The sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror is renowned as the contemporary Twilight Zone, as it discusses the dark twists that humans could be led to due to our ever-evolving and corrupting technological society. Tapping into our growing unease with how technology distorts the modern worldview and culture, the show has touched on topics like the dangers of immersive virtual reality, making military men wired to operate any mission without empathy, and overprotective parents who go to extreme measures to shelter their kids with a fantastical (but not so far away) take on the technology. One of my favorite episodes, titled “Nosedive”, touches on the obsession that many of us have to be liked on social media. In a world where your status is ranked by how other people rate you, a self-obsessed woman is driven to insanity trying to be the best version of herself in order to join the social elites with 5-star ratings (which are seen through futuristic augmented reality contact lenses/retinas). The setting and general aesthetic of this episode are smiley and overly optimistic, painting itself as picture-perfect and filled with pastel colors. However, this cautionary tale focuses on the shallow interactions we have with others when we know we are being watched, along with the inevitable deterioration of one’s mentality in doing so. The main character in this episode scrutinizes every practiced smile in the mirror, brandished niceness to strangers, and pictures for social media.
The title of the show Black Mirror could be interpreted as the way someone sees themself after the episode ends: staring at their own reflection on their black television screen, computer display, or phone. This show reflects our new society. Although the episode in question is a ‘social satire’, so to speak, do you think that this is an inescapable result of how our society is progressing? Is this already a reality? If you’ve seen the show, what are your thoughts?
I think that Black Mirror is foreshadowing whats to come in the future. In the episodes, "Metalhead" and "Hated In The Nation", it ties very closely with reality. To me, it seems like this is becoming less of a show and more of a reality check.The dark twists in these episodes seem very realistic. In "MetalHead", a woman is trying to get a replacement teddy bear for a younger child. She reaches for the box to find a robotic dog. The dog ends up killing the group she traveled with and eventually kills her. We already have the robotic dogs, it doesn't seem too far-fetched that the dogs could become self-sentient and want to kill humanity. In "Hated In The Nation", bees have gone completely extinct and researchers came up with a way to preserve the process that bees go through with robotic bees. These bees live in technological hives all across the country. Coincidentally, people have started using a new hashtag on social media. "#DeathTo" and a picture of the person. A hacker uses the bees to kill anyone who is tagged in the "#DeathTo". Not only this, but anyone who has used the hashtag will also have very severe consequences. It was all a game of consequences as stated at the very beginning of using the hashtag. This also doesn't seem very far from reality as technology is advancing so much and bees are dying at an alarming rate. It won't be long until we might have to rely on technology for bees since we need them to live. Black Mirror might be predicting everything that will happen in the future. I think it is. I think the way you interpreted the title is pretty smart. I was trying to figure out how to tie the title to our society and couldn't figure it out.
ReplyDelete