“Black Mirror? Best TV series ever!”
What?! You guys don’t agree with me? Okay, maybe not as good as Game of Thrones, but still pretty awesome. I just finished watching it, and I just wanted to share about it because so far, I haven’t seen anyone who has actually seen it. That surprised me, because even if it’s not really a major production, it’s definitely better than most major TV series I have seen. Do you want to know why it’s so great? Read on…
Okay then, let’s get to the point and talk about content (no worries, no spoilers)! Roughly speaking, Charlie Brooker’s Black mirror is kind of a short-term satirical science-fiction anthology series… Yeah right, I agree with you it’s not very clear so far, but let me explain: Satirical-science fiction? Well, it’s like a 2nd degree humoristic criticism of our system and the way it could go wrong if we don’t take care. Anthology means that the story and the casting are completely different from one episode to the other, and that they are just theme related. What’s Black Mirror’s gathering theme? Well black mirrors of course! A black mirror is actually a poetic way of designating a screen.
This leads us to the argument of the series. It deals with our addiction to screens, and more generally with the devious impacts technology and hyper-connected society have on us. Right now you might be thinking: “oh yeah this guy is in an engineering school but he is only about criticizing technological advance, WTF is he doing here?!…” But I think it’s exactly the opposite: as future engineers, we should be the first ones concerned about technological breakthroughs and the way they can deeply influence our hobbies, reorganize how society works, and even affect our freewill.
And that’s exactly where Black Mirror is so powerful: each episode comes with a different story, a different point of view, and a different point is made. But the questions implied are always relevant: Until what point can politicians’ actions be dictated by surveys? Are social networks a source socialization, or isolation? Can we really learn out of television?… Anyway, there wasn’t a single time where I ended an episode without wondering about it for ages… Definitely the type of series you want to avoid if you have had too much thinking during the day. But if TV watching doesn’t rhyme with brainwashing for you, then go for it!
In case you happen to be interested in this series I am going to give you some useful tips. So far, only 7 episodes have been screened: 3 for each of the two seasons, plus one bonus for Christmas (don’t ask me why, it’s like that, period). Length varies from one episode to the other, but it’s generally about 1 hour long. In 2012, Black mirror won the Emmy award of the best mini-series (see? I told you it’s good :p). This might, for a part, explain why 12 other episodes are being produced by Netflix, and will eventually be broadcasted by summer of 2016. Hopefully the spirit will have stayed unchanged…