Unit 8. CAN YOU LOOK AT IN YOUR BLACK MIRROR ?

 

 

CAN YOU LOOK AT IN YOUR

BLACK MIRROR?

Essay by Adam Paloczy

 

Introduction

Wen, we use the word `dystopia` nowadays, average people who socialised in Hollywood movies and video games would think of a zombie apocalypse or an invasion of some friendly alien visitors.

But if we do not want to entirely leave the reality, well still we could think at least of a dictatorship when the reward of the system criticism would be a public execution.

 Of course, that we associating with something like this because in the last century we had just enough of the world-changer characters, but in our present days we still have examples of autocracies, which creates closed worlds where people are scared even to think of questioning anything or anyone.

 “The  Black Mirror `an anthology series exploring a twisted, high-tech multiverse Where humanity's greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide. This show `  taps into our collective unease with the modern world, with each stand-alone episode a sharp, suspenseful tale exploring themes of contemporary techno-paranoia. Without questioning it, technology has transformed all aspects of our lives; in every home; on every desk; in every palm - a plasma screen; a monitor; a Smartphone -- a Black Mirror reflecting our 21st Century existence back at us. The series is created and written by Charlie Brooker, and executive produced by Brooker and Annabel Jones.  “  (Rotten Tomatoes /2021/. Black Mirror. Available at: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/black_mirror [Accessed 15 May 2021])

 

But where is the origin of this tv series?

“To fully understand Black Mirror, we must first grasp its intellectual and television roots. According to Charlie Brooker, creator of Black Mirror, the series draws inspiration from shows like Tales of the Unexpected (1979–1988) and Night Gallery (1969–1973), but its greatest influence is The Twilight Zone, with its philosophical questions, paradoxical situations, and devastatingly twisted endings. In discussing The Twilight Zone’s endings, Brooker bluntly says “that’s the sort of thing that should be happening more on television.” But Brooker was inspired by more than the bizarre endings. Writing in The Guardian, Brooker explains The Twilight Zone was Rod Serling’s hugely entertaining TV series of the late 50s and early 60s, sometimes incorrectly dismissed as a camp exercise in twist-in-the-tale sci-fi. It was far more than that. Serling, a brilliant writer, created The Twilight Zone because he was tired of having his provocative teleplays about contemporary issues routinely censored in order to appease corporate sponsors. If he wrote about racism in a southern town, he had to fight the network over every line. But if he wrote about racism in a metaphorical, quasi-fictional world —suddenly he could say everything he wanted. The Twilight Zone was sometimes shockingly cruel, far crueler than most television drama today would dare to be. Brooker observed in “Serling’s day, the atom bomb, civil rights, McCarthyism, psychiatry and the space race were of primary concern. Today he’d be writing about terrorism, the economy, the media, privacy and our relationship withtechnology  “ (Cirucci, A and Vacker, B. (2018) Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory. London: LEXINGTON BOOKS p9)

Every single episode is a brand new story, with new characters, with new situations and problems. Thus, it does not matter, which episode will interest us, we can surely start with any of the episodes in the order that is not relevant. Okay, do not start with the first episode of season one, because definitely, you can not judge the show based on that chapter.

 

Objective

The central theme of Black Mirror is completely different from the dystopia that I just mentioned previously, there are no dictators here, no aliens, zombies or end of the world. The central theme of the series presents the possible negative effects of sudden changes caused by accelerated technical development at the societal level. In every episode, there is an invention of the digital world, which can change our everyday life. This thing seems like they have been created with goodwill, to improve our living standards, to make our daily life easier and more convenient, but of course, every episode of this series deliberately shows the nightmare consequences of the irresponsible use of technology. Because Black Mirror raises a lot of topics, I would only highlight a few in this essay, using it as a kind of springboard to express my thoughts. The series also dedicates several episodes to the futuristic issues of social media platforms. the situations and problems in this tv series are so close to our present that sometimes we can not decide whether to have fun while we watching it or to be ashamed of ourselves. In the episode “Nosedive” we can see a society where every person is evaluated on a scale of 1-5 for his role in society, based on his relationship with others, all his actions, everything he did, his appearance that day, his mood, his words are affecting her daily score what she is getting from others.

In such a society, every person struggles to show the best possible face to others, the honest smile here is an extinct genre. From morning to night everybody is trying to behave, say things and do things as others would expect them to do.,  

Because in this world the better job, a higher standard of living, faster transport is only available if your scores are high enough. (JUst like your credit scores nowadays? Hold on, this does not sound science fiction to me! Whatever.)

If people get angry, if you hurt others, if you make a lot of mistakes at work, or if you just had a bad day, all of this things can take down your scores moreover you may lose everything. This is exactly what this episode is about. But by the time we’re here, you’ll be wondering how silly such a society would be.

Well, Black Mirror is just as sci-fi as it really is.

Indeed, China is working to build up a value-based discrimination system. Every Chinese citizen will be monitored and analyzed by a system and assigned a kind of social credit under which people are rewarded or punished.

 

 “China began to create this system in 2010 as a pilot program but officially began implementing the construction of a nationwide social credit system in 2014. According to the government’s document, Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System (2014-2020), all of the social credit scores for its 1.4 billion citizens will be publicly available by 2020. At that time, there will be a searchable file of every Chinese citizen that represents all the data collected from public and private companies to track their social credit.“ (Marr, B. /2019/. Chinese Social Credit Score: Utopian Big Data Bliss Or Black Mirror On Steroids?.  Forbes, available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/01/21/chinese-social-credit-score-utopian-big-data-bliss-or-black-mirror-on-steroids/[Accessed 14 April 2021])

 

But how is this works in reality?

 “Even though the system is still under development it currently plays out in real life in myriad ways for private citizens, businesses and government officials.

Generally, higher credit scores give people a variety of advantages. Individuals are often given perks such as discounted energy bills and access or better visibility on dating websites. Often, those with higher social credit scores are able to forgo deposits on rental properties, bicycles, and umbrellas. They can even get better travel deals. In addition, Chinese hospitals are currently experimenting with social credit scores. A social credit score above 650 at one hospital allows an individual to see a doctor without lining up to pay.

If an individual has a lower social credit score, they might find their ability to purchase what they want such as high-quality goods or a new home to be restricted. They might also be prohibited from buying airline and train tickets or renting an apartment. Some people with low social credit scores can expect to be blocked from dating sites and not be able to enroll their children in a school of their choice.  “

(Marr, B. /2019/. Chinese Social Credit Score: Utopian Big Data Bliss Or Black Mirror On Steroids?.  Forbes, available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/01/21/chinese-social-credit-score-utopian-big-data-bliss-or-black-mirror-on-steroids/[Accessed 22 April 2021])

The coin has two sides. It makes me wonder how a society gets to the point there that people need to be punished globally because they are completely incapable to control themselves.

 “China's social credit system incorporates a moral edge into the program, which is why many have compared it to some level of dystopian governance, such as in George Orwell's "1984" in which the state heavily controls every aspect of a citizen's life.

But despite that — Human Rights Watch called the system "chilling," while Botsman called it "a futuristic vision of Big Brother out of control" — some citizens say it's making them better people already.  “

(Ma,A. and Canales, K. /2021/ China's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy.Insider. Available at https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 11 April 2021])

Who would feel comfortable in a system where everything was done in their spare time,  the quality of their work and their private life would be monitored by machines and software would decide your fate? Because they're already here in China.

 Although if I think more about this system, I believe that it would be possible to save a lot of families from the trap of for example alcoholism.

On the other hand, I think such global regulations could have side effects that can very easily cause the collapse of society.

As this episode of Black Mirror shows perfectly. I think there is a big problem if we let computers do make moral decisions.  Although the machines are not corrupt, you can't buy them, you can not influence them, but they are always in someone’s possession.So there is no difference.

But where does the problem with technology begin? When Thomas Edison perfected the light bulb in 1879, he opened a new era with it.

When lightning replaced the shady world of candlelight, do you think they were meant to erase darkness from the Earth? To never be night again? To live in eternal brightness? Obviously not. Every technological advancement has its benefits within its own negatives. The problem begins when a person is unable to integrate a certain device into his or her life in such a way as to provide him or her with the right harmony.

Black Mirror shows how many ways we want to leave our lights on forever and how can this effect the future. This lights could be our smartphones, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, artificial intelligence or virtual reality.

Yes, another major area of Black Mirror that has evolved in several episodes is the development of the VR world.

Simulations can be scary or even overly inviting utopias. Although today we can easily feel ourselves in another physical space, even the movement can be simulated and transmitted by the machines into virtual reality and we can be someone else. We give him our steps, our voice and our eyes, and he looks at where we look but we see it what he sees. Some of this generation would never return if you dropped into a world like Ready Player One and escaped from the world in which it was born, as for them it is already only felt through screens, filters and edited content.

I’ve been thinking a lot that our dreams are perhaps closer to virtual reality than VR simulations will ever be.

But what could be the reason for this? Simple. No matter how you move, no matter how you talk to others in a simulation, no matter how realistic is the environment, one thing will always drag you back to reality, and that is your memory, your consciousness.

 Does not matter if you have been fighting a dragon with a sword in your hand for three hours, you will defeat the zombie army. As soon you hear a noise from the neighbourhood or your phone is ringing, you are back to reality. But dreams work differently. Have you ever dreamed of something that didn't match reality, but then did you believe it? Your mother and father were different, your wife was different, your house was on a beach. or I have a   nightmare that keeps coming back. I am writing a high school test, and I'm completely unprepared. Our brain generates the perfect simulation. Why? Because During the time we dream, we are able to block our own memories and put new ones in their place. We will realise that it was only a dream when we wake up. And only when we wake up.

I think the virtual realities would become perfect if the computer-simulated world would be able to block memories to a part, just as our brains do in dreams. Thus, in the simulation, we would fully believe that that reality is the only one, the real one just like we saw it in the Matrix. Black Mirror also shows you all the possible types of simulation because a simulated world could be the happiest utopia you can ever imagine. In the episode “San Junipero,” Black Mirror presents the digital utopia, which discusses the concept of a virtual life after death.

 

”The structure of “San Junipero” is both smart and satisfying, from the way every little clue (even the over-obviousness of the ’80s and ’90s references sprinkled throughout the hour) adds up to the sly wink that is the use of Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is a Place on Earth.”

The episode is about two women, one named Kelly (played by the great British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw); Kelly outlives her husband, and even though she keeps receiving dire cancer prognoses, she outlives those too. She’s dying, but in the way we all are, where the other end of her life lies somewhere at the end of an indeterminate hyphen. If Kelly is floating, then Yorkie (Davis), the woman she meets in the town of San Junipero, is fixed. San Junipero is a computer-created afterlife that elderly people can upload their consciousness to — for five hours a week while they’re still alive, and permanently after death Yorkie knows not just the date of her birth but the date of her death, which will come after she finally marries her fiancé and he signs the papers to allow her to “pass over,” to cease living and become a permanent resident of San Junipero. ” (VanDerWerff,E. /2016/.Black Mirror season 3, episode 4: "San Junipero" is the show's most beautiful, most hopeful episode yet. Vox.Available at https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/10/21/13354026/black-mirror-episode-4-san-junipero-recap-review [Accessed 28 April 2021])

 But if it is good, there's bad, right? If a simulation is able to separate human consciousness from the shackles of the body, new gates open to the notion of suffering and punishment. A simulation could be digital hell itself, as the suffering of our closed consciousness can run forever without dying. criminals who are locked up in simulations, suffers, or simply just spend their punishment  in the artificially created virtual environments. Killers who are punished again and again, even with the methods of the crimes they commited, without dying.

But when do the crime and punishment will be in balance?

Today we hear of killers living in luxury prisons who gave never healed pains for dozens of families and they are now studying or teaching from their cell at university, moreover their have entire fan community ! Some people also get married by a popularity in there. A person like this would never really get the punishment that would be downright cute with the weight of his actions. But Black Mirror presents the other extreme as well. There is a point where the punishment are distorted and it becomes a bloody terror campaign.

The episode `Black Museum` perfectly illustrates when the victim, who has already paid several times for his crimes, becomes as a kind of circus attraction just like in the Roman Empire, where people found their enjoyments in cruelty.

”“Black Museum” keeps a potentially scattered story on track without digressing into generic complaints about modern culture. But it seems uncomfortable diagnosing the problems it presents. Is a product dangerous because someone will always use it for evil, or because it was designed to make evil easy? Do people put up with injustice because they’re lazy and ignorant, or because they’re powerless? And when a high-tech huckster starts offering deals that are too good to be true, who’s supposed to stop him? ” (Robertson,A. /2018/.In Black Museum, Black Mirror finally finds a single person to blame for technology.The Verge. Available at https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/3/16845504/black-mirror-black-museum-review-netflix-season-4-douglas-hodge-letitia-wright [Accessed 21 April 2021])

And finally, one of perhaps the most topical and one of the most important topics in the series is Internet responsibility and its lack. The double lives, the hidden psychopaths behind the profile pictures, and nicknames and the thoughtless end is not forceful filth. The episode “Shut up and Dance” shows what could happen with someone who is visiting dirty websites from the corner of their room, and after that, they being blackmailed by a hacker.

 “The episode creates sense-heightening tension by contrasting the ordinariness of their surroundings - it could be any British town - with the simmering shame, hardened by abject fear, that propels their secret errands.  “ ( Chakrabarti,S. Shut Up and Dance review: Black Mirror's present-day tale of shame, blackmail and the corroding power of secrets.Mirror.Available at https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-reviews/black-mirror-season3-shutup-dance-9060749 [Accessed 15 May 2021])

And “hated in the nation” goes even further. This episode is about cyberbullying.

 “Cyberbullying is bullying with the use of digital technologies. It can take place on social media, messaging platforms, gaming platforms and mobile phones. It is repeated behaviour, aimed at scaring, angering or shaming those who are targeted. (2021.Unicef.Available at https://www.unicef.org/end-violence/how-to-stop-cyberbullying “ [Accessed 17 May 2021])

What if the hate posted irresponsibly on the Internet suddenly became real,  and the person who became the victim of cyberbullying, on the Internet would die in real life?

The series asks the question. If we knew that our words were no longer weightless if trolling could claim human lives, would we still do it? According to the positivism of Black Mirror, yes even more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

I believe the technological developments of the past years are fantastic and they are significantly helping our daily life. However, lots of people smartphone and Facebook dependent. And those are just some of the danger of this  „Brave new digital world”.  Black Mirror is a fantastic show,  what examines modern society, particularly concerning the unanticipated consequences of new technologies. and holds a flipped mirror to everybody!

Have you felt during the show that this character is just like you? Or have you felt the same issue what one of the characters did in the film? Have you ever experienced a familiar situation, just like in Black Mirror? Do you dare to look at in your Black Mirror?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography of books, and online journals accessed for the research of this essay.

 

Greetham,B. (2001). How To Write Better Essays Basingstoke, Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan

 

 

Cirucci, A and Vacker, B. (2018) Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory. London: LEXINGTON BOOKS

 

Brooker,C and  Jones, A. (2018) Inside The Black Mirror. USA: Penguin

 

Rotten Tomatoes /2021/. Black Mirror. Available at: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/black_mirror [Accessed 15 May 2021])

 

 

 

Marr, B. /2019/. Chinese Social Credit Score: Utopian Big Data Bliss Or Black Mirror On Steroids?.  Forbes, available at https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/01/21/chinese-social-credit-score-utopian-big-data-bliss-or-black-mirror-on-steroids/[Accessed 14 April 2021]

 

Ma,A. and Canales, K. /2021/ China's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy.Insider.Available at https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4?r=US&IR=T [Accessed 11 April 2021]

 

 

VanDerWerff,E. /2016/.Black Mirror season 3, episode 4: "San Junipero" is the show's most beautiful, most hopeful episode yet. Vox.Available at https://www.vox.com/culture/2016/10/21/13354026/black-mirror-episode-4-san-junipero-recap-review [Accessed 28 April 2021]

 

Robertson,A. /2018/.In Black Museum, Black Mirror finally finds a single person to blame for technology.The Verge. Available at https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/3/16845504/black-mirror-black-museum-review-netflix-season-4-douglas-hodge-letitia-wright [Accessed 21 April 2021]

 

Chakrabarti,S. Shut Up and Dance review: Black Mirror's present-day tale of shame, blackmail and the corroding power of secrets.Mirror.Available at https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-reviews/black-mirror-season3-shutup-dance-9060749 [Accessed 15 May 2021]

 

2021.Unicef.Available at https://www.unicef.org/end-violence/how-to-stop-cyberbullying “ [Accessed 17 May 2021]