Black Mirror Relatibility & Reflection
ISLA 303 Prof Moon
Joseph Lee
The Black Mirror episodes “Fifteen Million Merits”, “The Entire History of You”,
“Nosedive”, “Arkangel”, and “Smithereens” all deal with how our lives are being driven by
technology. This is not a new concept; technology has been changing our lives as human beings
since the Industrial Revolution. There are laws such as Bell’s Law and Moore’s law, which state
that technology is ever-changing, and in the very least, every eighteen months technology is
changing. Each of these five Black Mirror episodes introduces different technologies that are
seemingly harmless and will improve the quality of life greatly. But all five episodes quickly turn
dark and show how people can misuse and abuse the technology given to them. Although a bit
exaggerated, I believe these episodes are relatable to our situation today in 2020. They test the
moral and ethical bounds of human beings and how technology can go wrong if we let it control
our ability to reason and think for ourselves. I believe “Black Mirror” is talking about how the
screens on our electronic devices, when turned off, are essentially mirrors that we can see
reflections of and that we should reflect upon our daily lives and how we are incorporating
technology into our daily lives. Every episode of the series starts off with the title “Black
Mirror” being shattered with a shard of glass, which is what Bing held to his neck in the “Fifteen
Million Merits” episode. It represents how our lives can be shattered with the misuse of
technology and if we let it control us.
After watching the “Fifteen Million Merits” episode, I could not help but compare it to
