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Monsters on Maple Street: The Twilight Zone and the Postwar American Dream
Post-World War II America has often been mythologized by successive generations as an exceptional period of prosperity and comfort. At a time when the Cold War was understood to be a battle of ideas as much as military prowess, the entertainment business relied heavily on subtle psychological marketing to promote the idea of the American Dream. The media of the 1950s and 1960s promoted an idealized version of American life sustained by the nuclear family and bolstered by a booming consumer economy. The seemingly wholesome and simple lifestyles portrayed on television screens, however, belied a torrent of social, economic, and political struggles occurring at the time. By the late 1950s, television writers were increasingly constrained to distract audiences from confronting counternarratives to the Dream. Among the programs that railed against this trend was Rod Serling's television masterpiece The Twilight Zone . Now considered an enduring classic, the allegorical nature of the show provides a window into the many overlooked issues that plagued Cold War America.
In Monsters on Maple The Twilight Zone and the Postwar American Dream , David J. Brokaw describes how the TV show reframed popular portrayals of white American wish fulfillments as nightmares, rather than dreams. Brokaw's close reading of the show's sociopolitical dimensions examines how the series' creators successfully utilized science fiction, horror, and fantasy to challenge conventional thinking – and avoid having their work censored - around topics such as sexuality, technology, war, labor and the workplace, and white supremacy. In doing so, Brokaw helps us understand how the series exposed the underbelly of the American Dream and left indelible impressions in the minds of its viewers for decades to come.
In Monsters on Maple The Twilight Zone and the Postwar American Dream , David J. Brokaw describes how the TV show reframed popular portrayals of white American wish fulfillments as nightmares, rather than dreams. Brokaw's close reading of the show's sociopolitical dimensions examines how the series' creators successfully utilized science fiction, horror, and fantasy to challenge conventional thinking – and avoid having their work censored - around topics such as sexuality, technology, war, labor and the workplace, and white supremacy. In doing so, Brokaw helps us understand how the series exposed the underbelly of the American Dream and left indelible impressions in the minds of its viewers for decades to come.
- GenresNonfiction
280 pages, Hardcover
Published August 8, 2023
3 people are currently reading
58 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 2, 2024
I am usually extremely wary of books like this—social/philosophical examinations of pop culture topics. More often than not, they are a sort of “bait-and-switch” to hook the reader in with a shiny cover and a reference to a beloved topic—and then an excuse to examine deep philosophy that creeps further and further away from the promised topic. Fortunately, author David J. Brokaw finds the perfect balance with “Monsters on Maple Street”, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that its subject—The Twilight Zone—continues to hold up to every analysis thrown upon it.
What Brokaw mainly does here is examine the tenets of post-WWII America (1950s/60s)—family units, rise of the teenage generation, threat of nuclear warfare, neighborhood gentrification, etc.—through the lens of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. Each chapter takes a few similarly themed-episodes and discusses them in their era context. A few examples…
-“It’s A Good Life” and “Living Doll” representing a fear of how consumer culture was affecting the parent/child relationship.
-“The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” and “The Shelter” as examples of “othering” and how quickly “civilized neighbors” may turn on each other in a crisis.
-“He’s Alive” showing that the ideas of hate or fear-mongering were not entirely snuffed out with the Third Reich’s demise.
-“Brain Center at Whipple’s” and “A Stop At Willoughby” illustrating the seemingly uphill plight of the working man coming into a new advertising and technological era.
Of course, one must understand reading a book like this that not every TZ episode utilized here was expressly put together using the underpinnings discussed. Censorship and production decisions comprise as much the final product as “pure story”. But it is remarkable how well the episodes hold up to any and all themes layered upon them—a true testament to Serling’s unique brilliance in writing for the TV medium.
What Brokaw mainly does here is examine the tenets of post-WWII America (1950s/60s)—family units, rise of the teenage generation, threat of nuclear warfare, neighborhood gentrification, etc.—through the lens of Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone. Each chapter takes a few similarly themed-episodes and discusses them in their era context. A few examples…
-“It’s A Good Life” and “Living Doll” representing a fear of how consumer culture was affecting the parent/child relationship.
-“The Monsters are Due on Maple Street” and “The Shelter” as examples of “othering” and how quickly “civilized neighbors” may turn on each other in a crisis.
-“He’s Alive” showing that the ideas of hate or fear-mongering were not entirely snuffed out with the Third Reich’s demise.
-“Brain Center at Whipple’s” and “A Stop At Willoughby” illustrating the seemingly uphill plight of the working man coming into a new advertising and technological era.
Of course, one must understand reading a book like this that not every TZ episode utilized here was expressly put together using the underpinnings discussed. Censorship and production decisions comprise as much the final product as “pure story”. But it is remarkable how well the episodes hold up to any and all themes layered upon them—a true testament to Serling’s unique brilliance in writing for the TV medium.
October 19, 2025
I have been a "Twilight Zone" fanatic since 1985, or properly really since the movie came out, but '85 is when I discovered reruns of the show on PBS and first took Mark Scott Zicree's "Companion" out of the library. The show has never come off the air and many of its episodes simply refuse to age (for example, almost all of the year 2025 can be explained by The Old Man in the Cave", "The Brain Center at Whipple's", and "The Mirror" -- all between 60 and 65 years old).
Brokaw's book is sociology, from an unabashed leftist perspective, which seems dated in this MAGA world we are now stuck in. Institutional racism and harsh critiques of consumer capitalism are addressed in nearly every chapter. At times reading like a doctoral thesis, "Monsters" doesn't go into the show's production, and the 14 episodes it addresses in depth sometimes have themes read into them that almost certainly weren't intended by Serling (I can't imagine that "The Lateness of the Hour" was intended to be a takedown of segregated suburban subdivisions, for example). There are several typos. The book, while fairly recent, doesn't address AI, or discuss the remakes or sequels of "Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" or "It's a Good Life" from the 2002 revival.
With those caveats aside, this is a fascinating work of scholarship, and serves to underscore the point that Serling's body of work in "Twilight Zone" is deserving of immortality.
Brokaw's book is sociology, from an unabashed leftist perspective, which seems dated in this MAGA world we are now stuck in. Institutional racism and harsh critiques of consumer capitalism are addressed in nearly every chapter. At times reading like a doctoral thesis, "Monsters" doesn't go into the show's production, and the 14 episodes it addresses in depth sometimes have themes read into them that almost certainly weren't intended by Serling (I can't imagine that "The Lateness of the Hour" was intended to be a takedown of segregated suburban subdivisions, for example). There are several typos. The book, while fairly recent, doesn't address AI, or discuss the remakes or sequels of "Monsters Are Due on Maple Street" or "It's a Good Life" from the 2002 revival.
With those caveats aside, this is a fascinating work of scholarship, and serves to underscore the point that Serling's body of work in "Twilight Zone" is deserving of immortality.
August 9, 2024
I love TV shows and I love learning about the cultural context that shows are created in and have an impact on, so I loved this book. The Twilight Zone is especially well written and is especially well suited to this type of analysis.
Brokaw provides a particularly in-depth study of the show, and dives deep into several episodes that illustrate the themes he has explored. I particularly liked the chapter about the space race and technology- it is especially helpful to get some historical context from the time of the episode's writing.
Brokaw provides a particularly in-depth study of the show, and dives deep into several episodes that illustrate the themes he has explored. I particularly liked the chapter about the space race and technology- it is especially helpful to get some historical context from the time of the episode's writing.
March 20, 2024
Recommended for big Twilight Zone freaks (like me) and probably few others. But the author does a great job of contextualizing some classic episodes, and it’s always great to have an excuse to revisit them.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews