'The Double' in Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits

The idea of 'reality' in Black Mirror is completely confused by the constant repetition of images and symbols that refer to the real world.  Everything is displayed on a screen in front of the characters, for example the image of the apple in the vending machine that stands as a signifier for the real apple.  This is also apparent in the use of avatars to represent each person that copy their movements and their characteristics, creating doubles of the 'real' people.

These repeated images seek to disturb the idea of a 'known reality', provoking the audience to become aware of the falsity of the environment and, in a Brechtian fashion, question what is presented to them as 'truth'.

Everything in this episode is a commodity for the media to capitalise upon, a fact that quickly comes to light in the audition process to gain fame.  Everything resolves around the media.  The people who control this also control the functionality of the society, resembling Orwell's 1984.  This brings into question themes of motive, ideological consumption and the role that the media plays in distorting or changing reality.