"Number 12 Looks Just Like You" is an episode of the

American television Television is one of the Mass media in the United States, major mass media outlets in the United States. In 2011, 96.7% of households owned television sets; about 114,200,000 American households owned at least one television set each in August ...

anthology series ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

''. It is set in a

dystopian future A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...

in which everyone, upon reaching adulthood, has their body surgically altered into one of a set of physically attractive models.

Opening narration

Plot

In a future society, all nineteen-year-olds go through a process known as "the Transformation", in which each person's body is changed to a physically attractive design chosen from a selection of numbered models. The process also slows deterioration due to age and confers

immunity Immunity may refer to: Medicine * Immunity (medical), resistance of an organism to infection or disease * ''Immunity'' (journal), a scientific journal published by Cell Press Biology * Immune system Engineering * Radiofrequence immunity ...

to disease, extending human lifespans, as well as making unspecified psychological corrections. Due to the overwhelming popularity of female model 12 and male model 17, all adults wear name badges to avoid confusion. Eighteen-year-old Marilyn Cuberle decides not to undergo the Transformation. Nobody else can understand Marilyn's decision, and her family and best friend are all confused by her displeasure with the conformity and shallowness of contemporary life. Her "radical" beliefs were fostered by her now-deceased father, who gave Marilyn banned books and came to regret his own Transformation years earlier, committing suicide upon the loss of his identity. Her mother takes her to see Dr. Rex, who initially thinks Marilyn wants to have the procedure early, but is shocked to learn about Marilyn's refusal. Dr. Rex sends her to Professor Sigmund Friend, who claims that the Transformation is justified as it has led to the end of war and hate in society, along with many health benefits, in addition to the change in appearance. When Marilyn protests that she still does not want the procedure, he has Marilyn confined to a hospital room against her will, ostensibly to psychologically examine her and cure her of her reason for refusing the procedure. Marilyn suspects that despite not being legally required, the Transformation is not optional, and is being maintained by the leaders of society to ensure conformity. Her best friend Valerie, who has already undergone the Transformation, shows no emotional reaction to Marilyn's protests, even when she is driven to tears. Marilyn realizes that no one who has undergone the Transformation remains capable of any empathy for or understanding of her. She tries to escape from the hospital, but ends up in the operating room to undergo the Transformation. Dr. Rex, who operated on Marilyn, comments that some people have problems with the idea of the Transformation but that "improvements" to the procedure now guarantee a positive result. Marilyn reappears, looking and thinking ''exactly'' like Valerie. "And the nicest part of all, Val", she gushes, "I look just like you!"

Closing narration

Program notes

To show this future society in this episode,

Suzy Parker Suzy Parker (born Cecilia Ann Renee Parker; October 28, 1932 – May 3, 2003) was an American model and actress active from 1947 until 1970. Her modeling career reached its zenith during the 1950s, when she appeared on the covers of dozens of ma ...

and

Pam Austin Pamela Austin (born March 12, 1950) is an Americans, American former professional sports, professional tennis player (game), player. College career Austin played college tennis at UCLA Bruins#Tennis, UCLA and won a Pacific-8 Conference doubles ...

play almost all of the female roles (actress Collin Wilcox plays protagonist Marilyn prior to her transformation), while Richard Long plays all of the male roles; dialogue in the episode indicates that Parker and Long portray the most popular models selected for the Transformation. According to show producer

William Froug William Froug (May 26, 1922 – August 25, 2013) was an American television writer and producer. His producing credits included the series ''The Twilight Zone'', ''Gilligan's Island'', and ''Bewitched''. He was a writer for, among other shows, '' ...

, Parker was specifically cast because she "was at the time the most famous model in the

nited States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

... it was my notion that if you were going to do a show about everybody looking as beautiful as possible to use her." This episode was originally sponsored by

American Tobacco The American Tobacco Company was a tobacco company founded in 1890 by J. B. Duke through a merger between a number of U.S. tobacco manufacturers including Allen and Ginter, Goodwin & Company, and Kinney Brothers. The company was one of the or ...

( Pall Mall), with an "alternate sponsors" message (from

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/con ...

) in the middle.

Cultural influence

The 2005 novel ''

Uglies ''Uglies'' is a 2005 dystopian novel by Scott Westerfeld. It is set in a futuristic post-scarcity world in which everyone is considered an "Ugly" until they are then turned "Pretty" by extreme cosmetic surgery when they reach the age of 16. It ...

'' shares several themes with this episode. It also takes place in a future where teens receive an operation to look 'perfect' and live healthier and longer and centers on a girl who initially refuses the operation. The band

The Number Twelve Looks Like You The Number Twelve Looks Like You is an American mathcore band, formed in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, in 2001. The band went on a six-year hiatus in 2010. In May 2016, they performed a secret show and then announced their reunion. ...

took their name from the title of this episode.

Charlie Brooker Charlton ‘Charlie’ Brooker (born 3 March 1971) is an English screenwriter, producer, presenter, author, cartoonist, and social critic. He first became known for creating and presenting satirical television shows that featured biting criticis ...

stated in an interview that this episode influenced "

Fifteen Million Merits "Fifteen Million Merits" is the second episode of the first series of the British science fiction anthology series ''Black Mirror''. It was written by the series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker and his wife Konnie Huq and directed by Euros ...

", an episode of his

anthology series An anthology series is a written series, radio, television, film, or video game series that presents a different story and a different set of characters in each different episode, season, segment, or short. These usually have a different ca ...

, ''

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology series, anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Most episodes are set in near-future dystopias containing Science fiction, sci-fi technology—a type of speculative fiction. The series i ...

''. Dr. Evil from the ''

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American satirical spy comedy films created by Mike Myers, who stars as the British spy Austin Powers as well as his arch-nemesis, Dr. Evil. The series consists of '' International Man of Mystery'' (1997), ' ...

'' franchise used the same pinky gestures as Richard Long from this episode.Where Did That Pinky Come From?
at The American Culture

References

* *

External links

*
Text of Charles Beaumont's original story "The Beautiful People"
{{The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) episodes 1964 American television episodes The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series) season 5 episodes Television episodes about plastic surgery Television shows written by Charles Beaumont Fiction set in 2000 Fiction set in 2001 Ugliness Television episodes directed by Abner Biberman Television episodes set in the 2000s