One of Marshall McLuhan’s ideas from the Playboy interview that I noticed applies directly to the episode of Black Mirror is the concept of “global village”. Basically what McLuhan is saying is that the invention of electric technology has turned the world into a village with the ability to communicate instantaneously with anyone anywhere in the world. Of course, this has only grown more true today with the internet and social media. Something can happen on the other side of the world but if someone is there to tweet about, we’ll know right away about it here in New York. Technology and media has made the world small where nothing is a secret no matter where it happens. Eventually, everyone finds out about everything these days and word spreads quickly all over the globe, just like it would in a tiny little countryside village.
This whole notion obviously played a crucial role in the episode of black mirror. Thanks to social media, the hostage video of Princess Susana was seen by thousands of people within minutes. It was then duplicated and shared many times over. It was like gossip that spread in a lunch room. Once a few people saw the video, they shared it and then those people shared it and so on. If this episode took place let’s say, 25 years ago, and the person who took Princess Susana had to mail the video to the Prime Minister, only he and his staff would know about it. It wouldn’t be all over the world. The plot would be completely different. Then again, this plot couldn’t even take place 25 years ago because the whole idea was to exploit people’s use of technology and social media to humiliate the Prime Minister and subsequently teach the people a lesson (although that was kept secret of course). The hostage video and the demands revolved around the idea of global village (which most of the time is a good thing), but this time in not in a positive way. This episode would probably be McLuhan’s worst nightmare.
Sophia Uhl The Black Mirror episode "The National Anthem" shows how media is pervasive within our society. The genre of this particular series is speculative fiction, or a realm of production that aims to comment on controversial subjects. Because we live in an era in which the spread of information is instantaneous, every UK citizen was able to witness the Prime Minister's egregious action. Regardless of an individual's age, gender, or social class, the digital age has fostered a cultural obsession with acquiring each minute detail of the news. An interesting, purposeful decision of the show's directors was showing a group of surgeons, doctors, and nurses huddling around a television to gain every piece of information about the developing story. Instead of concentrating on their ill and suffering patients, the medical professionals were blinded by social media updates. The writers of the show intentionally chose surgeons in this scene to highlight the profound impact of the digital age on the way society operates. In addition to visual content that aids the development of the story, the writers also focused on audio content. The first few sounds in the episode is a cell phone vibrating and ringing. This plot point reveals the ways in which cell phones and rapid communication effects our society.
In the beginning of the episode when the Prime Minister and his cabinet gathered at 10 Downing Street to watch the video with Princess Susanna. I noticed when watching the episode a second time that each member of the cabinet was wearing black clothing. While this may seem subtle and common for members of government to wear black clothing, I saw this as foreshadowing of bad things to come. Black is a color that usually represents darkness, pessimism, negative energy just to name a few things.
Also in the beginning of the episode. The PM was being adamant that he was not going to have sex with the pig, he tried to get the approval of his cabinet members that this would not happen. The cabinet members were not as positive as the PM that this was not going to happen. The Prime Minister did not realize the threat of this circumstance in the beginning of the episode unlike his cabinet members, who right away realized that this was serious.
I think it is really interesting that the entire episode had very little movement. The characters, more-or-less, stayed within their spaces while the action took place almost completely through their phones/screens. This extension of ourselves leaves us restless and, quite literally, wakes us up as we see happen in the very beginning of the episode of "Black Mirror." If technology did not exist to the extent that it does today, the Prime Minister in the episode would still be fast asleep. And a YouTube video wouldn't incite so much drama and fatigue. The viewers of the video become the slaves to it's message; the princess has been kidnapped and she is being held hostage. Maybe if the government had paid more attention to security, rather than the cool black screen in the middle of the room, the princess would be safe and sound...
“Black Mirror” aims to show the grim possibilities of technology on people’s lives. The first episode focuses on the Prime Minister being blackmailed into doing a lewd act because the whole world knows the consequences if he does not. He barely takes his wife’s opinions into consideration because he is more concerned with how the rest of the world will view him if the Princess is not saved. Social media and the claustrophobic presence of the internet in everyday life ultimately have the final say on some of the Prime Minister’s advisors because they have millions of opinions they have to take into consideration before planning their next move. The episode also comments on the competitive nature of journalism. One reporter is outraged that UKN is one of the last outlets to report on the Princess being kidnapped. She does whatever she thinks will get her more information compared to other news stations. She decides to attempt to film what she thinks is the princess being rescued despite the dangerous possibilities of sticking around. Her decisions prove near fatal as she is shot and wounded trying to escape the MI6 team, who offer their thoughts on a journalist filming a rescue mission by shooting her phone. With journalists able to premiere their new content from their phones, this episode of “Black Mirror” shows what can happen when you want to have an exclusive story. I like what Paul said about this episode tackling McLauhen’s idea of the global village. The artist who kidnapped the princess is able to show the world that their determination to watch a historic event prevents them from realizing they could have prevented the entire ordeal because the princess had been released beforehand.
I find it interesting that the character (artist?) in Black Mirror who created this entire fiasco remained completely anonymous to the public for the whole 'experiment.' He utilized the various media that connect society to gather the world and make a spectacle out of a truly inhumane and disgusting visual, that the general population simply couldn't help but watch. His anonymity is symbolic of the emerging tribal society, in that even a single, invisible person has the capacity to command the entire conscious body that is the globalized world. The gesture being made is supposed to satire the old, traditional and linear functioning literate society and political structures, which can crumble so easily as a result of the ever increasing awareness and connectivity of modern modes of communication.
I find it ironic and a powerful message that this man released the princess 30 minutes prior to the bestial intercourse; if the world wasn't so consumed by the black mirror, somebody would have found the princess with enough time to spare to tell the PM that he didn't need to do it. The narrative reflects a deep prophetic understanding of what kinds of atrocities society has coming if we do not stop to realize and reflect on exactly why we are consuming so much information.
There is definitely this whole social commentary with the ramifications of how technology can be used. Especially at the beginning of the episode when there is one twist to the story after the other. There is a video that the princess is kidnapped, which was uploaded to Youtube, then replicated, then it is trending on social media, with all of this leading up to news outlets broadcasting this story worldwide.
It shows that one thing can lead to another, and another, and it will just keep piling up until something explodes. It shows a parallel to how we use the internet and social media to access everything now. All of the posting and sharing of this information spreads faster than when this technology barely existed. It is a blessing, but also a curse.
This episode's exemplifies McLuhan idea that that the media is the message by having the princess being released prior to the Prime Minister's global performance. The message in the story is that people are now overcome by the virtual world so much that the digital matrix actually heavily influences our society. The Prime Minister's own ability to carry out having sex with a pig was based on public opinion which was driven by frenzied media outlets.
The Black Mirror Episode, "The National Anthem", directly ties in with McLuhan's idea, that individuals through the world are being manipulated by the media.
The media likes to get people riled up. They know that people love scandal, so they use it to their advantage. The Prime Minister eventually had sex with the pig, later on in the episode, based on public opinion, with was manipulated by media outlets.
Very bold concept for Charlie Brooker that ended up somehow being true. While watching the episode “ The National Anthem” it seemed like the Prime Minister was being backed up into a corner. His team didn't help much they just wanted him to do what the terrorist was asking for. The worst part is that half the world knew before the Prime Minister even got a call. I think it shows just how out of control and powerful social media can be. The internet is the land of no rules and anyone can send negative and positive messages via social media. The worst part is that he does a pig for no reason and only 2 people knew.
The use of sound throughout the episode of Black Mirror was extremely noticeable the second time watching the episode. The scene in which London is empty and the Prime Minister is about to give in to the demands to free Princess Susanna, there is not score or sound effects used. This highlights the gravity of the situation. The ironic twist that Susanna was released before the Prime Minister committed the act of sodomizing a pig was also highlighted in the episode by the silence of the third act of episode because no one was around to find the Princess until it was too late.
The lack of sound at certain moments was used as a dramatic device to highlight the emotional context of the episode. Many directors have done this before, because often people don’t notice audio often within movies and television until something has gone wrong with it. By removing any type of sound effects the viewer is forced to acknowledge the severity of the situation. I’ve seen this done in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which her mother is found dead. The creator of the show, Joss Whedon, has no score for that episode and it highlights the emotional trauma everyone feels from the death. This becomes clear to viewers who are so used to hearing scores throughout television and film.
This episode also distinctly reminded me of the viral beheadings of reporters in Syria, Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff, done by ISIS. The way in which the “artist” uploads his videos to the internet so that the public sees them and starts spreading the news through social media and creates a frenzy prior to the government hushing the situation up, is inherently similar to tactics used by ISIS in the beheadings.
This Black Mirror episode really shows presence of media in our society today. The fact that a simple threat to a political figure can be taken so serious because it was leaked to youtube shows how people can misconstrue things in our society. What really got me upset about this episode is that the Prime Minister goes through with the act and at the end of the day, it was all a bluff to get him to do something so irrational. This furthers the power of media in our society seeing that everything can be blown out of proportion whether true or not.
One of Marshall McLuhan’s ideas from the Playboy interview that I noticed applies directly to the episode of Black Mirror is the concept of “global village”. Basically what McLuhan is saying is that the invention of electric technology has turned the world into a village with the ability to communicate instantaneously with anyone anywhere in the world. Of course, this has only grown more true today with the internet and social media. Something can happen on the other side of the world but if someone is there to tweet about, we’ll know right away about it here in New York. Technology and media has made the world small where nothing is a secret no matter where it happens. Eventually, everyone finds out about everything these days and word spreads quickly all over the globe, just like it would in a tiny little countryside village.
ReplyDeleteThis whole notion obviously played a crucial role in the episode of black mirror. Thanks to social media, the hostage video of Princess Susana was seen by thousands of people within minutes. It was then duplicated and shared many times over. It was like gossip that spread in a lunch room. Once a few people saw the video, they shared it and then those people shared it and so on. If this episode took place let’s say, 25 years ago, and the person who took Princess Susana had to mail the video to the Prime Minister, only he and his staff would know about it. It wouldn’t be all over the world. The plot would be completely different. Then again, this plot couldn’t even take place 25 years ago because the whole idea was to exploit people’s use of technology and social media to humiliate the Prime Minister and subsequently teach the people a lesson (although that was kept secret of course). The hostage video and the demands revolved around the idea of global village (which most of the time is a good thing), but this time in not in a positive way. This episode would probably be McLuhan’s worst nightmare.
Good comment; I daresay even Mr. McLuhan would be shocked by what the world has become in the wake of social media...
ReplyDeleteSophia Uhl
ReplyDeleteThe Black Mirror episode "The National Anthem" shows how media is pervasive within our society. The genre of this particular series is speculative fiction, or a realm of production that aims to comment on controversial subjects. Because we live in an era in which the spread of information is instantaneous, every UK citizen was able to witness the Prime Minister's egregious action. Regardless of an individual's age, gender, or social class, the digital age has fostered a cultural obsession with acquiring each minute detail of the news. An interesting, purposeful decision of the show's directors was showing a group of surgeons, doctors, and nurses huddling around a television to gain every piece of information about the developing story. Instead of concentrating on their ill and suffering patients, the medical professionals were blinded by social media updates. The writers of the show intentionally chose surgeons in this scene to highlight the profound impact of the digital age on the way society operates. In addition to visual content that aids the development of the story, the writers also focused on audio content. The first few sounds in the episode is a cell phone vibrating and ringing. This plot point reveals the ways in which cell phones and rapid communication effects our society.
Matt Ferremi
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of the episode when the Prime Minister and his cabinet gathered at 10 Downing Street to watch the video with Princess Susanna. I noticed when watching the episode a second time that each member of the cabinet was wearing black clothing. While this may seem subtle and common for members of government to wear black clothing, I saw this as foreshadowing of bad things to come. Black is a color that usually represents darkness, pessimism, negative energy just to name a few things.
Also in the beginning of the episode. The PM was being adamant that he was not going to have sex with the pig, he tried to get the approval of his cabinet members that this would not happen. The cabinet members were not as positive as the PM that this was not going to happen. The Prime Minister did not realize the threat of this circumstance in the beginning of the episode unlike his cabinet members, who right away realized that this was serious.
I think it is really interesting that the entire episode had very little movement. The characters, more-or-less, stayed within their spaces while the action took place almost completely through their phones/screens. This extension of ourselves leaves us restless and, quite literally, wakes us up as we see happen in the very beginning of the episode of "Black Mirror." If technology did not exist to the extent that it does today, the Prime Minister in the episode would still be fast asleep. And a YouTube video wouldn't incite so much drama and fatigue. The viewers of the video become the slaves to it's message; the princess has been kidnapped and she is being held hostage. Maybe if the government had paid more attention to security, rather than the cool black screen in the middle of the room, the princess would be safe and sound...
ReplyDeleteConnor Hynes
ReplyDelete“Black Mirror” aims to show the grim possibilities of technology on people’s lives. The first episode focuses on the Prime Minister being blackmailed into doing a lewd act because the whole world knows the consequences if he does not. He barely takes his wife’s opinions into consideration because he is more concerned with how the rest of the world will view him if the Princess is not saved. Social media and the claustrophobic presence of the internet in everyday life ultimately have the final say on some of the Prime Minister’s advisors because they have millions of opinions they have to take into consideration before planning their next move.
The episode also comments on the competitive nature of journalism. One reporter is outraged that UKN is one of the last outlets to report on the Princess being kidnapped. She does whatever she thinks will get her more information compared to other news stations. She decides to attempt to film what she thinks is the princess being rescued despite the dangerous possibilities of sticking around. Her decisions prove near fatal as she is shot and wounded trying to escape the MI6 team, who offer their thoughts on a journalist filming a rescue mission by shooting her phone. With journalists able to premiere their new content from their phones, this episode of “Black Mirror” shows what can happen when you want to have an exclusive story.
I like what Paul said about this episode tackling McLauhen’s idea of the global village. The artist who kidnapped the princess is able to show the world that their determination to watch a historic event prevents them from realizing they could have prevented the entire ordeal because the princess had been released beforehand.
I find it interesting that the character (artist?) in Black Mirror who created this entire fiasco remained completely anonymous to the public for the whole 'experiment.' He utilized the various media that connect society to gather the world and make a spectacle out of a truly inhumane and disgusting visual, that the general population simply couldn't help but watch. His anonymity is symbolic of the emerging tribal society, in that even a single, invisible person has the capacity to command the entire conscious body that is the globalized world. The gesture being made is supposed to satire the old, traditional and linear functioning literate society and political structures, which can crumble so easily as a result of the ever increasing awareness and connectivity of modern modes of communication.
ReplyDeleteI find it ironic and a powerful message that this man released the princess 30 minutes prior to the bestial intercourse; if the world wasn't so consumed by the black mirror, somebody would have found the princess with enough time to spare to tell the PM that he didn't need to do it. The narrative reflects a deep prophetic understanding of what kinds of atrocities society has coming if we do not stop to realize and reflect on exactly why we are consuming so much information.
There is definitely this whole social commentary with the ramifications of how technology can be used. Especially at the beginning of the episode when there is one twist to the story after the other. There is a video that the princess is kidnapped, which was uploaded to Youtube, then replicated, then it is trending on social media, with all of this leading up to news outlets broadcasting this story worldwide.
ReplyDeleteIt shows that one thing can lead to another, and another, and it will just keep piling up until something explodes. It shows a parallel to how we use the internet and social media to access everything now. All of the posting and sharing of this information spreads faster than when this technology barely existed. It is a blessing, but also a curse.
This episode's exemplifies McLuhan idea that that the media is the message by having the princess being released prior to the Prime Minister's global performance. The message in the story is that people are now overcome by the virtual world so much that the digital matrix actually heavily influences our society. The Prime Minister's own ability to carry out having sex with a pig was based on public opinion which was driven by frenzied media outlets.
ReplyDeleteThe Black Mirror Episode, "The National Anthem", directly ties in with McLuhan's idea, that individuals through the world are being manipulated by the media.
ReplyDeleteThe media likes to get people riled up. They know that people love scandal, so they use it to their advantage. The Prime Minister eventually had sex with the pig, later on in the episode, based on public opinion, with was manipulated by media outlets.
Very bold concept for Charlie Brooker that ended up somehow being true. While watching the episode “ The National Anthem” it seemed like the Prime Minister was being backed up into a corner. His team didn't help much they just wanted him to do what the terrorist was asking for. The worst part is that half the world knew before the Prime Minister even got a call. I think it shows just how out of control and powerful social media can be. The internet is the land of no rules and anyone can send negative and positive messages via social media. The worst part is that he does a pig for no reason and only 2 people knew.
ReplyDeleteThe use of sound throughout the episode of Black Mirror was extremely noticeable the second time watching the episode. The scene in which London is empty and the Prime Minister is about to give in to the demands to free Princess Susanna, there is not score or sound effects used. This highlights the gravity of the situation. The ironic twist that Susanna was released before the Prime Minister committed the act of sodomizing a pig was also highlighted in the episode by the silence of the third act of episode because no one was around to find the Princess until it was too late.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of sound at certain moments was used as a dramatic device to highlight the emotional context of the episode. Many directors have done this before, because often people don’t notice audio often within movies and television until something has gone wrong with it. By removing any type of sound effects the viewer is forced to acknowledge the severity of the situation. I’ve seen this done in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in which her mother is found dead. The creator of the show, Joss Whedon, has no score for that episode and it highlights the emotional trauma everyone feels from the death. This becomes clear to viewers who are so used to hearing scores throughout television and film.
This episode also distinctly reminded me of the viral beheadings of reporters in Syria, Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff, done by ISIS. The way in which the “artist” uploads his videos to the internet so that the public sees them and starts spreading the news through social media and creates a frenzy prior to the government hushing the situation up, is inherently similar to tactics used by ISIS in the beheadings.
This Black Mirror episode really shows presence of media in our society today. The fact that a simple threat to a political figure can be taken so serious because it was leaked to youtube shows how people can misconstrue things in our society. What really got me upset about this episode is that the Prime Minister goes through with the act and at the end of the day, it was all a bluff to get him to do something so irrational. This furthers the power of media in our society seeing that everything can be blown out of proportion whether true or not.
ReplyDelete