Light On Dark Water

Black Mirror: Informing, not Recommending

I recently watched the six available episodes, plus a sort of holiday special, of a British TV series called Black Mirror. It's a sort of sci-fi production, with each episode being a complete story, and no connection other than a thematic one among the episodes. The theme is the extent and effect of our immersion in electronic media and other technology, and the uses to which more advanced developments might be put. I didn't make the connection till I read it somewhere after I'd already seen the show, but the title refers to the glossy black screen of a smart phone, and is the sort of brilliant stroke that any writer would hope to come up with for a title, combining a direct and specific reference with symbolic import.

The reason I'm telling you about it is that it's very well done, very insightful about its theme, and very effective in drawing out its darker possibilities. The reason I'm only informing you about it, not actively recommending it, is that it's all too successful in that effort, and is very disturbing. Just to give you one example: the first episode involves the prime minister of Great Britain being placed in the position of having to perform a truly disgusting act on live television in order to prevent an assassination. 

I was somewhat shaken by that episode, and you will naturally wonder why I watched any more. Well, part of the reason is that I thought surely the other episodes wouldn't be so disturbing. (Why did I think that? I don't know). And part of the reason is that it did present important insights in a clever and powerful way. None of the other episodes involved anything as disgusting as the first, but every one was disturbing in one way or another. There is little physical violence, but there is a lot of psychological violence, even torture.

So: watch at your own risk. In fact, having written this post, I'm thinking of discarding it. A compromise with my better judgment: I'll post this, but warn you that the episode called "White Bear" and the 90-minute "holiday" special (some holiday!), "White Christmas," involve what seemed to me the most extreme, almost unbearable, psychological torture. (Interesting that they both have the word "white" in the title.) "White Bear" is the 5th episode. Had it been the first, I definitely would not have continued.

There is another series in the works. I think I'll definitely skip it.

, ,

16 responses to “Black Mirror: Informing, not Recommending”

  1. Rob G

    A couple friends have recommended this but so far I haven’t watched it. They did say it was pretty dark.
    Speaking of s/f, I can highly recommend the new film Midnight Special with Michael Shannon and Joel Edgerton. It’s directed by Jeff Nichols, the same guy who did Take Shelter and Mud. This is his first studio (i.e., non-indie) movie, and it’s excellent all the way around. Shannon is brilliant, as usual, and the actor who plays the child is outstanding also.

    Reply
  2. Mac

    It’s sci-fi? I didn’t realize that. Saw a commercial for it a few days ago but it didn’t really register.
    Regarding Black Mirror: I guess we all have a different set of fear buttons, and not everyone will find theirs pushed by the “White” episodes as I did. But man, sometimes I wonder about the brains of people who think up these things. If my mind started wandering down such paths, I’d try to direct it elsewhere.

    Reply
  3. Rob G

    Yeah, it’s about a kid with “special abilities” whom the government and a religious cult are both chasing. I didn’t see the trailer — maybe they downplayed the s/f angle somewhat. It does build throughout the film.

    Reply
  4. Paul

    “the prime minister of Great Britain being placed in the position of having to perform a truly disgusting act on live television in order to prevent an assassination”
    I didn’t recognise the title, but this vaguely rings a bell. I think I just dismissed it as silly when I switched it on half way through, and carried on zapping.

    Reply
  5. Paul

    Not silly in a light-hearted way, just “envelope-pushing” in an utterly implausible fashion.

    Reply
  6. Mac

    That’s a healthy and reasonable reaction. I might have had the same if I’d stumbled across it in progress that way. But I was very much drawn in.
    This is an interesting instance of what makes the series worth even mentioning, though. Although this episode can certainly be seen as repulsive “envelope-pushing”, it’s also in part a critique of that impulse, and the public hunger for sensation that feeds it. I can’t really explain that without major plot spoilers. The act itself is treated with appropriate horror, or at least it seemed that way to me. I suppose really jaded people might have found it funny.

    Reply
  7. Stu

    I was curious enough to look up on Wikipedia and read the plot summary, and I think I could do without watching. I watch so little of anything these days that if I have mild curiosity but don’t care if I ever see a show or movie, I just go to Wikipedia and read the plot and I am satisfied. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Janet

    In a way, this reminds me of the series, The Last Enemy. There is nothing horrifying in the series like the things you talk about. It’s just The theme is the extent and effect of our immersion in electronic media and other technology, and the uses to which more advanced developments might be put. It’s really frightening.
    AMDG

    Reply
  9. Mac

    Yeah, you can definitely do without it. It’s impressive in a lot of ways, but–well, I guess I don’t need to repeat what I said in the post.

    Reply
  10. Mac

    Cross-posted with you, Janet–I was replying to Stu. Have we talked about The Last Enemy before? Rings a bell but I don’t remember anything specific.

    Reply
  11. Janet

    That’s three times we’ve cross-posted lately. Maybe the only three times I’ve commented.
    We have talked about TLE just a bit somewhere. Maybe I just mentioned it.
    Of the sail the Pacific.
    AMDG

    Reply
  12. Mac

    If you look at the time stamps, they’re pretty far apart. That’s because I got distracted and didn’t click Post for a while after I’d written the comment. So I don’t know if this one counts. 🙂
    Your last line (not the AMDG) sounds like the beginning of a poem by Ezra Pound or someone of that school.

    Reply
  13. Marianne

    That last line made me think of Robinson Jeffers. He wrote at the same time as Pound, but not sure they had anything more than style in common.

    Reply
  14. Mac

    I don’t really know enough about either to say. I’m not sure Pound is even the right comparison, but it did sound like the opening of some kind of 20th c poem.

    Reply
  15. Marianne

    There’s a spoiler article in the Guardian about the prime minister and that “truly disgusting act”. It seems it may have been inspired by something that may have happened in real life.
    I don’t plan on ever watching the series, but I couldn’t resist finding out more about it. Also learned the creator of the series, Charlie Brooker, is an outspoken atheist.

    Reply
  16. Mac

    Not surprising about the atheism. As far as I can remember there’s no trace of anything that could be considered spirituality in any of the episodes. And it’s an extremely bleak view of things.
    I’m sorry to say that the initiation rite described in that piece is not unbelievable.
    [SPOILERS, if anybody cares]
    The treatment of the truly disgusting act is actually more complex than the Guardian piece reveals. There’s a really effective transition among the spectators from their initial dirty amusement to horror as the reality hits them. And the PM survives politically, yes, but it appears to be at great personal cost, especially his relationship with his wife. And the perpetrator of the thing was not a terrorist, and never intended for the act to take place. He was a “performance artist” trying to make some kind of point about the media etc. And he hangs himself afterward, for reasons that aren’t made clear but presumably involve guilt for the way the whole thing went wrong.

    Reply

Leave a reply to Mac Cancel reply

Instagram / TikTok / X

Designed with WordPress