Though Black Mirrors has been on air in the UK since 2011, its release on Netflix this year, has made it the hottest new show in the U.S. Each episode features an entirely different cast and setting however all the stories touch upon the theme of technology going awry in the not-so-distant future. The show intertwines, social critique and science fiction with explosive results. Both the format of the show and the content, touch directly onto the pulse of the modern viewer. Over technologized and desensitized, the modern viewer is the expert click-baiter, he can give you an educated overview of just about anything thanks to wikipedia, and he knows all the breaking news before you do. Black Mirrors is informed by the same vein. It touches so broadly upon so many different issues, that the connections to real life are readily made. The metaphors are blunt and the storylines are high concept. It is the caviar of modern TV because it is a scintillating product of high and low culture at every level.
For instance in the first episode,“The National Anthem”, the Black Mirrors version of the late Princess Diana is kidnapped. She is held in an unknown location and through a series of “untraceable IP addresses” and other technologies that are generally identifiable but simultaneously incomprehensible to the modern viewer, the kidnapper is able to carry out a bizarre form of cyber-terrorism. The recent stream of cyber-terrorist attacks makes the theme readily identifiable on one level. However, when the kidnapper demands that in order for the princess to be released safely, the Prime Minister must have sex with a pig on live television,the episode becomes about something entirely else. It becomes about us, the audience. Black Mirror holds a mirror to modern society. It depicts us as insensitive, out of touch, and thanks to our technology, more efficient at being insensitive out of touch actions. In the second episode, “Fifteen Million Merits”, creator of the show Charlie Brooker takes us a little further into the post-oil future, where society is powered by stationary bicycles ridden by the everyday citizens themselves. The only escape offered to enslaved future mankind is to compete in a dazzlingly horrific, yet identifiable reality show where contestants show of anything and everything. Like the first episode, this one is layered as well. On the surface it is about oil and sustainable energy. However it also about everyday technologies such as social media. The screens that align every wall, make media inescapable in this society. People also have most of their interactions through their social media avatars. There is simply no human interaction. Advertisements are also shoved down people’s throats and can only be skipped or muted with monetary compensation. This episode is based off of a more classic dystopian future model, but it is updated and made readily identifiable. Black Mirrors paints its characters and plot lines with broad strokes. But that is what makes the show so great. Any one of the plot lines is a ready made analogy to something happening in our culture.The characters are often nameless and are similarly ordinary and relatable. The show relies on this transfer of identification to really hit home with the viewer.Black Mirrors is a modern classic. While it is essentially a revamp of the Twilight Zone from the fifties, it is updated, and it is simply captivating. This is because it utilizes aspects from so many different genres. From black comedy, to thriller, to science fictions, Black Mirrors really is the product of a modern copy and paste aesthetic. Despite the loud, entertainment qualities of the show, it also has depth and a clear, distinct brand. Every episodes promises a critique of modern society. Be it people, technology, practices, Black Mirrors isn't afraid to hold a mirror to the audience in a dumbed down yet socially conscientious ENOUGH type-of-way.
In 2013, the episode “The Entire History of You”, was optioned by Robert Downey Jr. and his production company to potentially be made into a movie. It is ironic that the shows widespread success will be thanks to technology and netflix.
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