Wednesday, March 18, 2009

THE YEAR WE WERE 12






















Anyone else remember the following episode of "The Twilight Zone" and how it ended?

Although I watched all of the episodes of "The Twilight Zone" as a adolescent, I was unable to watch more than one episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" because it frightened me deeply, seriously undermining my tenuous sense of safety in a world controlled by adults. I'm sure than I'm not the only one who had that experience in 1961. "The Twilight Zone" gave me things to wonder about, but "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" only gave me nightmares.



The Beatles were just warming up in 1961. What a relief it was to see the Beatles for the first time in early 1964. For the first time in my life, I felt glad to be alive. "The Twilight Zone" gave me things to wonder about, but the Beatles gave me hope as a young girl.

5 comments:

robin andrea said...

I was always too afraid to watch Hitchcock too. There were a few episodes of Twilight Zone I saw and remembered. Someone once wrote that the Beatles arrived so soon after John Kennedy's assassination that they became one of the most important contributions to our national healing. Their exuberance caught us all at a moment when we most needed to be uplifted and transported. What a wonderful thing.

R.L. Bourges said...

I don't remember this episode - but I loved both Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

As for the Beatles - they felt so much like 'ours' - really a generational thing.

The school pics - which one are you, am?

am said...

robin andrea -- The Beatles were there when the young people of the world needed them most. Seems that the Harry Potter books did that for another generation of young people. Music, art, humor and imagination support healing again and again.

R.L. -- Now I'm wondering if I would now have a different take on Alfred Hitchcock than I did as a 12-year-old. Might be a good exercise for me to try watching an episode on YouTube. Do you remember a particular episode that made an impression on you?

I'm the one with the sad eyes and forced closed-mouthed smile. Not a good year for me. My wish was to be the girl in the upper left hand corner who may not have had a good year either but who had a much more relaxed way of being with herself. What I remember about her, too, was that she had "perfect pitch." The teacher would play a chord on the piano, and that girl tell instantly which notes were being played. That amazed me!

R.L. Bourges said...

am:

re Alfred Hitchcock - I wouldn't want to be responsible for giving you nightmares so I suggest the slow desensitization approach. Let's start with a 26 second intro sequence:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxJUhgubWYc&feature=related

The only sequence I remember is one where a woman locks herself into a house to escape a killer who...is...already...inside...waiting for...her.....Mwawwwwhahaha.... I was sent to bed because it was 'too scary' supposedly. What I imagined was probably much worse than what was playing - it almost drove me nuts because all I heard was the background music. That was the scariest Hitchcock ever! :-)

pics: wouldn't it be interesting to hear what all the others have to say about their recollections of who and what they were then? I wonder what happened to the 'perfect pitch' girl?

Happy Beatles to you. Hope spring lands in your parts soon.

best

am said...

R.L. -- Thanks for the thoughtful desensitizing link!

I think those 26 seconds were my cue to go to my bedroom and close the door when I was 12. I don't think I'll be watching any more than that.

The only episode I remember, the one that disturbed me so deeply, was one where a woman is standing near the edge of a cliff. Her husband or boyfriend keeps encouraging her to back up just a little bit. He is pleased when she falls to her death. I was horrified. I could feel myself falling, still alive, betrayed. It was too close to home.

I had so little trust in other people. I sensed that Alfred Hitchcock's stories had the ability to undermine the little trust I had.

It's a long way from 12 years old. Glad to have a sense of community that I didn't have a child. Grateful that spring is offically here!

Thanks for your presence, R.L.!