Eye of the beholder is an episode in the 1960 American film The Twilight Zone. The episode is about Janet Tyler a woman who has undergone a number of treatments in an attempt to look normal. But for the last ten attempts, the treatment has failed and she is taking the last recommended procedure to try and change her face to look normal. Her face is covered with bandages and when the doctor removes them, she learns that the procedure was unsuccessful. She gets hurt and starts running across the hospital. But a handsome man arrives to take the disappointed Tyler into exile so she cannot be troubled by her state. He convinces Tyler that she will find love in the ghetto and that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder (Goldsmith et al 40). This paper will argue whether the phrase is true and that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder with respect to episode 42 of the Twilight Zone series.
In our daily lives, we encounter many things and sometimes we give them attention and sometimes we don’t even bother to look depending on our mindset. Sometimes, we see beauty in these things using ways of knowledge for instance language, emotion, and even the reasons behind its beauty. However, everyone has his or her way and standard of judging something or someone to be beautiful or ugly. Everyone sees in their own way; therefore, there is more than one vision for everything we see and the judgment we make out of it.
In the episode, Tyler is seen and judged ugly by everyone in the current situation and she is hurt until she decides to try changing her looks eleven times. Everyone sees her as ugly, even the hospital doctors and nurses until one handsome guy takes her to an exile village where her looks will not judge her. He tells her that she will find love regardless of her looks. This is true since everyone sees everything in their version. What one person may consider beautiful may be the ugliest thing in another person’s eyes. For instance, the handsome guy who comes for Tyler in the hospital sees beauty in her and not ugliness as other people (Madke 409). He is convinced that she will find love and someone who sees beauty in her regardless of her physical appearance.
Additionally, the doctor who performed the last procedure on her felt the same when removing the bandages covering her face. She develops empathy for Tyler as she feels people need to see the inner beauty rather than the outer looks that may be deceiving (Goldsmith et al 40). She says everyone has a fault, ranging from thick brows to swollen and twisted lips. Therefore, no one should judge someone as ugly since that person may be a star in someone’s eyes.
Therefore, the phrase “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder” is true since from the episode we see Tyler as ugly but the doctor and the guy who comes for her in the hospital see otherwise. Beauty is dependent on reason and the emotional setup of the person judging. Therefore, everyone has his own emotions and reasons for naming something or someone beautiful or ugly. This means that we should not be quick to judge people or things as ugly as that same thing or person may be seen as beautiful by someone else.
Works Cited
Goldsmith, Jerry, et al. “The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series).” The Leonard Nimoy Handbook-Everything you need to know about Leonard Nimoy (2012): 40.
Madke, Bhushan, Chitra Nayak, and Uday Khopkar. “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.” Indian Journal of Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprology 78.3 (2012): 409.
