R.I.P. Patrick McGoohan

[Ang Mo]

It is with sadness to find out about the passing of Patrick McGoohan. I was a huge fan of his show "The Prisoner". My avatar kind of gave that away. It is one of the best series of all time in my opinion and though it was a creation of the 1960's, the theme of the show is just as relevant today as it was back then. I discovered this show while watching PBS but now own the series on DVD. One of the most bizarre but entertaining introduction and soundtracks courtesy of youtube. His quote at the end is particulary chilling where he states: "I am not a number, I am a free man" which is welcomed with mocking laughter from his captor's.
In the corporate world that many of us seem to all work in one way or the other, the idea of being just a number is more true than we would like to think or accept.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14eUKogPF7s

[rahau]

Well, said, Mr. Chairman. I remember watching "The Prisoner" when it first ran on American TV back in the sixties. I was too young to really understand what it was all about, but found it fascinating nonetheless. It's certainly just as relevant today.

I admired the way McGoohan used his star clout to produce a series that otherwise would never have been made. He was a fine actor, and also a damn good writer, director, and producer.

[Walking Stranger]

It is with sadness to find out about the passing of Patrick McGoohan. I was a huge fan of his show "The Prisoner". My avatar kind of gave that away. It is one of the best series of all time in my opinion and though it was a creation of the 1960's,

In the corporate world that many of us seem to all work in one way or the other, the idea of being just a number is more true than we would like to think or accept.

I only heard about this series "The Prisoner" and did not guess it was your avatar.
Thanks for the link introducing the story.
This recurrent idea of being prisoner is also shown in movies like "The Matrix".
You can also listen to the song "Prisoners" by Clawfinger in their myspace here :
http://www.myspace.com/clawfinger

How this feeling of being a prisoner grows the more we SEE we are like hamsters cycling on a circular mechanism when we start asking ourselves WHY are we going on that way ? WHO rules ?

I'll check again this series.
BTW, about death I wonder how Patrick McGoohan would answer if he knew about this project http://beforeidieiwantto.org/ ...

[Ang Mo]

One of my favorite episodes is called Hammer into Anvil which is based on the writings of Goethe, but the term is reversed in this particular instance. The Prisoner successfully turns the tables on his captor driving him mentally insane. Here is a short clip setting up the conflict in the story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqXsmZP3Xuc

[Walking Stranger]

-Hammer into Anvil ?
Let's extrapolate that into some kind of philosophical questioning like :
-to be or not to be ?
-to see or not to see ?
-to listen or not to listen ?
-to say or not to say ?
...
Or into some kind of decision making dilemna like :
-to dominate or to be dominated ?
-to exploit or to be exploited ?
-to manipulate or being manipulated ?
-to let it goes on or not let it goes on ?
...

About Responsibility :
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=tqfvUA2vRAM
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=9piIziXU9RE from 5:00

About Obedience to Authority :
-Milgram experiment (1974):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
-I...as in Icarus (I comme Icare)
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=_z8pGS8XFfw
-Punishment Park
http://fr.youtube.com/watch?v=7XR1TZXmAmI

Source : http://www.panarchy.org/milgram/obedience.html
In an article entitled "The Dangers of Obedience," Harold J. Laski wrote:

. . . civilization means, above all, an unwillingness to inflict unnecessary pain. Within the ambit of that definition, those of us who heedlessly accept the commands of authority cannot yet claim to be civilized men.
. . . Our business, if we desire to live a life not utterly devoid of meaning and significance, is to accept nothing which contradicts our basic experience merely because it comes to us from tradition or convention or authority. It may well be that we shall be wrong; but our self-expression is thwarted at the root unless the certainties we are asked to accept coincide with the certainties we experience. That is why the condition of freedom in any state is always a widespread and consistent skepticism of the canons upon which power insists.


Source : "Soumission à l'autorité" - Titre original de l'ouvrage : "OBEDIENCE TO AUTHORITY - An Experimental View"
Stanley Milgram - Calmann-Lévy, 1997 - Traduit de l'américain par Emy Molinié - p. 234

"[...] Dans un article intitulé "The Dangers of Obedience", Harold J. Laski écrit :
... la civilisation est caractérisée, avant tout, par la volonté de ne pas faire souffrir gratuitement nos semblables. Selon les termes de cette définition, ceux d'entre nous qui se soumettent aveuglément à l'autorité ne peuvent prétendre au statut d'êtres civilisés.
... Notre devoir, si nous souhaitons que la vie ne soit pas totalement dépourvue de sens et de valeur, est de ne rien accepter qui soit en contradiction flagrante avec nos principes de base pour la seule et unique raison que la tradition ou les conventions sociales ou l'autorité nous le prescrivent. Il peut arriver que nous nous trompions, mais toute possibilité d'exprimer notre moi authentique est dès le départ vouée à l'échec si les certitudes que l'on nous demande d'accepter ne coïncident pas avec celles que nous nous sommes forgées. C'est pourquoi, partout et toujours, la condition même de la liberté est une attitude de scepticisme général et systématique vis-à-vis des critères que le pouvoir veut imposer. [...]"


I wonder how we would react if we were some characters like some military guys in some country being asked to put in observation a woman like Aung San Suu Kyi.

"Freedom from Fear" - Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - 10th July 1990
http://www.dassk.com/contents.php?id=416

"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it. [...] "

Ce n’est pas le pouvoir qui corrompt, mais la peur. La peur de perdre le pouvoir corrompt ceux qui le détiennent, et de la même manière, la peur du fléau que représente un pouvoir corrompu corrompt ceux qui sont sujets à ce pouvoir. [...]

What is the source of OUR OWN FEARS ?...
I'm still wondering ... in this Wonderland called Earth...

"I'm not a number ! I'm a free man ! " reminds me of a picture took in Ireland during an exhibition in Limerick in 2006 called "Give(a)way - 30th exhibition of visual + art, e v+ a" :



At the entrance, there were big round green pins saying "Cure Greed" and a little box where you can put a coin or two in it...; )