Over the years I have consistently warned my viewers to stay away from 'revisioned' fare on television and movies. Almost invariably such efforts are refuse best avoided than partaken in. But sometimes there comes an exception.
So far the previews of The Prisoner look like it has captured the essense of the original British show from 1967. Keep in mind the words essense. Because like all revisions, this one has been adapted to the sensibilities of our current time. And that likely will be the flaw of the program.
The remake will star Sir Ian McKellen and James Caviezel. Both are fine actors of high note. I believe both bring real credibility and substance to the program. There should be no question of how compelling they both can make their respective characters.
The setting will be interesting too. Filmed primarily in South Africa, the landscape - as much as there will be any considering it takes place in the confines of a desert - should add to the overall theme of the program. Desperation will be something not just discussed but also seen.
But the heart of the television show has never been the actors or the scenery. The Prisoner is enirely about what is said and done. It is about ideals. It is a surreal reflection of the world around us.
In the 1960's the world was in flux. Governments were trying to adjust to changing views in their societies. War was on the horizon, and even larger global conflicts loomed while internal strife was everpresent.
Thus the 1967 show focused on freedom. Individual freedom versus the oppressive nature of large Governments of all types. Of the ability to be unique in a world striving to ensure every peg fit perfectly into a pre-conceived hole.
It's a topic that could easily fit into the world today. A theme that sounds as true in 2009 with government-run healthcare, forced restrictions on energy usage, and plans for government to determine what is free (and/or fair) via the internet as it was for the world of the 60's. But that isn't where this show will go.
Instead this will be an attack on capitalism. The easy target of the day and the preferred evil of Hollywood. Yes it is capitalism that the prisoner Six (Caviezel) will be seeking to escape. Or so Sir McKellen has stated
"Capitalism offers you freedom, but far from giving people freedom, it enslaves them," he says. "That's part of the show's message." http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_en_tv/us_ap_on_tv_prisoner_mckellen
I don't agree with this view, as much as Hollywood (an institution only possible under capitalism) likes to insist it is true. But that does not mean that the show will be bad. Depending on how strongly this theme is reinforced will ultimately determine how much it can be enjoyed. Unless the viewer is just vacantly watching the program, and then it wouldn't matter if this were the revisioned V series or static snow.
So the premise is this, can you escape your Village (capitalism)? Do you even want to? What does it cost you to stay right were you are?
But that leads me to a series of questions I don't think the program will delve into. Can we escape the other alternative being pressed upon us (Government oppresiveness)? What cost of our freedoms does craddle to grave government oversight take? Isn't escaping one Village to only join another just as futile?
Deep questions. Likely not something that most television viewers expect for the ITV box in their living room. But The Prisoner is a show that never strived to just keep viewers mindlessly enthralled like American Idol. So if nothing else this remake might just succeed on that level too.
On Sunday we will all have the choice of actively allowing ourselves to be held, members of a Village far larger than the one we will see onscreen. For that price I think we will be rewarded, to some degree, with a unique experience. The only question is if it is worth the price paid.
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