A Message from The Twilight Zone: People Are Alike All Over

I've recently been watching episodes of the old Twlight Zone series which first aired in 1959 and ran for many seasons. Last night I saw an episode that brought to mind a real life incident from a century ago. But first, the fictional tale from the Twlight Zone: "People Are Alike All Over." 

In this story two astronauts, Sam Conrad and Warren Marcusson, embark on a mission to Mars. When they crash land on the planet, Marcusson dies, but before he passes away he reassures Conrad that people are alike everywhere, implying they will find kindness and hospitality on Mars.

When their spaceship crash lands, Conrad is alone, a stranger in a strange land. When the Martians open the spacecraft door, however, they are very human looking, and quite friendly. They provide him with a luxurious home that is surprisingly similar to those on Earth. Briefly all seems well, but then Conrad discovers that his new home is actually a cage in a Martian zoo, and he is the exhibit. He opens the drapes and sees a crowd standing there enjoying this new specimen for display. The sign in front of his barred window reads Earthling in His Natural Habitat.

What's ironic is that this really is the way  people are here on earth. The incident I noted in paragraph one is the story of Ota Benga, which I wrote about in February 2019. Ota Benga was a pygmy from the African bush country who had been brought to North America as a sideshow. He was taken first to St. Louis to be displayed in the 1904 World's Fair there, and then to the Bronx Zoo in 1906. Ota Benga was an immediate sensation. His home was in the monkey house. 

It's a true story which you can read more about here: 

Ota Benga Story Challenges Our Illusions About How Enlightened We Are 

* * * 

EdNote: It's amusing how space travel was portrayed on TV in the late 1950s. Whether it be Mars or the surface of an asteroid, our space adventurers always seemed to have air to breathe.