Claire Moriarty, Opinions Editor
Originally published January 25, 2017
If you have yet to watch “Black Mirror,” now is the hour. This phenomenal, speculative series grows increasingly relevant as technology gains a more prominent role in our lives. Prone to thought-provoking, emotional monologues and dark, portentous underlying themes, “Black Mirror” is a flawlessly executed projection of a not-too-distant future where human life is just different enough to be unsettling.
Written and created by Charlie Brooker, the show explores how life will change—for the better and the worse—as technology continues to develop. The innovations examined in each episode vary from an implant that allows people to save, view and share their memories to a service that permits the living to continue interacting with the dead. Both seem like awesome concepts, right? With masterful storytelling and assistance from directors such as Joe Wright and Owen Harris, Brooker almost warns viewers off such inventions, depicting lives irreversibly ruined by the use of them. What’s so creepy (and sometimes borderline disturbing) about this is how plausible each scenario seems.
Riveting, compelling and always tremendously well-acted, all three seasons of “Black Mirror” are simultaneously frightening and incredibly entertaining. This series will fill you with trepidations about the future and doubts about the present, but I cannot stress enough how utterly worth the watch it is.
WHAT TO WATCH
3.4: San Junipero
Starring Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, the fourth episode of season three is beautiful to behold in every way. Skilled pacing and spectacular cinematography combine to create a heart-wrenching installment that gives off more of an air of hope than most of the others. When Yorkie and Kelly meet in 1987, they form a strong connection, and a major breakthrough in technology allows them to remain together in a relationship that seems to defy the laws of time. Without giving away too much, the story deals with an interesting ethical choice and is Brooker’s take on a theme that has been the subject of speculation for all of human history. What makes this episode what it is is the fact that it’s a gorgeous story where love prevails in the end, a bright spot in an otherwise dark anthology.
2.3: The Waldo Moment
Waldo is an animated talk show sidekick who runs for political office as a ratings stunt. When the public begins to take his campaigning seriously, his harsh language and apolitical “tell it like it is” demeanor
begins to gain gravity. What begins as a publicity stunt for a television program develops into a valid political movement with astounding rapidity, as Waldo calls out his opponents, who are legitimate politicians, for not caring about “anything outside your little bubble” and calling one of them “an old attitude with new hair.” Waldo’s political attitudes and lack of rhetorical propriety are eerily familiar in the wake of a certain presidential candidate’s success in the 2016 election, a success that was based, at least in part, on voters’ desire for change.
3.1: Nosedive
“Nosedive” revolves around the life of a woman who is utterly invested in a social media score that affects everyone’s entire life, from their social standings to their job prospects and even living situations. This score is based off a system where everyone can rate each other out of five stars, and those with a score lower than 2.5 are regarded as lower-class. Lacie (Bryce Dallas Howard) does everything she can to up her ratings, to the point where she keeps her negative emotions and individual opinions under wraps. Writers Rashida Jones and Michael Schur express some disapproval of the way we strive to portray our lives as perfect and enviable on social media, but overlay this censure with cutting dialogue and aesthetically pleasing visuals.
