Black mirror -why?

Cafe Society
61

I enjoyed that one a lot. It seemed to hit all the good jokes in that scenario, and I wasn’t actually sure I knew how it was going to end. It seemed good satire and not a cliche, having everyone rating each other constantly. I laughed out loud. Of course we have seen something of this type of episode before, but not in this reality. I haven’t begun to be that critical of the show yet. I’m just glad that a show is covering this aspect of life. The last 3 years have seen reality far outpacing and outstripping any art we have, in terms of our social systems. To me this show is addressing the imbalance a little.

I do recall though on watching it that the brother character was the moral center of the show. If he wasn’t in it, it might not have been possible to make it. And yet he is part of the system too, at a low 3.

62

Clearly that episode is really, really popular. And it works, because so many people respond to it. I didn’t dislike it, but I thought it could have been done a bit better–for my tastes. And I admit, that’s just my tastes. I kind of felt the same way with “Fifteen Million Merits.” About halfway through I was like, yeah, yeah, I get the point, now what, and it just didn’t seem to add anything fresh or cleverly subtle after it was clear what critique was established.

I mean, don’t get me wrong–I still end up thinking about every episode after I see it, which is much more than I could say for most television I watch. And a portion of that time, the thought is about why the episode didn’t quite do it for me, but it still makes me explore why I feel the way I feel about the episode, instead of just not giving a shit at all.

63

…here is the original planned ending for Jordan Peele’s “Get Out.”

(Spoilers-not spoilers, if that makes any sense, just don’t watch if you haven’t already seen the movie)

And here is Jordan Peele on why he changed the ending.

[SPOILER]In the beginning when I was first making this movie the idea was, ‘OK, we’re in this post-racial world, apparently. That was the whole idea. People were saying, ‘We’ve got Obama so racism is over, let’s not talk about it.’ That’s what the movie was meant to address. Like look, you recognize this interaction. These are all clues, if you don’t already know, that racism isn’t over. […] So the ending in that era was meant to say, look, ‘You think race isn’t an issue? Well at the end, we all know this is how this movie would end right here.’

…

It was very clear that the ending needed to transform into something that gives us a hero, that gives us an escape, gives us a positive feeling when we leave this movie. […] There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing the audience go crazy when Rod shows up.[/SPOILER]

Another series that evolved was The Leftovers. Damon Lindelof talks about how he was severely depressed while writing series one. Lindelof partly attributes the tonal shift in season two and three to being able to work though some of those issues.

Things change. Writers change. Mediums change. The world has changed. The Charlie Brooker that wrote the first episode of Black Mirror was in a very different place than the Charlie Brooker who wrote ‘Me, You, and Ashley Too’. Early Black Mirror predicted a dystopian nightmare: many of us are now living in a dystopian nightmare.

I can’t bring myself to watch early episodes of Black Mirror. But thats okay. I love how the series has evolved, but that doesn’t mean there was anything wrong with how it all began. We can’t expect the creators at the top-of-their-game to churn out the same thing over-and-over again. That just isn’t how the creative process works. Unlike a series like “The Twilight Zone” where with “a writers’ room and completed concepts, outlines”, this is the work of a single writer, and we go where-ever he decides to go. And if that means we get an episode with Miley Cyrus starring as Miley Cyrus that turns into a cheesy heist episode of Hannah Montana then thats fine with me.

64

99% of people would watch. I’m dead certain of it.

65

I think I’d be one of those obnoxious people who wouldn’t watch the pig fucking “on principle”, but who would still read all the megathreads and live Twitter feeds devoted to the subject.

66

Me too. Only I wouldn’t be the least bit interested in seeing a live rape in progress but see and hear the reaction, hell yeah. I don’t watch the latest cops being racist videos either, don’t need my heart broken over and over to get the message, but I sure read the threads.

67

I don’t think there could be a quicker high concept for a tv pilot that people would feel compelled to talk about to at least one other person: “Blackmailers want the PM to fuck a pig on TV and they are considering it” They would talk about it even if they never saw it. In a way we are the audience in the show.

I think that would be priceless for the Q.

68

Well that’s why it’s an anthology and not a series I guess. I just appreciate the high concept of the epi, and hope they do it well. I definitely don’t feel I know how they are going to end, so if the ending is decent I’d say good.

69

Yes. That’s the whole point of the episode IMO : the gawkers’ reactions, and how sociopathic social media has made us. Like, if people were decent, if they had even a iota of empathy for the PM as a fellow human being, then the “artist” wouldn’t have done it in the first place. His whole point was to shine a light on the depravity of the public, NOT of the act itself or even the moral dilemma handed to the PM. People have done worse to save lives, hell people have done and do worse to earn a paycheck.

Of course it’s completely lost on the public, who mindlessly line up to jeer on another man’s humiliation. This in stark contrast with the people close to the PM who have to “help” and all seem on the verge of breaking down just having to take part in it in any form - because *they *can’t ignore or tune out the very real human element of it.

Then again, who am I to cast a stone ? I, who once watched a video of a woman getting her ladyparts filled with live eels because, well, it was there and I was bored. And it promised to be so profoundly fucked up, I couldn’t *not *take a look. Like an accident on the freeway, except wriggling and gooey.

71

I love the show, but when I recommend it to others I always advise them to not start with the first episode. Since it is an anthology, like Twilight Zone, it does not matter where you begin. Believe me, the critical accolades are well-deserved. Other posts have made great recommendations about where to begin if you decide to give it another chance.

72

Absolutely essential for Star Trek fans.

73

Wasn’t there an actual prime minister in real life who fucked a pig back in his college days? I seem to remember that being on a John Oliver episode and then him calling back to it for several episodes.

74

Hello.

I’ve been watching Black Mirror because I liked how they portrayed the severe effects of technology to the present society. Besides the effects of technology, there are also variations in the show where they showed how people around us influence the way we think and decide. It’s a bit dark but I guess what they’re trying to show are endless possibilities of what might happen if everything’s too much.

75

For me it wasn’t the pig-fucking, I think it was that when it comes to absurd stuff I come from a cultural background which made that whole episode primary-school level. Seriously. That whole thing could have been a year’s end show in my primary school and the nuns wouldn’t have batted an eyelash.

76

Wow, the primary schools and nuns where you grew up were way, WAY different from the ones where I grew up. Then again, I guess pig fucking permanently damages less children than all that pedophilia and babies-buried-in-the-convent-yard shit.

77

David Cameron —the story is linked to in post 48.

78

I don’t follow. It was too mild for parochial school? Are you attacking the episode from the left?

79

Black Mirror presents us with a disturbing parallel world where Trent Reznor doesn’t exist but his music has been turned into aspirational dance pop Hanna Montana songs.

80

The point is not the act of f****** a pig, it is the notion of what technology and social media have become - as all the episodes are. It is the questions it asks - real questions.

What would a leader do to keep his job?

What would a leader do to to save a life? Could he say no? Would you say no?

It doesn’t have to be sex with a pig, but it has to be something repulsive, otherwise it doesn’t work!

BTW: look up what a previous PM (Cameron did at university).

Otherwise, just stick to a safe film, like James Bond - it won’t tax you, it won’t ask any difficult questions.

81

Well that’s pretty damn rude and presumptuous. Thankfully there were a lot of thoughtful answers to my post that were actually helpful, many of which tell friends to avoid the first episode. I will go back and try more episodes - hopefully my tiny little dull brain won’t get hurt. Thanks for looking out for me. :rolleyes: