Charlie Brooker's BLACK MIRROR

Playtest scared the hell out of me, mostly the idea you can't trust your senses. other TV/movies have done this idea, but I thought BM executed it well. I like that it starts with obvious stuff like the spider, then transitions to stuff where you wonder if it's possible with just sight and sound, and ends with all the rules gone. and yeah, that it all happened so quickly is scary too. a lot of my greatest fears are similar to stuff that happened in this episode, fittingly

Somebody - I think Mercedes - has a concept car where the seats face each other like that.

I seriously covet the drafting table in "Be Right Back."

the fact that the whole thing took place in .004 seconds

I thought this really undermined it. Too much of a leap to imagine a consciousness being able to experience/process all of that in so little time. Such a compressed duration has no meaning.

If there's a company in England that's regularly killing shaggy selfish hippie Boho-American tourists, all I can say is good luck to them, and I wish them success. They should get a grant or something.

I thought this really undermined it. Too much of a leap to imagine a consciousness being able to experience/process all of that in so little time. Such a compressed duration has no meaning.

― nashwan, Tuesday, November 15, 2016 1:28 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Stuff similar to that happens to me in dreams all the time. Like when I look at the clock, doze off, have what feels like an epic dream, wake up and it's only 5 minutes later.

One of my favourite things about 'Playtest' was that it was an incredibly elongated setup for a groanworthy punchline. (And that's not sarcasm, btw, I genuinely loved that about it.)

Does anyone know if netflix pushed for it to be more American-centred this time, btw? I can see why, I guess, if they're trying to expand the audience, but I found the number of US episodes a little grating.

glad to hear you loved that groaner of a punchline too, emil.y

the next best part was that none of it was part of the video game simulation -- they never had a chance to start it, all of what he experienced was his brain severely fucking up when the cell phone interfered with the startup

So the lesson is phones are bad? But if you call your mom often enough, phones are good.

It was a little hard to pull a coherent lesson/message/commentary, I agree. The relationship between the protagonist and his Mum was interesting: it was remarkably blank, given how central it was to the plot. Any time I've avoided my Mum, it has been because I've actually been angry with her about something she did or felt I needed to distance myself. The only reason this guy gave was that he had trouble connecting with her or getting along with her. Even in his subconscious, she only ever really appeared as a source of guilt, with no real independent personality or specific memories attached to her.

The main reason the guy gave was that he and his mom never really connected after his dad died! That's pretty huge.

As in his father's death was recent and he didn't know how to relate to her anymore so he left on this extended, directionless trip.

It just seems a little vague, which is fair enough, given that he was talking to a Tinder hookup, but I might have thought that more would at least come out in his subconscious exploration. Not saying it was a failing per se, just that it was striking.
xp It didn't seem like he had related to her much before, either, though.

So the lesson is phones are bad? But if you call your mom often enough, phones are good.

― marzipandemonium (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, November 15, 2016 3:11 PM (one hour ago)

This is one of the things I hate about Black Mirror commentary - why do you think there is a lesson at all? Not all works of fiction need to be parables.

I mean, if I was going to take away any lesson from that episode, it would be "you can make a really enjoyable TV show out of a terrible terrible joke".

tbh I agree and I'm just not seeing the morality angle in a lot of episodes

the main takeaway is generally "whoa that's fucked up" and while I can't have all of my entertainment stand by that template, I appreciate it

oh whoa, i didn't catch that joke at the end! he 'called Mom' as he died. that's fucking sick

Ha, I rewatched for it too.

https://open.spotify.com/user/charliebrooker/playlist/1enamd7IoA2KtAoMxeiINW

I'm just not seeing the morality angle in a lot of episodes

Really? many of them seem really "see? This is where social media/staring at phones all day/bioengineering/[insert here] will lead us in the end!".

But I dont find it too overweening, that said.

lol, I mostly get "wow what if.. phones bad"

not "omg PHONES BAD warning warning!"

it's speculative, but not telling you things will be this way, repent now

never repent, just find new ways to fuck up before the current fuckery goes that bad

"see? This is where social media/staring at phones all day/bioengineering/[insert here] will lead us in the end!"

Yeah, this is not what it's about at all. It's not instructive, it's speculative.

Or basically, what mh said.

I was about to say you said it better!

so many OTMs in these last posts

Playtest is great. lol at 'yawn, so derivative' comments.. it's a well-executed, sick joke. main character was perfect Seth Rogen-like, stereotypical American/cocksure 'dude'. good job Black Mirror

seth rogen is canadian

for better or worse he's ours now

If a gaming company wants to kill Seth Rogen too I'm fine with that.

Watched them all now - Nosedive and San Junipero were the best ones

agreed

https://twitter.com/blackmirror/status/799702690796216321

^scared the crap out of me

They turned up the music-creepifier filter to the max!

Put off starting this (from the beginning) forever, but just dove in last night with the first episode, the prime minister/pig one. I'm really not sure what to think of it, but it felt pretty ... mean? And with no real object of satire. But look forward to more, I guess, since the anthology format can make things pretty hit or miss.

Loved the first 2/3 of 'San Junipero' unreservedly, felt like the last bit was unnecessarily Black Mirror-y, could have left it with an explanation of what was technically happening then a cut to the real world and fade to black.

first of the season, awful, next two meh - the show so often fails to make an interesting comment on the nihilistic dystopia it's providing.

the only good eps of the new batch were nosedive & playtest

Nosedive was the absolute worst. GUYS DO U SEE SOCIAL MEDIA IS PERVASIVE AND UNDERMINING OUR HUMANITY

it was cute, but its also something i see zero need to argue abt; all these are p subjective in a way, mores than other tv i think

I thought Men Against Fire was great. Same for Hated In the Nation.

So wait, the show remains frustrating and sort of nihilistically pointless throughout all three seasons? I really liked "Dead Set," I thought it was clever and well-done.

still haven't watched Men Against Fire, should get around to that

Watched "Shut Up and Dance" a couple of nights ago. That one was pretty brutal.

See now I didnt like men Against Fire. I thought it was using too blunt a moral hammer. Also it just wasnt very engaging, for me.

I think I may have already said so up thread lol.

I kinds figured out Men Against Fire halfway through, but it was still chilling.

kinda

imo nosedive was great and not undermining because the person doing the most common job, driving a truck, was outside the system. so society still is based on people doing things and the social media garbage is just icing on the moneyed fantasy, with the only jail representation just being two people breaking out of structured society

also there was cake I think

so much terrible acting throughout this. i didn't mind american guy in playtest so much, he was annoying sure, but ultimately believable. his tinder date was terrible, so wooden and 'acty'. same with most people in hated in the nation, not to mention broad dumb characters (she's a hardnosed DI who has no truck with modern technology! she's a lovable northern IT boffin who can't help spouting impenetrable jargon!). trainspotting lady sometimes ok but her sidekick was painful to watch, as was b wong's scenery-chewing.

i'm torn, i enjoyed it mostly and i'm glad it exists but the smug bluntness and heavy-handed 'we r making serious point' really grated. trying but failing to be the 2k twilight zone, often because of the weak endings. shut up & dance felt boringly inevitable and unsatisfying - no depth, just an exercise in dumb darkness. playtest probably my favourite but it lost me with the try-hard ending-within-ending-within-ending rubbish.

it's frustrating because it all has potential to be great but CB's desire to be a hitchcockalike auteur leaves massive gaping holes. get more talented writers in! telling that the best one of the entire show had nothing to do with him (entire history of you). feels like it'd really benefit from a US-style writing team to fight off the more hokey dialogue and sixth formy writing.

also that song at the end of hated nation was fucking godawful.

I find it really weird that BM is so self-serious, but maybe that's just cause I've watched A Touch of Cloth more than once.