Unmutual

In a comment appended to a post below, I jokingly asked the O-bots to quiddit awready with the "Number 6 is unmutual" attacks on anyone who dares to question their party line. Well, a little Googling revealed an interesting find:

Any racist comment is pointless. Ferraro is an unmutual and is no exception.

This is the only non-ironic use of the term "unmutual" I've encountered during the past 40 years. (For an example of ironic usage, see here. Ferraro's comment, incidentally, was foolish but not racist.)

In case you don't know, the term "unmutual" was first heard in that TV classic, The Prisoner. The accusation originated in an episode titled "A Change of Mind," which was a somewhat heavy-handed satire of Maoist groupthink. The Cultural Revolution was just getting underway.

That was then, this is now, and then is now. Go here and you will see a quote from a Kossack who wants to purge all prominent Hillary supporters from the party. This move is justified by a quote from none other than Chairman Mao:

“We must separate loyal party members from counter-revolutionaries. The first shall inherit our glorious future. The second must be purged from us and history”.

-Mao Zedong
1953

Good Kee-RIST. Do these freakazoids really think they are going to win the November election with that attitude? Or maybe these comrades no longer consider elections necessary...

Enough. I need a break.

Here are a few further words about The Prisoner, a series which I've been re-watching in recent days. Favorite episodes:

1. "Chimes of Big Ben." (The banter with Leo McKern is terrific.)

2. "Many Happy Returns." (The silent opening half-hour is remarkable. Incidentally, Lotus 7s really do overheat in traffic, or so I am told.)

3. "Schizoid Man." (The psychic girl was one of my early crushes. Of all the women who betray Number Six, she's the only one who apologizes.)

4. "Dance of the Dead." (You keep thinking that a plot is about to kick in. It never does. The atmosphere manages to be both surreal and depressing, and Number Two is very creepy.)

5. "The Girl Who Was Death." (This one is an hilarious spoof of the John Drake series and the Connery Bonds. Favorite dialog exchange: "You're tied with mountaineering rope. It can hold an elephant." "I must remember that next time I go climbing with one.")

6. "Fall Out." (Unmatchable. Even the Twin Peaks finale couldn't out-weird this one. The insane shot where Six tries to explain his recent history to a patient bobby always makes me laugh.)

As each episode begins, you see McGoohan arguing with a bald-headed fellow behind a desk. That's George Markstein, the story editor for the series, previously known as a journalist specializing in national security issues. The commentary track for "Chimes of Big Ben" confirms the long-heard rumor that Markstein worked for MI6. Similar rumors continue to swirl around writers Rupert Alason ("Nigel West") and Anthony Summers. I don't believe the bit about Summers. Still, one wonders how many of those fellows are out there...

I always wanted to be Patrick McGoohan when I grew up. Although The Prisoner made him an icon of that era's rebellious nature, his personal values were quite non-hippified: A staunch Catholic, he turned down the Bond series because he refused to kiss any woman other than his wife. Reportedly, he has written his wife a love letter every day for nearly sixty years. Is that behavior conservative or romantic? Either way, it's admirable. Too bad today's youngsters don't have similar role models.