"Black Mirror" is a British TV series with a massive following. The first season aired back in 2011, and we are now waiting for the third season to begin. Each season consists of three longer episodes with a different concept in each episode. The actors and characters change in every single episode as well. So you might ask: "How is this a coherent TV Show?"
The answer is simple: The concept of each story is similar. That doesn't mean it is predictable. It is actually quite unpredictable. The point is to shock you with all of these different stories, which share a sort of common sentiment.
I will focus on my favourite episode, because there is a lot to say about all of them, and I could not go into detail if I would mention all of them. It is the third episode of the first season, titled "The Entire History of You."
"The Entire History of You" details
The interesting part about the world in this episode is that it is so close to our world, but with a single technological difference. There is a product on the market, and practically everybody has bought it and they installed it – into themselves, to be exact. It is a a small chip that is inserted behind your ear and is connected to your eye lenses. It allows you to replay your memories with your lenses, which sounds unbelievable. It makes sense that everyone wanted one, and it is accessible enough for most people.
This episode has two main characters, a married couple, who struggle with their relationship. The already mentioned new device that they have is slowly destroying them. Liam is a jealous guy, and he notices his wife talking to someone else at a house party one evening. He asks Fion about that guy and she obviously does not want to talk about it too much, because it is just a guy from the past.
Liam does not feel too good about the mystery, and he decides to go pay a visit to Jonas, the mutual friend. He arrived drunk and there was a small fight after that.
I found the story in this episode especially grabbing. It is such a good reflection of our social issues – it is just using a different kind of technology to show the situation. It is a metaphor for cellphones, computers, Twitter and all the other tools that should help us, not keep us apart as it does. I am not saying these companies should stop; I think people should, because it is not really a way of spending time together.
This show reflected that with the example of a couple that would go crazy with this kind of technology. Obsessing over every single second of your girl's life in the past does not make any sense and it cannot bring anything good. For example, Liam wanted to see Fion's memories with that other guy, and she did not want that. She was not asking him to show her anything, so she felt like she deserved to keep it to herself. I do not see that as being selfish, because she was looking out for her husband more than herself.
There were obviously trust issues among other issues. I think the show is trying to say that technology is an unnecessary part of our life in many ways. It is making things harder instead of being convenient.
Article sources
http://time.com/47699/the-top-10-tech-movies-of-the-millennium/
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls008887137/
http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/en_uk/blog/13-movies-that-explore-the-future-of-technology