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

American television Television is one of the major mass media outlets in the United States. , household ownership of television sets in the country is 96.7%, with approximately 114,200,000 American households owning at least one television set as of August 2013. ...

anthology series '' The Twilight Zone''. It is set in a

dystopian future A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

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 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 find 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 and

Pam Austin Pamela Austin (born March 12, 1950) is an American former professional tennis player. College career Austin played college tennis at UCLA and won a Pacific-8 Conference doubles championship while she was there. Grand Slam singles tournament tim ...

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

nited States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

... 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 and Goodwin & Company. The company was one of the original 12 members of ...

( Pall Mall), with an "alternate sponsors" message (from Procter & Gamble) in the middle.

Cultural influence

This episode highlights Hollywood's age-obsession and youthful looks for women, as well as themes of conformity and individuality. Although Collin Wilcox (b. 1935) and Suzy Parker (b. 1932) had only a three-year age difference, Wilcox played the daughter of Parker's character. Wilcox was aged 29 playing an 18-year-old. The 2005 novel '' Uglies'' 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 2002. The band went on a six-year hiatus in 2010. In May 2016, they performed a secret show and then announced their reunio ...

took their name from the title of this episode. Charlie Brooker 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, '' Black Mirror''. Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers franchise used the same pinky gestures as Richard Long from this episode.Where Did That Pinky Come From?
at The American Culture

References

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External links

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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