The TV episode of Black Mirror is and is not realistic in
terms of our world. It literally is not
realistic, since our world is not powered by people riding bikes, however the
sentiment is realistic. The creator of
the TV series Charlie Brooker is warning us about our reliance on technology. The Netflix summary of the show is as follows:
“This sci-fi anthology series of ‘The Twilight Zone’ reflects on the darker
side of technology and human nature.” In
the second episode of Black Mirror it seemed like none of the characters,
except for Bing, cared about the reality of the situation, they just cared
about getting their entertainment.
Brooker is trying to show us that we have to be more aware of others and
not care solely about entertainment. I
think this is relevant and seen in our society today, but in a slightly
different way. Our society today is
extremely reliant on technology and media.
I have seen six and seven year old children with iPads so that the parents do
not have to worry about entertaining them.
My fourteen year old cousin got an iPhone for her tenth birthday, and I
just got my first smart phone last month.
It is becoming so normal for young children to have this technology that
their generation, and my generation for that matter, does not have to know how
to look up information on their own. Several
of my friends do not know how to get to certain places that are close to their
homes, or even know which direction a road is from their house. They also do not care to figure this information
out. They think that they just have to
know how to work their GPS and they’ll be okay.
I think that this episode of Black Mirror was showing us just how powerful capitalism is; it wants us to work for the state and keeps our wages low enough but not so low that we cannot dream. We then strive to work and make money to buy the goods and commodities that are advertised to us and that the media tells us that we need to have: tablets, computers, smart phones, and media subscription services. The brand really does not matter as these items are all the same they do the same basic things but simply have different brands names on them. All tablets, computers and smart phones can connect you to the internet and allow you to interface with the world via the applications that are provided. That we choose a brand is not important, the purchase of the item is what society and capitalism has dictated to us. Our purchase of these items helps to provide money to other workers as part of their wages and thus, in turn, allows them to purchase goods.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your thoughts here, and I think it's really interesting that Brooker is able to convey such a relevant message using a "reality" that on the surface is futuristic and dystopian. And you're right about how we are abusing technology more and more. Our whole lives can be inside a phone, and I wonder how this will affect children growing up in this technological overload. Will they be functional adults? Brooker portrays the people in Black Mirror as shallow, annoying and self-consumed. This doesn't seem far off.
ReplyDeleteAlso I found it interesting that in his monologue, Bing kept referencing something "real" and I liked how it made us as an audience even more aware of the fact that their world is superficial and artificial.
Kirsten, your observations on youths’ infatuation for and reliance on digital technologies are consistent with my perception that ‘Black Mirror’ was a strong comment on social corruption in today’s “real” world. The “mirror” here reflected what has happened as personal digital media (social, informational, and entertainment) usurp traditional face-to-face interactions. Sherry Turkle, Director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, has researched and written extensively on the decline of social and communication skills due largely to new digital media. (Turkle’s recent book, ‘Alone Together,’ is an eye opener.) In short, ‘Black Mirror’ in contrast to being a dystopian fantasy, seemed more a satirical comment on contemporary society.
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