"In the surreal late-1960's television series The Prisoner, the show revolves around a secret agent who, after resigning under mysterious circumstances, is kidnapped and taken to a strange unknown location. The Village, as it is called, is an elaborate prison that looks to all intents and purposes like a picturesque seaside town. Everyone in The Village is referred to by a number that has been assigned by the authorities. The secret agent is given the number "Six."...
"Number Six has been brought to The Village because those in charge want to know why he resigned. Each episode thus revolves around the ever-escalating conflict between the British agent and his captors. Number Six constantly attempts to escape his bizarre prison, undermine those in power, and find out who ultimately runs The Village, while his captors devise ever more elaborate schemes to break him and extract the information they desire.
The result is a tense psychological drama that explores the nature of power and resistance in contemporary society. On the surface, The Village is a place of freedom and contentment. All one's needs are provided for, and the powers that be appear benign. Yet the calm and free nature of The Village has a deeply uncanny texture- beneath the surface there is constant indoctrination, escape seems impossible, and obscure psychological techniques are routinely employed to keep people docile and obedient.
In addition to this, it is never clear who the prisoners are and who the guards are. In fact, it is unclear as to whether the guards themselves are prisoners. One of the few authority figures we do see, Number Two, changes constantly and would seem to be just as trapped in The Village as everyone else..
Throughout the series Number Six is constantly striving to find out who the power behind Number Two really is. As the dialogue over the credits show, he is obsessively attempting to unmask the always elusive Number One...
In short, what the series reveals is that the oppressive power behind The Village is none other than Number Six himself. He is responsible for the oppressive regime that holds him captive. He enables it to function. He has built this prison in which he languishes. He is the power whom he rails so passionately.
In The Prisoner we are confronted with the idea that it is we who create the Big Other that controls us. While we may experience this Other as separate from us, existing independently of us, and bearing down on us, it is nonetheless our own creation. We are oppressed by a foreign power that is our own.
We are Number Six and Number One, the oppressor and the one being oppressed. We are a divided subject at war with that which we create and which creates us."
This passage struck me deeply. Ever since I took part in the Divided by Faith discussion this fall, and then attended CCDA in October, the truths found in the excerpt above have been hitting me hard. I've been challenged to examine the structures and systems in which I operate my life and the ways that I contribute to keep them from changing. I've been challenged to see how some of the very structures and systems I give a lot of my energy and time to do, in fact, help create some of the very problems I'm devoting my time to fight.
What do you do when you wake up to discover that you're an oppressor by the very nature of your privilege and power, freedom and choices? Well, according to some of our friends who have been more marginalized and oppressed in our society...they would suggest the following:
1. Admit...confess once you grow aware of how you contribute to the problem.
2. Submit....repent and walk in obedience and the will of God.
3. Commit...commit to relationships that will help overcome oppression and injustice.
Awareness and admission can be disturbing and freeing both at the same time. However, it's the next two steps that cost the most and are most often left unattended. We will need the grace and power of God to help us submit and commit so that growth and change can happen.
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