
‘Black Mirror’ Finds Terror, and Soul, in the Machine - sajid
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/arts/television/review-black-mirror-finds-terror-and-soul-in-the-machine.html
======
m_mueller
Black Mirror often takes little details that we add in software, like a rating
system, and takes them to their extreme and logical conclusion. Its premises
are mostly sci-fi, but as thought experiments on how what we do could lead to
a severe dystopia, it is superbly engaging. I recommend watching no more than
one episode per day - I've been thinking about its topics quite a lot
recently.

At the least, it's refreshing to see updated versions of Huxley/Orwellian
dystopias or even departures from them. And to have all of that in condensed
50min netflix episodes, so free for anyone who uses it already, with
absolutely no padding to waste your time, is such a unique thing to have. I
hope it spawns many more shows following this format, as sort of a counter
movement to 24- or Lost-like continuity with tons of baggage.

~~~
ben_jones
I've watched the first episode and had some existential questions pop up while
on a walk today. Isn't that end-all rating system, like you mention, the final
form of many companies like Facebook or Instagram? When the value generated on
the platform grows beyond its platform to other important parts of society. I
think this is only just starting to happen, like Air BnB's usage of Facebook
profiles as host validation, or a social media marketer using the size of
their instagram following etc. on a job application.

~~~
justinpombrio
Apparently China plans to role out that kind of rating system by 2020, dubbed
a "social credit score":

[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-
china-34592186](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-34592186)

~~~
m_mueller
It's scary how relevant some of Black Mirror's themes actually are. This one
in particular is so close, I wonder whether the show's creators used it as a
template.

Edit: Apparently not, as this information is only publicly available since
this September. Zeitgeist at work?

~~~
madaxe_again
I've known about sesame since last year at least - it's getting more attention
now but it was definitely public knowledge when this series would have been at
the writing stage.

It's an idea from sci-fi - I can't remember who wrote what, but there was a
society where citizens got more or fewer votes depending on their behaviour
(edit: Alastair Reynolds? Banks? Feels like it was one of them.), and knew
each other's scores, and Tom Disch's 334 is explicitly about scoring people,
and one segment is dedicated to "Baz" desperately trying to get his score up
by producing a piece of state-loving prose, before narrowly failing and being
consigned to life as a faceless "g[ue|o]rilla" soldier - although in that the
state scored you, not other people.

~~~
mountaineer22
Was the currency called whoopy?

[update]

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whuffie)

I was thinking later, Cory Doctorow:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_the_Magic_King...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_and_Out_in_the_Magic_Kingdom)

~~~
RangerScience
"Down and out.." or, "Why is sucks to be an asshole in a reputation-based
economy".

+1 upvote, would cautionary tale again.

PS - If you haven't read Rapture of the Nerds, check it out. It's a Doctorow
character (downer of a dude) in a Stross world (craaazy tech).

------
laurieg
Black Mirror tackles one of the hardest problems about technical: How society
changes around it.

We spend such a long time talking about the latest cutting edge hardware, new
algorithms, new problems that can now be solved, but it's too easy to forget
that people are part of this system too.

There's a great film from the 60's [1] that talks about the house of the
future. It predicts online shopping and other modern appliances easily,
however it is completely blind to any social change. The wife is still a
housewife, the husband still goes to work and so on.

As we produce more and more new tech I think media such as Black Mirror are a
great way to explore some of the more human implications.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RRxqg4G-G4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RRxqg4G-G4)

~~~
RangerScience
> How society changes around it. > [a classic old film] is completely blind to
> any social change. The wife is still a housewife, the husband still goes to
> work and so on.

This is an exceptionally good point.

------
danso
I've only watched 3 of the episodes (Playtest, Shut Up and Dance, and Hated in
the Nation)...I've heard the other 3 episodes were better, but the 3 that I
have watched seemed subpar compared to the previous 2 seasons. Not terrible as
far as overall TV goes, but after the plot thrills were over, they just didn't
leave the same queasiness-about-possible-future-dystopia that "White Bear",
"White Christmas", "Entire History of You", "Be Right Back", and "Fifteen
Million Merits" do (5 out of 7).

I am looking forward to watching "San Junipero", because unlike the other
episodes, I have no idea what it's about based on its episode description (or
80s-themed screenshot).

~~~
stinos
> they just didn't leave the same queasiness-about-possible-future-dystopia

Actually for me they do. Maybe I'm more sensitive to this than others but I've
seen the first two and both left me rather disoriented, alomst detached from
reality, the first minutes after watching them. I only reach such a state
through brilliant (from my point of view, I guess) film or music, or by using
drugs. So: no complaints here :]

E.g. I really like how the first episode makes you not only reflect on a
possible-but-too-close future that looks horrible to live in, but at the same
time reminds you to realize maybe it's already a reality for some people today
- possible including yourself, and that in a broader sense it has been like
that all throughout history.

~~~
rbanffy
Watching the first one I joked about how a horror movie can be done with only
beautiful people with perfect hair talking politely and dressed in pastels.

~~~
gkanai
Have you seen The Prisoner?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_(The_Prisoner)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Village_\(The_Prisoner\))

~~~
rbanffy
Only the old one. The new one is on my list.

------
saurik
For people who like Black Mirror, I highly recommend the YouTube Red series
from College Humor, Bad Internet. In the exact same genre, the episodes have
nothing to do with each other, so I'll link to my favorite episode, "Amazon
Foresight":

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQwK3jaQGKY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQwK3jaQGKY)

~~~
zouhair
Jesus, so now we have to torrent youtube also?

~~~
saurik
Who is "we"? I like this content and know that content like this can't exist
if the people at CollegeHumor don't get paid, and I hate all the side effects
of advertising as a business model, so not only do I pay for YouTube Red but
if there were a way to just pay CollegeHumor specifically for this series I
would do so in a heartbeat: paying for work is how I use my labor to buy food
and other consumables for all the people who work on the things that I consume
in my life, not encouraging people to work on things I need or want or simply
enjoy but actually allowing that to be possible.

~~~
zouhair
You do know that Youtube Red exist only in 4 countries[0]?

[0]:
[https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6307365?hl=en&ref_...](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6307365?hl=en&ref_topic=6305525)

------
Mao_Zedang
I was really sad at how short season 3 was, but quality over quantity, at the
very least I am grateful that Netflix revived one of my favorite shows.

If all netflix does is pick up popular shows that arent popular enough for
time slot tv, and inject new life into them I will be a netflix subscriber
forever.

~~~
dajohnson89
Netflix didn't revive it. They outbid the original producers for production
rights. It would've been continued one way or another.

~~~
Mao_Zedang
Why the massive gap since season 2 then? If you dont count the single episode
"special" there hasnt been a season 3.5 years.

~~~
TwoBit
Look at the Sherlock Holmes gaps.

~~~
manuelflara
But that's mostly due to how extremely popular are now the two main actors,
compared to when they first started doing the show, no?

~~~
rahoulb
Also British shows don't have teams of writers, it tends to be one or two
people working alone, so workload and inspiration also affect show times.

------
RRRA
Welcome to China, who probably read Doctorow in the wrong way...

[https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/58yktd/china_wan...](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/58yktd/china_wants_to_give_all_of_its_citizens_a_score/)

~~~
sli
[https://np.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/3nyulu/in_china_e...](https://np.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/3nyulu/in_china_every_citizen_is_being_assigned_a_credit/cvsl88k/)

------
intrasight
Ok I'll admit it - "San Junipero" both made me cry and scared the shit out of
me at the same time. Didn't know that was even possible. Thank you Netflix.
And thank you for last Monday too.

~~~
worldsayshi
What do you think was so scary about it?

~~~
anonred
Also not the GP, but I think San Junipero goes beyond just the inevitability
of aging and death. It hits upon the meaninglessness of both life and a
hypothetical afterlife. Although the people of San Junipero “live” in
paradise, their existence borders on the hedonistic: thrill-seeking, sex, and
drugs (alcohol.) Is a life of this nature worth living? The characters in the
episode certainly seem to think so. Yet, I’d argue that living in this manner
is a kind of hell.

~~~
worldsayshi
The short story Metamorphosis of prime intellect deals with the same theme,
you may be interested:

[http://localroger.com/prime-intellect/](http://localroger.com/prime-
intellect/)

~~~
anonred
Great read. Thank you for the recommendation.

------
gallerdude
San Junipero is one of my favorite TV episodes in a long time.

~~~
ashark
I'd say it's among the best sci-fi stories I've ever seen on screen. Superbly
structured and executed.

------
blastofpast
After binge-watching the latest six episodes, I really enjoyed this "Twilight
Zone"-like promo:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di6emt8_ie8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di6emt8_ie8)

------
JackFr
I guess it's just me.

I simply don't find Black Mirror to be that good. To me it's like a revamped
and overhyped Tales of the Unexpected (
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Unexpected_(TV_se...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_of_the_Unexpected_\(TV_series\))
)

It tries to be smart by attempting to address social changes we see to today,
but it's clumsy and overbearing and the writing is not up to the task. I look
at classic Twilight Zone and I feel they did more with less. In some respects
even the writing from Tales from the Crypt offered more believable characters.

Anyway one person's (clearly) minority opinion.

~~~
ashark
A lot of what's great about Black Mirror is what it _doesn 't_ show you. It's
great at showing you enough of something to know what's going on, but not
hammering it home to make sure you got it like a lesser show might.

As an example, in the first episode of Season 3 (no spoiler here I think) a
character leaves an area where there's a billboard with her and a guy on it,
and her image fades from it. Personalized images in ads are something we've
seen in other media so I'm not claiming the idea is novel, but a lesser show
might still have felt the need to show someone else walking up and their image
appearing on the billboard, replacing the one that had been there. Black
Mirror is content to show the image fade, then cut without replacing it. This
is _good taste_ and _confidence_ , and it's one of the show's greatest
attributes. It manifests in many small choices like this in every episode.

Similarly, it sometimes uses _what it doesn 't show us_ to carry most of the
weight of an entire episode's central theme (Fifteen Million Merits does this,
for instance). It may also throw sensation at the viewer as a _bait_ , as it
pointedly does in The National Anthem, revealing this when the camera chooses
to entirely ignore the sensational event toward which the episode has been
building to instead show us something both more mundane and _far more
disgusting_ in every way that matters. The subjects of that scene push the
viewer to reflect on themselves—showing us the watchers when _we_ are
watchers—which is one hell of a smart gut-punch.

There _are_ a couple bad episodes, though (well, there _was_ one, but now
season 3's out and by my reckoning there are now three), and if I were walking
a n00b through the series I'd probably show them the series' first episode
_last_ because it's both structurally different from all the rest and I think
easier to appreciate when you've got a better feel for what the show's
_doing_. It's a bad introductory episode, IMO.

------
RangerScience
"The problem isn't machines, it's letting machines do your thinking for you."
\- Leto III (Dune)

A friend suggests that Black Mirror is "about screens". I see what he's saying
on a surface level, but, screens are just how we interface with machines doing
the thinking for us, instead of people.

On the other hand, isn't bureaucracy a machine, running on meat? "Screens"
used to be "Paper" \- see the crazy movie "Brazil". Replacing something hard
(actually getting to know someone and their situation) with something easy
(the output of a system) has been with humanity for a really long time, if not
forever.

Most [of the prior _] Black Mirror episodes are about, I think, man 's
inhumanity to man, just mediated by modern technology. Most of them are about
some way that people are failing to connect to each other.

_ I have only watched one of the new episodes.

------
ilaksh
One interesting thing about this show (to me), which probably applies to just
about every science fiction, is the gap between the imagination of what
technology may achieve and the actual engineering timeframes.

------
ukyrgf
I was a fan before it came to US Netflix, and was thrilled to get home and
watch it on Friday. Unfortunately, that first episode was painful to watch,
but I realized why when the closing credits didn't have Charlie Brooker as the
writer. It seemed to follow Netflix's obsession with quantity of hours of
content rather than quality. The idea of a social rating system is
interesting, but to drag it out for over an hour was so boring that I nearly
wrote off the whole season. The prior Christmas special was like 3 episodes in
one and it was only 10 minutes longer. Fortunately the rest were on par, but
the series feels slightly tarnished to me now. Why the fuck were Radhika Jones
and Mike Schur in charge of the one episode all of Netflix's users would have
autoplay on their home screen instead of the series's creators?

~~~
worldsayshi
I think that it wasn't really bad but rather the theme is very uncomfortable.
It sort of hits close to home. It is over the top but that's also the point.

------
jfoutz
I've never seen the show. The PR, both on news sources and also from personal
recommendations has been _unreal_. good for them. It's almost like what i
gather an episode would be like.

------
sctb
Also:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12761407](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12761407)

------
zump
Advertorials don't belong here.

~~~
Mao_Zedang
If reviews about scyfy futurology style tv shows dont belong on HN I dont know
where they do belong.

~~~
794CD01
Seems like a good fit for reddit.

------
dharma1
I liked the previous episodes and watched a couple of the new episodes. I
really wanted to like them but it's like the writers are both trying too hard
to capitalise on the obvious "trends" and not really understanding the tech
deeply enough at the same time.

Self replicating, 3d printing miniature robot drone bees, that fly
indefinitely on solar power and handle pollination for a whole country? And
yet nothing else in their future tech (mobiles, cars, computers) has changed
from what it is like now? Cmon

Same with the social status rating episode. Couldn't finish watching it, very
implausible and cringeworthy

~~~
wwggggoi
plausibility isn't the point - the scfi devices used are for reduction-ad-
absurdum, to zoom-in on aspects of our current society.

Also, in the real world some things develop faster than others. In San
Junipero they can perfectly simulate a world and upload people into the cloud
(heaven), but they can't cure quadriplegia with stem-cells. That's ok because
all science and tech doesn't move at the same pace: some tech grows very fast
while other techs never get funding and die by whatever market-force fashions.

~~~
dharma1
I don't disagree with you, but for me you still need to retain some
plausibility or it just feels sloppy.

The perfect memory recorder in the previous episodes - that was my favourite
one, because we are not very far off from it, yet the implications are
profound.

But indefinitely flying, self-replicating nanobees, just because one of the
writers read about drones, 3d printers and bees dying out? Feels forced and
lazy, even if it's just a prop to a bigger story about bullying on social
media

~~~
worldsayshi
Self replicating bots are feasible in _some_ form, probably not in the one
presented. Also, it isn't plausible that the rest of world would look as
similar to ours presented in the episode as such technology would have many
far-reaching implications on the rest of society.

Still, at some point you have to limit yourself. Having this one change and
not change the rest of society makes it possible to imagine and relate to that
one tech.

One bite sized chunk at a time.

Edit: Interesting example: What if we had teleportation technology that you
can carry in your pocket? It's extremely hard to figure out all implications
of this and if you manage to figure out how the world would look like it would
probably be hard to relate to because it would change _everything_. So we have
to keep a balance between relateability and plausibility.

~~~
dharma1
I agree with you, it's walking a fine line between the two.

But in ways science fiction is in ways like chess - the author thinking more
than one move ahead makes it more enjoyable.

There are many interesting topics to explore though.

For instance, I'd like to see a Black Mirror style exploration of a world
where CRISPR use (on everything, including humans) is rampant and genetic
evolution has become subject to memetic evolution, to
cultural/technological/financial selection pressures. It's within realms of
possibility with profound implications on everything

~~~
worldsayshi
So let's say we'd make a Black mirror episode about CRISPR. What could it be
about? Biomachines making most of our stuff including houses? Designer babies
that glow in the dark and can communicate telepathically? Both? 10 other
things? Let's choose one. It's difficult enough to imagine the social impact
of that. If we choose multiple such inventions in one swoop you would have to
make a lot of assumptions that each would be enough content for a single
episode. Then audience will no longer be able to use what they know about
today's society because they don't know what assumptions the author has made.

edit: I realize I might be overselling a point that you're already agreeing
on...

