Introduction

For example, The Twilight Zone episode, "Third from the Sun" hints at reality by playing on the widespread climate of cold war fears and arms race rivalry prominent in the 1960s. With a simple, thoughtful examination of specific objects used in the episode, the meaning just below the surface can be extracted to reveal a larger message. Through looking at the placement and repetition of modernist abstract figure statues in “Third from the Sun”, we can see how the show’s characters are associated with the mysterious form and identity of the “other,” revealing the episode’s larger social critique of the questionable humanity of a society involved in an arms race and at the brink of nuclear war. Contrary to Serling’s original intentions, much more than an intriguing imagined scenario can be discovered when the placement, repetition, and form of these statues in relation to the characters is considered.

Making the Connection: Statue Proximity and Placement

Throughout much of “Third from the Sun” the characters come into either direct contact with statues or are placed in thoughtful compositions with them in ways that indicate an obvious connection between them. Initially, the episode’s main character, Bill Starka, is in direct contact with a dark abstract figure statue that doesn’t resemble a human or any recognizable animal (see Fig. 1). After a close up shot of him touching the statue, we see him looking at it and then almost making direct eye contact with the camera (and the audience) (see Fig. 2). [See the clip] In doing this he communicates to viewer that there is something he wants to say about his relationship to it. However, because it is left unsaid, only a moment of intrigue is created and a feeling of suspicion and curiosity is created. A few moments later in the same scene, Bill is sitting on the couch opposite his daughter, Judy, and on the mantle behind them are two statues next to one another closely mimicking their positions (see Fig. 3). Both interacting groups are in the top half of the shot and are close in proximity creating a visual echo and metaphorical connection. Later, when Judy is forced to cancel the date she had that evening to stay home with her parents, she approaches the dark abstract figure statue we encountered in the beginning of the scene (see Fig. 4). In this shot, we can see the entire height of the statue. As she stands face to “face” with it, she and the statue are the same height and it occupies much more of the frame. In this shot, Judy’s proximity to the statue causes it to resemble another whole character in the room. [See the clip]

In addition to the relationship connoted in the proximity of the statues to the characters in the first scene, the two scenes that follow place other statues in the foreground with the characters behind them in the distance. When Bill goes up the stairs to the bedroom, we see him at the bottom of the staircase and a dark seemingly human statue in the foreground at the top of the stairs (see Fig. 6). He ascends towards it from below and it is eventually seen that he is much taller than it, but the statue is at first above him and all the while appears to be watching his movements. [See the clip] Immediately after this, Bill enters the bedroom to discuss an impending departure with his wife and as they sit on the beds in the background, a statue of a little girl sitting on a pot is in the foreground close to the camera (see Fig. 7). Mr. and Mrs. Starka are consigned to only one half of the shot and the figure occupies the remaining space on the left (almost half the frame). The placement of the statues in these shots indicates their importance and hints that their role in the episode is much more significant than what it would typically be as background props. Additionally, the comparable size and hierarchical placement of them in the frames leads audiences to link the inanimate objects with the characters and foreshadows the eventual discovery that they are not, in fact, humans of Earth.

Statue Form as Disassociating

After the connection through proximity and placement is made between the Starka family and the statues, it is also relevant to consider how they are related by form. While both futuristic and seemingly primitive or archaic figures are used, both connote the same feeling when placed next to the live human-like forms we find in the Starka family—the family is made “other.” For example, the dark abstract statues found in the first scene where we meet the Starkas and when Bill ascends the staircase appear to have an orientation of standing up, like a human would (see Fig. 4 and 6). Though different from one another, both the statue Judy comes eye-to-eye with and the one at the top of the staircase have an apparent “head” and “torso.” Although they do not clearly mimic human forms, they appear to be creatures of some kind and prompt viewers to ponder what they are intended to represent and how the Starkas might be related to these non-human forms. The dark abstract figures are obvious “others” and their physical proximity to the characters relates them in an undeniable way, thereby other-ing the Starkas as well.

The other statues more closely resemble human forms, yet are still foreign in their crude and archaic depiction of human-like figures (see Fig. 5 and 7). These lighter more detailed statues carry connotations of ancient societies and primitive arts which introduces the element of time into the episode. While the dark abstract figure statues represent a futuristic idea of form and artistic representation, the cruder statues suggest past methods of creative interpretation one would find in Mayan ruins or Native American history museums. The contrasting portrayals of time periods further alienates the Starkas by removing any certainty the audience may have of exactly what time period they are in. Although this is subtle, since the viewer is primarily concerned with the looming bomb attack that carries with it a specific time period (the American cold war, or current time for the original audience), it serves to hint at the alien nature of the family depicted by removing their certainty about when and where this story is taking place. 

Analysis of Cold War Commentary

The connection between the characters in “Third from the Sun” and the statues in their home is apparent through the scenes’ composition and the form of the figures depicted. The pattern of connection indicating a larger underlying message is consistent throughout the scenes in the Starka’s home and it quickly becomes apparent in watching this episode that more is to be gained than the simple fact that this family owns many statues. The meaning behind the connection is rooted in the subject matter of the show, that is, a family is fearful of imminent nuclear attack and they are planning to steal a military spaceship to escape to another planet. By relying on fear of the bomb in American society in the 1960s, this episode clearly connects the Starka family with viewers. In doing this, a familiar family identity is portrayed and endeared to viewers as they likely aligned themselves alongside with the concerns and identities of the family depicted. However, upon considering the attention given to the morphed form of the statues and the connection of the Starkas with the “other,” the characters in the show are made alien even before it is revealed that they are not on—or of—Earth.

Conclusion

In connecting the characters with the statues, both futuristic and primitive, the Starkas are transformed from familiar to foreign. Through methods of placement, proximity, and form, the statues serve to “other” the characters and illustrate their humanity as questionable. The underlying themes of the episode suggest that the audience’s connection and association with the Starkas is eventually intended to be broken. By connecting and then dissociating viewers with the identity of the characters, a clear social critique is made that challenges the humanity of any society that could so closely relate to that of the Starkas.

Works Cited

"Interview with Rod Serling And Mike Wallace." Interview by Mike Wallace. The Twilight Zone: Season 1. 1959. Television.

Serling, Rod. "Third From the Sun." The Twilight Zone. Dir. Richard L. Bare. Prod. Buck Houghton. Central Broadcasting Company. 8 Jan. 1960. Television.

1. The Twilight Zone, S01E14 - Third from the Sun