I was so surprised by “San Junipero” being so upbeat, that I paused my binge for a night on a high note. Because, what are the odds they’d’ve made two upbeat Black Mirror episodes?
But, the cynic in me thought “What happens when their datafile gets corrupted?” Because that happens to computer files all the damn time. And even if there’s a backup, my files aren’t facsimilies of living people who’d scream in agony when their pain settings suddenly go corrupt and wrong, or have to suffer through living out “I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream” until stuff gets fixed.
And, really, what does it imply if you overwrite the corrupted person-file with the backup? This kind of transhumanism is rich fodder to be mined; I’m surprised that Brooker went where he did with this.
Yes. They deliberately played it ambiguously, so that we wouldn’t know which interpretation was correct, to maintain sympathy for the kid. Then, at the end, they open the box and we find that Schroedinger’s cat is actually dead, and the kid was probably whacking off to kiddie porn. The preponderance of curious details effectively collapsed that waveform.
Here’s the thing, though: did you still have sympathy for the kid? Because I sure did. And going in, I don’t think any of us would have been on his side if it was presented as “trolls persecute a secret pedophile for the lulz”. That’s why it’s such a good episode. If the kid actually was innocent, it’s not as powerful a statement.
The point of the episode wasn’t “trolls, amirite?” It was forcing the viewer to sympathize with someone they’d otherwise find contemptible.
I assumed she was talking about visitors, not the permanent residents. If your body is dead, what are you escaping to? Sure you could leave but the alternative is oblivion so you are in a very gilded cage.
I guess I’m weird because it sounds like it would be fun for a time but become a burden eventually. Living my life now I have no idea what happens after I die, if anything. In the simulation I know exactly what happens and can basically choose it whenever I want. That concept seems scary and overwhelming to me, not a fun happy ending.
It’s essentially volunteering to live in the Matrix knowing there is nothing at all else in the universe beyond it.
OK, cool, we’re on the same page. I thought you were saying there was no ambiguity right from the beginning, that it was clear he was “off”. I erred on the side of idenfiying with the kid and didn’t suspect anything!
I sympathized to the extent that the punishment was disproportionate to the crime.
I think there’s no doubt that the kid was portrayed as somewhat “off”. The ambiguity lies in how the viewer is left to interpret the instances that he is “off” from normal: is he being shunned by his coworkers because they’re jocks and jocks must always be jerks? or is he being shunned because he creeps them out? does he notice the little girl left her toy behind because he’s super-observant like that? or because he’s been obsessively watching the little girl? All those instances in the intro portion are examples of he’s different. But the why is left ambiguous.
Personally, I knew they were hinting pedophile as soon as he noticed the girl’s toy. I suspected the writers were being manipulative as soon as the jerky coworkers were jock-type characters; it’s such a lazy writing crutch to build sympathy by making the mean guys jock-types so as to tap into kneejerk hatred of “jocks” that it immediately seemed fishy to me.
They both chose to end it when they wanted in real life also. I loved the small detail of Yorkie flinching away from the driving game early in the episode and being the one driving at the end.
For those not aware, the woman who played young Yorkie is one of the leads in the AMC series Halt and Catch Fire. She’s terrific in that show, which had its season three finale just last week.
Well, I’m finally done with binge watching all these episodes over the last few days. I guess I’ll be able to sleep again in a couple of weeks. They may have sneaked a more upbeat episode in there but they sure didn’t end on one!
I thought 6 was a trash fire, it wasn’t quite Waldo bad, but the concept of social media harassment deserved a much better, tighter Black Mirror episode than the weird hacking government-back-door-critique grey goo robot bee thriller mess we gout out of it.
The real problem I had with “Hated in the Nation” was the big ol’ Idiot Ball being passed around
[spoiler]Not just Government Agency Guy ignoring everyone else to hit the button of doom at the end. They knew their buddy was on the list to get bee’d, and they knew how the bees found their victims.
PUT A DAMN BAG ON THE GUY’S HEAD, you morons! They knew the bees identified their victims by facial recognition - no face to recognize, safe from bees. Cripes. Instead, they just stood there watching bees come up to the window, fully realizing the guy had been targeted.[/spoiler]
I didn’t think it was that bad, but I do agree that the central idea was solid and could have been served by a better implementation. My biggest issue with this episode was the “hacking is magic” implausibility that dragged it down to the cheap Hollywood movie category.
I will say that episode 6 was pulled out of the jaws of mediocrity for me by the presence of Kelly Macdonald, who I thought did really compelling work. Actually, in general, I think casting is one of the biggest strengths of this show. I think they’re getting good talent and making smart choices.
The blonde soldier, Raiman, in ep. 5 was Madeline Brewer from Orange Is The New Black. She played the white girl with the neck tattoos and cornrows that overdosed.