This week in class we watched a documentary about Rod Serling. He was a very successful man and I had no idea about him or any of his work until “The Twilight Zone” was mentioned. He was always a defeat the odds kind of guy. He was a small fella, and he enlisted into the paratroopers after seeing a video when he was in the armed forces. His buddies thought he was crazy, but he believed in himself and made it through training, which made him a success. His wife mentioned that he was traumatized from war, like most men in that time, and now often are. However, some of his best and most successful writings came from his pain and even mental suffering from war. The raw emotion allowed him to pour it all out. He wrote plenty of pieces that were based on war that were extremely similar to his own experiences. Being able to write and see these experiences come to life was a nice way for him to get it off his chest and basically move on.

Serling was well known for his ability to expose the potential for evil amongst humanity in his writing. He would often chose a pretty normal story plot that would face a basic person with a moral dilemma where they had the potential to make an unethical decision or even worse. I cannot remember the name of the piece, but it was a WW2 piece that was about a soldier who’s job was to take out a group of Japanese soldiers. When he wakes up one day, he is a Japanese soldier who’s job is to take out a group of American soldiers. That sounds like a tough show to watch that would keep you on the edge of your seat. Serling really placed an emphasis on the characters of his writings, not necessarily the action that creates a reaction. When he was writing for “The Loner” for CBS, the network had an issue with the lack of violence and action. But Serling was so focused on having likeable characters that the fans could fall in love with and be easily liked.

It is funny how much times can change. Serling underwent tremendous amounts of criticism for doing commercials. Fans thought it made him lose his credibility and become less respectable. In today’s age, some celebrities are known because of commercials, and if you are not endorsing multiple products, you are not successful.