Three Shades of Black
I threw the light switch on in my bathroom Friday night and winced in surprise.
The bathroom lights had fizzled on me earlier in week, the same time I was hacking my way through a cold, and the return to normal service had caught me by surprise.
I had been living in both darkness and denial, hoping that the situation would somehow work itself out on its own, and the lights would come back to life like Tinker Bell.
Oddly enough this approach—which I apply far too often in my life--did not work, so after a couple of mornings of showering in the dark, I decided to arrange for an electrician to stop by and take a look.
This plan proved to be successful and now I can shave without having to wear a miner’s helmet.
I’m feeling better now, but I decided to permit myself a little more TV time this weekend, which allowed me to check out an old Twilight Zone episode called “I Am the Night-Color Me Black” that deals with a much more toxic kind of darkness.
I had already seen this episode at least twice before in my life: once when I was a child, when it scared the living hell out of me, and then again as an adult, where I found the program preachy and dull.
I needed a third viewing as a tiebreaker.
First broadcast on March 27, 1964, “I Am the Night-Color Me Black” is about a man who is wrongly convicted by a small-town jury of murdering a bigot and sentenced to hang.
But on the morning of the execution the sun does not rise and the night does not end.
Where the Sun Refused to Shine
And when the condemned man is finally hanged, the sky gets even darker, as we hear news reports of the sun failing to make an appearance at several locations throughout the world, including Birmingham, Alabama and “a street in Dallas.”
“Do you know why it is night all around us?” A minister, portrayed by Ivan Dixon, asks after the hanging. “Do you know what the blackness is? It's the hate he felt, the hate you felt, the hate all of us feel, and there's too much of it. There's just too much. And so, we had to vomit it out. And now it's coming up all around us and choking us.”
Rod Serling, the Twilight Zone’s creator, wrote the episode in reaction to the assassination of John Kennedy, which had recently occurred in Dallas the previous November.
The idea of a world without light terrified me when I first saw the episode, so I was bit surprised when I had such a negative reaction upon seeing it a second time.
The dialog was clunky, I thought, the characters are one dimensional and the whole thing feels terribly dated.
So, on Saturday morning I watched this show one more time and I came away with a split decision.
On the one hand, it is a bit pedantic. But the episode also has a genuine power and it’s gained a new life since we live in such an incredibly hateful age.
The number of hate crimes has been increasing in the United States, spurred on in large part by a president who delights in belittling and insulting anyone he perceives as a threat.
Jim Crow laws have returned to many states under the guise of “Voter ID laws,” and mass shootings plague the nation as hate-filled psychotics are allowed to acquire the most horrific weapons.
Hatred extinguishes light on both a societal and personal level. I know when I give in to my angry impulses I can’t—or won’t--see a thing.
It’s not enough to just hope the lights will back come on by themselves. You have to fix them in your own life and the world beyond.
The bathroom lights had fizzled on me earlier in week, the same time I was hacking my way through a cold, and the return to normal service had caught me by surprise.
I had been living in both darkness and denial, hoping that the situation would somehow work itself out on its own, and the lights would come back to life like Tinker Bell.
Oddly enough this approach—which I apply far too often in my life--did not work, so after a couple of mornings of showering in the dark, I decided to arrange for an electrician to stop by and take a look.
This plan proved to be successful and now I can shave without having to wear a miner’s helmet.
I’m feeling better now, but I decided to permit myself a little more TV time this weekend, which allowed me to check out an old Twilight Zone episode called “I Am the Night-Color Me Black” that deals with a much more toxic kind of darkness.
I had already seen this episode at least twice before in my life: once when I was a child, when it scared the living hell out of me, and then again as an adult, where I found the program preachy and dull.
I needed a third viewing as a tiebreaker.
First broadcast on March 27, 1964, “I Am the Night-Color Me Black” is about a man who is wrongly convicted by a small-town jury of murdering a bigot and sentenced to hang.
But on the morning of the execution the sun does not rise and the night does not end.
Where the Sun Refused to Shine
And when the condemned man is finally hanged, the sky gets even darker, as we hear news reports of the sun failing to make an appearance at several locations throughout the world, including Birmingham, Alabama and “a street in Dallas.”
“Do you know why it is night all around us?” A minister, portrayed by Ivan Dixon, asks after the hanging. “Do you know what the blackness is? It's the hate he felt, the hate you felt, the hate all of us feel, and there's too much of it. There's just too much. And so, we had to vomit it out. And now it's coming up all around us and choking us.”
Rod Serling, the Twilight Zone’s creator, wrote the episode in reaction to the assassination of John Kennedy, which had recently occurred in Dallas the previous November.
The idea of a world without light terrified me when I first saw the episode, so I was bit surprised when I had such a negative reaction upon seeing it a second time.
The dialog was clunky, I thought, the characters are one dimensional and the whole thing feels terribly dated.
So, on Saturday morning I watched this show one more time and I came away with a split decision.
On the one hand, it is a bit pedantic. But the episode also has a genuine power and it’s gained a new life since we live in such an incredibly hateful age.
The number of hate crimes has been increasing in the United States, spurred on in large part by a president who delights in belittling and insulting anyone he perceives as a threat.
Jim Crow laws have returned to many states under the guise of “Voter ID laws,” and mass shootings plague the nation as hate-filled psychotics are allowed to acquire the most horrific weapons.
Hatred extinguishes light on both a societal and personal level. I know when I give in to my angry impulses I can’t—or won’t--see a thing.
It’s not enough to just hope the lights will back come on by themselves. You have to fix them in your own life and the world beyond.
Comments
I haven't seen many episodes of TZ, but the ones I have scared the hell out of me. You are right, one must fix the darkness in their own life first. A good life lesson for the month of thanks.
I think the bathroom light was out for about three days, during which time I switched on nearby lights to make up for the loss--until I realized just how ridiculous that was.
The trouble with this behavior, though, is that you can get used to the lack (of light in this case) and just rearrange your life instead of fixing the problem.
So let the sunshine in!
Take care!
Rob, that's hysterical! But isn't it a bitch to have to shave without proper light? I've done it a few times and ended up looking like I was trying to commit suicide by slashing my face with a razor!
And OMG, that Twilight Zone episode sounds chilling! I used to watch that show, but I don't think I've ever seen that episode.
"It’s not enough to just hope the lights will back come on by themselves. You have to fix them in your own life and the world beyond."
You're absolutely right! Light begets light. And I truly believe that light will prevail!
Have fantastic week, buddy!
Yeah, shaving is one of the routines that really demands proper lighting.
Check out that TZ episode if you get a chance, and speaking of proper lighting, we all have keep a light on in our hearts.
Take care, buddy, and thanks for stopping by!