Black Mirrors Ep. 1

In the first episode of Black Mirrors, social media and technology play a major role. The episode begins with a video message from a beloved Princess. She has been kidnapped and is being held hostage. In the video, she says that she will be killed unless Prime Minister Michael Callow has sex with a pig on live television. The kidnappers give detailed instructions and a deadline to make it extremely difficult for the act for be forged. At first, Callow wants to keep the video quiet, however the video is already viral on YouTube at this point. This is an example of how anything posted on social media or the internet is permanent in a way. Even if the Prime Minister is able to take down this video from the website, many people have already seen the video, re-posted it, and commented on it. This makes the video permanent in the minds of the people that watch it and permanent on the computers of the people that downloaded it. Technology also plays a large role in the way that the perpetrator made his demands. The kidnapper knew about video technology because his demand was very specific. He demanded that the sex tape use natural light and a roving camera. This made it impossible to create a special effect of the Prime Minister having sex with a pig. Another use of technology that affected the situation involved the news reporter. In order to get more information, she sent naked photos to a man who worked for the Prime Minister. She was able to get more information out of the man in exchange for the photos.

Technology and social media are used very poorly in the episode. The use of technology creates a dystopian society. The characters also fuel this dystopia. The kidnappers gave specific instructions to the Prime Minister telling him not to use any visual trickery. The Prime Minister’s team tried to use special effects anyways and in turn, the Princess had her finger cut off. If they would have followed his specific instructions, the Princess would have kept all of her fingers. If technology was used in a different way, they could have created a utopian society. In the episode, technology is essentially used to bring people together against the Prime Minister and broadcast a dystopian message. This same technology could be used to unite the citizens in support of a good cause.