the right push, it can lead to hate. In the episode of The Twilight Zone, they are so afraid of the weird and unfamiliar things going on, that they jump to conclusions and violence. This happens in our society, most of the time. We become become so afraid that we act out and we end up killing or hurting the thing we're afraid of.
ReplyDeleteThis Twilight Zone episode was very interesting to watch. It really hit home the point of xenophobia and how it can destroy communities. It addresses the concept of xenophobia by showing how quick humans are willing to react to events in their lives and look for someone or something to place blame on. It is alarming to watch and see how quickly social order broke down and people went with their gut instincts of separating what was "normal" from the "strange". I think it aligns well with the other stories that we have read. It extrapolates, or plays out the concept of xenophobia to the extreme and points out human weakness. I thought that it was a great episode to watch and was informative. I liked how it showed mob mentality and xenophobia hand in hand and pointed out why being excepting of others is important.
ReplyDeleteI've always liked The Twilight Zone because very often they have a poignant and straightforward social message. This one was as blatant as it was startlingly familiar. Twilight Zone is often scary because of the feasibility of the situations. I can see average Americans turning on each other. Replace Aliens with communists during the red scare, with terrorists right after 911. With aliens, to us it seems silly to turn on your neighbors but if we had good reason to believe that SOMEone was a terrorist in our neighborhood wouldn't we all get suspicious? Then start almost testing each other? The other, especially when it can be interpreted as hostile, immediately gives way to Xenophobia, all it took was the child suggesting that the Aliens were hostile to start a chain of events that led to fighting. It is in my opinion one of the more realistic stories we have read, with the Xenophobia be centered on ourselves rather than Aliens.
ReplyDeleteI think this particular episode of the Twilight Zone is a pretty clear and concise example of xenophobia in not only America but around the world too. These normal citizens of Caucasian American suburbia, once close and friendly, turn on each other when an idea that aliens might be involved was brought forward. Just as the residents of Salem tried and hung their neighbors for suspected witchcraft, the members of Maple street set out destroying each other over something they had no proof of. We can also connect this to the Repent Harlequin story in a pretty blatant way. Both involve routine societies, that stop functioning when an element in the grand machinery goes awry. It's despicable that these are the reactions when the fabric of society is a little torn, but that's human nature for you.
ReplyDeleteThe Twilight Zone demonstrates xenophobia through showing how when just one person showed suspicion of an outsider the whole town began to corrupt. The lengths of how far xenophobia can go was also displayed in the Twilight Zone when the neighbors started turning on each other and accusing one another of being the alien, the outsider. This episode reminded me of Repent Harlequin and Sales Pitch because in all three of these stories the middle class of people are being ruled by and being observed by a "higher" rank. And none of the people have complete control over their lives.
ReplyDeleteThis of episode of The Twilight Zone demonstrates xenophobia because they people of Maple Street feared the unknown, which led to bad assumptions that tore them apart. The attitudes of the people were surprising because most of them didn't think for themselves. They thought as a group, which didn't allow for very many ideas about the situation. This episode wasn't really like other stories we have read because humans were the monsters this time.
ReplyDeleteIn the episode of Twilight Zone we see very clear examples of xenophobia, it shows us how quickly we scare ourselves with the thought of the unknown. The people on Maple street were normal American people, until all of their power went out. The assumptions began when the car of a fellow neighbor turned on. He was the first to be accused of being the "outer-space being" among them. The people were so quick to decide who the culprit was, even without any proof. They jumped from person to person, getting more aggressive and scared each time. At the end of the episode it did show outer-space beings. And people were not paying any attention to their surroundings, only on what they thought was right. Roles get reversed here, the humans are more alien like than the actual aliens. They are too quick to jump to conclusions without any proof.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching "The Twilight Zone Episode: The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street," xenophobia is addressed in many different ways such as unusual-ness and fear in difference itself. The fear of not knowing relates to xenophobia because everyone in that town got fearful after not knowing who was the 'alien' and what was going to happen to them. They started fearing each other and judging themselves by who was the most different from the rest and then that person was obviously the alien. This episode differs from the other stories we've read because in the past stories, the humans were use to aliens and robots, like in "Sales Pitch" for example. Xenophobia seems to be in our generation more than our future as the stories we've read sort of showed.
ReplyDeleteThe twilight zone episode "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street" I saw a lot of Xenophobia. Everyone thought just that a person looking in the sky could be a alien,or a kid that believes in monsters could be a monster. One guy had electrical use when nobody else could they thought that he was an alien. At the end we figured out that the actual "aliens" were on top of a hill doping all this for a project.
ReplyDeleteIn the twilight zone, all the citizens let the story from the comic book destroy their neighborhood and kill their friends. I found it interesting how the smallest little doubt and distrust can grow to full scale murder
ReplyDeleteThe episode of Twilight Zone gives a very good example of xenophobia by creating a situation where humans acceptance is tested by something as simple as a power outage. This episode surprised me because it shows how quickly people are to blame each other. This reminded me of psychology because there is a term called "hindsight biased" where once you hear a story you are more likely to be convinced that that is happening. This effect is present in this episode and also helps explain human fear as it relates to xenophobia.
ReplyDeleteIn "The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" xenophobia causes a lot of people to be untrustworthy to each other. The whole time, people accused each other based on the story that came from a little boy that ends up causing everyone to go insane and kill one man. This is a great way to show xenophobia because it shows it in one of the more extreme ways.
ReplyDeleteThe Twilight Zone episode was an interesting thing to watch. This episode showed xenophobia in many ways. The people stared to be xenophobic when they started to accuse each other of being an alien. Being xenophobic can destroy people life's and not only that, but communities also. The people started to be afraid of each other and jumped each other. This Reminded me of the short story Muse because in both stories the people were afraid to be different.
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ReplyDeleteParker Lacy
ReplyDeleteIn the show "The Twilight Zone" there are many forms of xenophobia that are very prevalent. When everyone started to fear everything, everything began to go down hill. Everyone feared each other because they were worried that someone would blame them. It's almost a form of hysteria because the fear of everything. The attitudes in this story that suggest xenophobia is prevalent, are fear and sadness.This story aligns with "Sales Pitch" because that story is all about robots and how they sell their products.
The Twilight Zone Episode: The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street, seems very strange and out there, but it is very close to home. We are always judging people, if they are wearing something or doing something that we wouldn't do. In the show they started talking about that one guy because his car worked, even though he wasn't in it, and because he looks at the stars. this seems over the top but we think things like this very often. Another example of xenophobia in the show would be when they shot the person they couldn't see well because he looked different in the darkness. This is very similar to our reading this unit because they are about the same topics but in our last unit this connects to Repent! Harlequin! because the government didn't like this man because he was different.
ReplyDeleteIn The Twilight Zone episode: The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, xenophobia is very clearly and accurately portrayed through the people who live on Maple Street. The fact that the power mysteriously went out on their street caused them to point fingers and blame. They willingly gave up their friendships with the neighbors by accusing the others of being aliens and other crazy things. The fear of the unknown drives humans to the breaking point. The fact that it is so easy to cause small fights between people is unnerving. Something as simple as a power outage is no reason to fight someone. This episode was similar to the other xenophobia stories because the main fear was caused by the possibility of aliens.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia is clearly referenced in "Monsters are Due on Maple Street." As soon as doubt replaced the previous friendly thoughts in the mind of the community, fear and distrust broke out. People they had known all their lives were now being accused of a being "different." The boy based his beliefs off a book and the gullible people took him seriously. They used a story to justify their hateful actions. The alarming thing about the show, is that we are all capable of this. It is human nature to automatically judge, and to be not only cautious but also aggressive to unknown elements, some might call this "survival of the fittest", but weren't we all told as children to "not talk to strangers" and to "be cautious of people that look scary." It may not be considered a bad thing but as we grow, our judgments and accusations evolve with us. We are now more capable of incidents similar to the one that happens in the twilight zone, and we may not even be aware of it.
ReplyDeleteTajalik Davis
ReplyDeleteHour 1
The Twilight Zone episode addresses the concept of xenophobia because it demonstrates the fear and paranoia caused by different behavior and routine. The residents started to become suspicious of the flashing light and the power going out so they used different people as “scapegoats”. What is alarming about the attitudes and behaviors of the residents is that they let a power outage scare them half to death. Their behavior suggests that they never had a power outage until now and are assuming it has to do with the supernatural and/or the extraterrestrial. The Twilight Zone aligns with other stories we have read in class because everyone has to conform with the standards of the group or they become the main target. The Twilight Zone differs because there is more than one target and the reactions of the residents are an experiment not just a coincidence.
The most alarming aspect of the Twilight Zone to me would include the constant looking for a scape goat. It seemed that all the neighbors on the street acused everyone and their brother of being an alien. Another aspect of this story that grabbed my attention is the boy. He walks out to the neighbors and tells them of stories about aliens. Naturally the grown ups push this talk aside, and call the boy immature. But who is immature in this situation, the boy talking of aliens, or the neighbors who blaim anybody but themselves for being an alien?
ReplyDeleteIn this episode xenophobia is clearly shown. In the episode all of the people of the street freak out just because all of their electronics are acting up, and when this happens anarchy brakes out. If the people on maple street were calm the issue would have resolved itself and all things would have been well, but because they were not calm one of the neighbors was shot and killed. It clearly shows xenophobia because they are afraid of whats different.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia being clearly present, in this episode of Twilight Zone can prove to destroy communities along with your own self. This is proven when the power outage occurs and everyone is against each other fighting out of fear and anxiety.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia is clearly present in this episode and is the main point of this episode. Its alarming to see people react in such a way that they instantly turn on someone who is even slightly different from them. It falls along the same lines of the stories we've done in this class, how something that maybe isn't that truly different can cause such a panic among the population. It truly shows how something like this could easily happen in real life and maybe has, like with the Red Scare in the 1950's.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia in this show relayed the message that when people are in fear, and somebody does point the finger, the other will easily believe the accusations with few questions. This is partly because the people on the street were searching for an answer faster than they could process the information, and because when you are scared you will try to make the mystery go away in your mind. On maple street the people accused numerous people falsely but nobody questioned the accusations due to a want to find the answer faster.
ReplyDeleteXenophobia is displayed in this epsode of The twilight zone from the beging everyone is acusing each other of being an "alien monster" . i belive it is scary for them becaus eits the 1950s and aliens werent like pop culture like now. its weird to think if a more intellegent bieng messes with us like this.
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