Back Mirror: Technology and Philosophy

Technology is always good; it’s men who are a little less so.
For those involved with technology, Black Mirror is an essential TV series. The reflections brought to the screen by showrunner Charlie Brooker are always very timely and a stimulus for in-depth analysis of the role of technology. It’s very difficult to frame BM within a single genre since the series is anthological and each episode follows a separate story. This choice, which allows exploring the various themes with different rhythms and tones each time, is perhaps the winning card that guarantees Black Mirror a very high quality every time.

Generally, Brooker’s series is talked about as a dystopia that analyzes the effect of new technologies on society. In reality, the dystopian aspects are relatively few: the series is perceived as such because it is hard to accept that we already live in such a world, and this is exactly Black Mirror’s strength. Some themes recur and are developed differently episode by episode. Here is our analysis of the best Black Mirror episodes by themes and quality.

Message to the Prime Minister: the power of the media
The very first episode of Black Mirror is a punch in the stomach for viewers. The plot lays bare the entire power of mass media and the consequent manipulation of public opinion. Black Mirror has the reputation of being a dystopian series, but in the first episode, the technologies used are not futuristic but traditional: television, newspapers, and social media. The first encounter with Brooker’s series is disorienting precisely because of this: the recognizability of the world in which the story is set. It is not a hypothetical future, but a “now, here, and present.” The power of public opinion, shaped by traditional media, is mutable and never forgiving. The episode’s ending tells us very well how people, too busy watching a screen (the Black Mirror of the title), do not realize what is happening outside. The theme of public opinion and the crucifixion of the “guilty” on the media is later revisited with a different perspective in White Bear, the second episode of the second season.

Dangerous Memories: the obsession with memory
The third episode of the first season presents us another of Black Mirror’s hot themes: the relationship with memory. While new smartphones allow us to photograph and film anything live to then remember it, this episode takes us into a world where everyone has a chip implanted in the brain that lets them continuously replay every memory. For self-protection, the human brain allows the removal of traumatic memories, as well as the embellishment of certain memories. In this world, however, these protective mechanisms are absent, and in a short time, we witness the degeneration of the use of this technology up to the final climax. Even in this case, the chip was developed with positive intentions, but humans are unable to manage its impact on their lives.

Freefall: addiction to social media
Receiving likes on social networks causes a dopamine increase, and that’s no longer news. Even addictions to these media no longer make a splash, so could the creators of Black Mirror make this subject more shocking? The ability to rate everyone you meet via your smartphone seemed a great starting point. In the society where this episode’s protagonist moves, one’s social score allows or denies access to certain benefits. People are forced to always behave in the most polite (and hypocritical) way possible so as never to risk getting a low score. Not only social reputation but also important purchases like a house depend on one’s social score. A real nightmare in which social media use is taken to the extreme until the protagonist’s final discovery: when you don’t have to spend all your time worrying about others’ opinions, you live better. If the moral may seem too simplistic and at times banal, the entire episode manages to navigate this theme quite balancedly. Currently, a world without social media is no longer conceivable, but raising awareness about the abuse of these media is very important. After all, if there are campaigns against drugs, alcohol, and gambling, why not sensitize listeners also about social media abuse?

Black Mirror’s philosophy spans many topics, but the core theme is always the relationship between humans and technology, warning about their abuse.