A new season of the hit series “Black Mirror” is out and if you’re not familiar with the show, here is a quick breakdown for you. Every episode is a mini movie focused around technology and the effect it has on society, sort of like a new version of the “Twilight Zone”. Each episode escalates fairly quickly, and by the end you are left with your jaw on the floor. The show creators are purposefully trying to make you feel hatred for the world they portray. In my opinion, every story is a cautionary tale that is intended to show an exaggerated reflection of our society and how our relationship with technology could contribute to our downfall. Here are my top reasons why this show is trying to warn us instead of leaving us with a simple resolution and happy ending. Warning: Spoilers included!
1. It highlights the dangers of “too much technology.”
This show really goes in on the dangers of relying on technology and how that can spiral out of control in an instant. The name of the show itself is a symbol for our addiction to computers and smartphones. The term “black mirror” refers to the moment your screen goes black while you’re in the middle of using it, showing your angry reflection on a black screen.
While our thirst for advanced technology is portrayed in every episode, one story that impacted me the most was an episode titled “The Entire History of You” where every person is able to record and replay all of their memories. Sounds cool right? Not so fast. The main character becomes obsessed with replaying a moment to confirm his wife is having an affair to the point where he can no longer handle it, causing him to physically cut out the memory storing chip implanted in his body and ends up losing his family.
2. It shows how morbid humanity can be.
We have seen this topic before with other movies, the most famous being “The Hunger Games.” There are a few episodes in the show that touch on this including their first episode titled “The National Anthem,” where the Prime Minister of England is forced to have sex with a pig on national television to save the princess from her kidnapper. Little do we know that everyone tuning in to watch him humiliate himself are actually complicit with the kidnappers game and all of it could have been avoided if people turned off their TVs out of respect.
3. It highlights the danger of taking entertainment too far.
This is a warning on the importance society puts on social media, reality television and fame. Imagine a world where competition and the worth of others is used for entertainment. Although you could argue we already live in a world like that with the porn industry and social media addiction, an episode titled “Fifteen Million Merits” takes it to the next level. No one in this world is interacting anymore and no one is free because they live in front of a screen.
The way to “freedom” is to win a talent competition and to get there you live like hamster, using a stationary bike to collect “merits.” The main character finds love and a new purpose for life and when he tries to save himself and his true love from the universe they live in, he ends up becoming a puppet for the machine and his love becomes the face of adult entertainment.
4. It shows the danger of social rankings.
This is a topic that is being discussed as we speak. Social media is becoming more powerful. Sharing a perfect version of your life has become some people’s obsession and livelihood. In Black Mirror’s world, your social ranking has now become currency. In an episode titled “Nosedive,” people have to rank each other every time they interact, the lower your score is the harder it is to book a flight, rent a car and own a home. This concept is not too far-fetched, we are already using ratings to make simple decisions and even to find a job.
5. It shows how advanced technology can be used for the wrong reasons.
This topic is shown in the episode “Men Against Fire,” which focuses on future soldiers who are protecting a town from what seems like flesh-eating zombies, but by the end of the episode you realize that a new kind of technology used on the soldiers is deceiving them, making them see mutants when in reality, it’s innocent civilians who are just in the way of warfare.
6. It shows the dangers of trolling.
“Black Mirror” spins public shaming in such a brilliant way that it should be used as a trolling PSA. In the last episode of the third season titled “Hated in the Nation,” two scenarios are used, one where a hated journalist is killed after a hashtag calling for her death starts to trend. In the same world bees are extinct and bee robots are now used to pollinate. These bees get hacked and begin to kill anyone who receives a high amount of death hashtags. This episode shows that wishing the death of someone online can be very problematic, maybe killer bees will never become a reality but people using the internet to attack others is a serious problem in our society that it has real repercussions.
The internet and growing technology is our reality and watching the worst case scenario of what our society could become is not only entertaining, but it also opens up a dialogue about relying too much on possessions and how damning sensationalism can be.
