Heavy handed moralizing about the ills of social media.
It's more than a little disappointing that Black Mirror decided to "explore" the already overdone and clichéd idea that social media (and its overuse) can have a negative effect on our lives. And did so without a shred of nuance or ingenuity. Within the first 60 seconds I knew exactly what this episode was about and I wasn't optimistic.
Black Mirror, once known for it's surrealistic realism seems to have decided to move in the opposite direction here. In previous seasons there have been plots that - no matter how far-fetched - had moments that made me stop and think "Wow, I could actually see this happening in the not-to-distant future." No such thought ever occurred to me here.
While I "got" what the episode was trying to say or be (namely social commentary on vanity and how online personas can spill over into real life) the way it was done was so over the top that I can't see how anyone would take away any sort of "message" from this. The overly-fake sing-songy voices characters used to speak to one another, the blatant painted smiles and disingenuous way people interacted was a little too unrealistic.
The writers appeared to be trying to hold up a mirror to the social media and image obsessed among us, but failed to use the right kind. Instead it was like some of bloated, distorted and only vaguely familiar image like one you'd see in a funhouse.
And lastly, there were so many reasons why a real-time human rating's system wouldn't work, least of all in the way this episode portrayed that it makes it completely impossible to suspend your disbelief long enough for the story to unfold.
All in all, 5/10 and that's REALLY being generous.
Let's hope the name of this episode doesn't foreshadow the quality of the rest of this season.
Black Mirror, once known for it's surrealistic realism seems to have decided to move in the opposite direction here. In previous seasons there have been plots that - no matter how far-fetched - had moments that made me stop and think "Wow, I could actually see this happening in the not-to-distant future." No such thought ever occurred to me here.
While I "got" what the episode was trying to say or be (namely social commentary on vanity and how online personas can spill over into real life) the way it was done was so over the top that I can't see how anyone would take away any sort of "message" from this. The overly-fake sing-songy voices characters used to speak to one another, the blatant painted smiles and disingenuous way people interacted was a little too unrealistic.
The writers appeared to be trying to hold up a mirror to the social media and image obsessed among us, but failed to use the right kind. Instead it was like some of bloated, distorted and only vaguely familiar image like one you'd see in a funhouse.
And lastly, there were so many reasons why a real-time human rating's system wouldn't work, least of all in the way this episode portrayed that it makes it completely impossible to suspend your disbelief long enough for the story to unfold.
All in all, 5/10 and that's REALLY being generous.
Let's hope the name of this episode doesn't foreshadow the quality of the rest of this season.
- crooked_spoons
- Oct 31, 2016