Modern man is increasingly absorbed in virtual technologies that allow him to “move away” from reality into a fantasy world. Not much attention was paid to this problem before, but in 2011 the British released the shocking series Black Mirror. The plot of this project on the example of mutilated fates of various heroes warns the audience about the dangers that such a beckoning virtual world is fraught with.
A bit about the "Black Mirror" (Black Mirror)
In 2011, the famous British satirist writer Charlie Brucker got the idea to create a fantastic television series about the impact of information technology on people and their relationships. Brooker's project interested in the British public channel Channel 4.
In December 2011, he released the first three issues of the new Black Mirror show. The series almost instantly attracted attention around the world.
The Black Mirror format follows the best traditions of British television. In each season - 3 episodes plus a Christmas episode of the Black Mirror project. The series (new seasons come out, as in the case of Sherlock, once every two years) has become a cult, despite the small number of episodes.
First season
The pilot episode "National Anthem" is dedicated to the interaction of public opinion and politics. For example, Princess Susanna, beloved by the people, has been abducted by an unknown person, who demands that the British prime minister have sex with a pig live as a ransom. The government is trying to find a way to avoid public humiliation of its head, but under pressure from public opinion, a man has to fulfill the demands of the abductors. It only turns out that the princess was released much earlier, but no one noticed this, since everyone was watching the prime minister’s shame.
In the second episode - "15 million prizes" - the reality show is brutally ridiculed. In the near future, mankind's only way to provide electricity is dynamo machines connected to exercise bikes. Ordinary citizens daily pedal for several hours to provide society with energy. You can get out of this hell with a talent show. The protagonist of the episode falls in love with a girl and helps her get on this show. However, by the will of the judges, the innocent participant becomes not a singer, as she dreamed, but a porn actress. The disappointed hero himself makes his way to the transfer and, threatening suicide, tells the judges live the truth about modern life. The guy’s performance is so popular with the audience that he has his own reality show.
He talks about the need for human memory to forget the sad past in the season finale of the series “Black Mirror”. The main characters of the episode "All About You" are a married couple.
They live in a time when every citizen wears bionic contact lenses that record everything that a person sees. Later, these recordings can be viewed on a television screen. Once the husband begins to suspect that his wife still loves her ex. Parsing records of his own memories, as well as his wife and her potential lover, the hero finds evidence of treason. In feelings, he removes the lens, losing the ability to record everything that happens. On this sad note, the final episode of the Black Mirror project ends.
The series (season 1) was enthusiastically received by the audience and became a unique phenomenon in the history of television. The pilot episode was watched by 2 million people, but closer to the final, the number of viewers decreased by half.
Second season
In the second season of the project, the distribution of the plot was diametrically opposed to the first. At first there was a story about the tragedy of one family, then - about the degradation of the public, and the final episode concerned politics. And this time it was possible to maintain millions of ratings for the new series of the Black Mirror project.
The series (season 2) begins with a story about a young woman who recently lost her husband ("I'll be back soon").
It soon turns out that she is pregnant. Despite the good news, she is very depressed at the thought that her husband died without knowing that he would become a father. On the advice of a friend, the widow uploads data on correspondence, audio and video recordings with her husband to a special site. Thanks to this, the program creates a virtual image of the spouse with whom the woman can communicate. The unfortunate woman is so attached to the virtual copy of her spouse that she orders a synthetic robot created in the image and likeness of the deceased. Despite the fact that he completely copies her husband, takes care of a pregnant woman and even has sex with her, the widow feels uncomfortable. She is torn between the desire to leave him and the feeling that he is not real. In the end, the heroine gives birth to a daughter and, together with a robot, brings her up.
The second story - “Polar Bear” - tells about an unknown who does not remember anything about the past. Trying to figure out and find help, she becomes the object of bullying surrounding people. Having survived a lot of unpleasant adventures, the heroine finds out that in the past a lover killed her daughter, and instead of helping her child, she shot everything on video. In punishment for the deed, the woman herself daily becomes the object of shooting and bullying by everyone, and every evening her memory is erased and everything is started anew.
The episode “Moment for Waldo” in the project “Black Mirror” touches on the topic of politics. The series in this story tells about a loser actor voicing the animated bear Waldo. During the campaign, Waldo jokingly has to conduct an interview with a famous candidate. That's just the performance of the cartoon bear, the audience liked it so much that it becomes one of the candidates. The protagonist realizes that his character, despite his popularity, is not able to bring benefits to society. He is trying to stop Waldo, but the producer of the project himself undertakes to voice the bear and sets passers-by at the poor actor. In the final, the hero becomes homeless, and the career of an animated character is only gaining momentum.
Special issue "White Christmas"
In the interval between the 2nd and 3rd seasons in 2014, the Christmas episode of the Black Mirror project was released. The series positions this issue as a bonus, not included in any season.
According to the plot, Joe and Matt are working somewhere in the middle of permafrost. Despite the fact that they are there only together for all 5 years of work, they hardly speak. On Christmas Eve, Joe decides to arrange a holiday and offers to talk heart to heart. At first, he tells two stories about himself.
Once Joe liked to help single guys get acquainted with girls. During the next "consultation", his client was killed. And the hero himself lost his job and family.
In the second story, the narrator enlightens Matt about who he used to be. In the near future, everyone can copy their personality and create a virtual clone based on it. The hero previously engaged in “tuning” these clones, forcing them to work for their creators, preparing food for them, buying the necessary things, planning a schedule, etc.
During the conversation, the relationship between the characters improves, and Matt talks about himself. Previously, he was happily married, but when his wife became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion, the man opposed this. Then she blocked it. For a long time they did not see each other because of the block, but the hero managed to find out that the former had saved the child. Since the block also extended to the child, the man only after a few years, after the death of his wife, learned that it was a girl. It only turned out that earlier the wife had cheated on him, but was afraid to admit, and her lover turned out to be the girl’s father. In frustrated feelings, Matt caused the death of his father-in-law, and the innocent baby froze in the forest, trying to save herself.
At the end of White Christmas, it turns out that the conversation between Matt and Joe is a conversation between two virtual clones. All this is done to Matt confessed to the police a crime.
Third season
The debut issue of “Dive” talks about the future, in which assessments in social networks affect the human standard of living. Happy holders of 4 points and above receive the best medical care, live in elite areas, etc.
The main character, despite her modest external data, is trying to earn 4.5 status in order to buy a house in an elite area. Having achieved this goal, she receives a wedding invitation from an old school friend. However, due to a series of misunderstandings, the girl’s average score is inexorably decreasing, and she is in prison. Despite the fact that her life went downhill, the heroine scandals with a neighboring prisoner, and this brings her unspeakable pleasure.
The second episode "Testing" tells about a guy who, in order to earn extra money, agrees to participate in testing a new virtual game. However, everything gets out of control, and the subject dies during the experiment.
The third series - “Shut up and dance” - echoes the picture “Nerve”. The main character becomes a victim of virtual blackmailers who control his life and force him to carry out various tasks.
In the fourth episode of “San Junipero”, two girls meet at a disco, and gradually an affair begins between them.
It gradually turns out that everything around is just a modulation of reality. And the beauties themselves are two old women who live their days in a nursing home.
The fifth issue of Men Against Fire tells us that in the future, dangerous mutants appeared on earth, called "cockroaches." According to the media, they are the cause of disease, famine and devastation. The main character - a soldier Lampas - is involved in the extermination of "cockroaches." During the next operation, he is irradiated, and he begins to see the real faces of his opponents, figuring out the truth. It turns out that the government, in order to destroy the people he didn’t need, came up with a story about “cockroaches”. Implants are implanted in all soldiers, and they do not see the true appearance of their opponents. Civilians, meanwhile, even though they see that “cockroaches” are ordinary people, are so scared that they believe the media more than their own eyes. In the final, Lampus agrees to erase his memory and receives his dismissal home to his beloved wife. But it turns out that all this is a simulation, but in fact he lives alone in an abandoned house.
The last episode of the new season, Hated in the Nation, talks about the program on the social network. Its essence is that people can vote for the killing of a public person, and then she will die. Trying to stop this, the main characters themselves become targets and are horrified to find that many are not averse to killing if they can remain anonymous and share their guilt with thousands of others.
TV series issues
This project raises a lot of questions. First of all, this is how easy it is today for the media to manipulate public consciousness.
The heroes of the Black Mirror directly say from the screen that the audience is being deceived, forcing them to desire and buy unnecessary things; Watch inhuman shows in which participants are humiliated for the sake of entertainment; turn a blind eye to cruelty and meanness only because society has allowed it to do so.
Most of the series show possible options for the development of future technologies and what this may lead to. Through all the episodes that are not interconnected by meaning, one can see the regret of the person’s loss of humanity on the Internet. So, in the world of the future, only narcissistic egoists become masters of life, and those who are able to show sensuality are victims.
Black Mirror in a caustic form ridicules the dependence of modern people on social networks. So, in the “Dive” series, the heroine, like many Instagram users, earns a high score by posting photos of touching little things on the Web that are touching to the eye. Moreover, she constantly has to embellish reality, only the points so important for social status turn out to be useless in the face of death.
The saddest thing is that many of those who watch the Black Mirror series leave reviews about the project as an ordinary television show, without perceiving its entire depth. Meanwhile, despite the elements of fantasticness, Black Mirror can be safely considered the most realistic in the history of modern television.
"Black Mirror": reviews of the series
“How many episodes are in the project at the moment?” - This question often worries viewers who closely monitor the events of the television series. To date, 13 episodes have been aired, including White Christmas.
It was originally planned that the series “Black Mirror” consisted of 12 episodes in the new season. Reviews about the film, meanwhile, the focus groups were worse than the previous two seasons. Therefore, it was decided to divide all the episodes into two blocks (6 episodes each), the first of which was shown on October 21, 2016. The release date of the second is being specified.
It is worth noting that not every viewer is able to understand and appreciate the series “Black Mirror”. The reviews of those who were able to overcome the shock and disgust after the debut series are very eloquent. Viewers around the world note that Black Mirror makes you start to evaluate your lifestyle and value system in a different way.
Some compare the project with the works of Ray Bradbury, who also did not promise mankind anything good if it does not change his mind. In one of the reviews, a parallel is drawn between the story "Puppet Corporation" and the episode "I'll be back soon." It was noted that the creators of Black Mirror go beyond the American science fiction, looking at the topic of artificial man from a new angle.
Not all who watched the series "Black Mirror" leave positive reviews. Many criticize the project for a gloomy atmosphere that leaves an oppressive feeling after watching, and the lack of vivid special effects. Others, on the contrary, see in this minimalism the main merit of Black Mirror. Indeed, thanks to simple interiors and avaricious special effects, the audience’s attention is not scattered, but concentrated on the plot.
An overly tightened tie is another shortcoming, which, according to fans, the series “Black Mirror” sins.
Feedback from the audience, containing praise, is what for many years allows the project to remain one of the most rated.
Criticism
Almost immediately after the premiere, Black Mirror attracted attention. He was compared to the cult Twilight Zone.
Some reputable publications, including The Washington Post, have compared Waldo's animated foul-bear with Donald Trump. As for the famous movie portals, they praised the project. Metacritic rated Black out 82 out of 100.
Black Mirror earned the same high marks on Kinopoisk. Website visitors awarded the project an unusually high score - 8.429 out of 10.
The series "Black Mirror": actors and roles
The leading role played an important role in the success of the project. Almost all of them are popular British actors.
In the episode "National Anthem", the role of the unfortunate mumps lover was played by Rory Kinnear, known for the role of Frankenstein's monster in "Thunderous Horrors." In addition, he played in three James Bond films, in The Imitation Game, and in The Empty Crown. The actress Lindsay Duncan also shone in this series (“Rome”, “Boyfriend from the Future”, “Sherlock”).
Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey, Love Through Time, Victor Frankenstein) and British film legend Rupert Everett (Best Friend’s Wedding, “How Important It Is to Be) serious ”,“ Quiet Don ”).
The star of the third series, without a doubt, can be called Toby Kebbell ("Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time", "Fantastic Four", "Kong: Skull Island").
In the debut episode of the second season, the role of the deceased husband and his copy robot was played by the talented offspring of Brendan Gleason - Donal. Viewers remember him in the roles of Bill Weasley in "Harry Potter" and Tim Lake in "Boyfriend from the Future." The partner on the set of Dolan was Haley Atwell, now known to all fans of the Marvel movie universe thanks to the role of agent Peggy Carter.
In Polar Bear, the main roles were played by Lenora Crichlow (Doctor Who) and Tuppence Middleton (The Imitation Game, Climbing Jupiter).
In the final release of the second season, Jason Fleming (“The Abode of the Damned”, “Wii”) and Tobias Menzies (“Rome”, “Alien Woman”) appeared.
Among the famous artists who starred in White Christmas are Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter Una (Game of Thrones, Sherlock), Natalia Tena (Harry Potter, Game of Thrones), John Hamm (Mad Men, Forbidden welcome ”) and Janet Montgomery (“ Living Target ”,“ Made in Jersey ”).
Three stars starred in “Dive”: Bryce Dallas Howard (“Girl from the Water”, “Servant”, “Jurassic World”), Alice Eve (“Men in Black-3”, “Star Trek: Retribution”) and James Norton (Belle, Death Comes to Pemberley.)
In the next five episodes of the project, for some reason, mostly beginning actors played: Wyatt Russell, Wunmi Mossaku, Hannah John Kamen, Alex Loter (“The Imitation Game”), Jerome Flynn (“Game of Thrones”), Gugu Mbata-Row (“Belle” Jones Free State), Mackenzie Davis (“This Awkward Moment,” Martian), Sarah Snook, Malachi Kirby, Benedict Wong (“Doctor Strange”), Fay Marsay (“The White Queen”) and Kelly MacDonald (“ Anna Karenina ").
Entertaining facts
- The name of the project is a hint at the monitors of mobile phones, computers and televisions, which are becoming more and more, and they surround everyone with a ring and affect him.
- Series do not have clear timing. As a rule, one episode lasts from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
- Stephen King is one of the fans of Black Mirror.
- In 2012, Black Mirror received an Emmy.
In 2015, Black Mirror from Channel 4 was bought by the American media company Netflix. The new owners decided to change the format of the TV show "Black Mirror". The series (season 3) will now consist of not 3, but 12 episodes. It is also likely that new seasons will appear more often than once every 2 years. Because of this, many are afraid that in the pursuit of high ratings, the Black Mirror series will lose its former sharpness. Reviews about most of the new series are not as enthusiastic as before. However, fans of Black Mirror should not bury the project in advance, because, perhaps, Netflix will breathe new life into your favorite television series.