Black Mirror ( Season 7 )

Episode 1: Common People

Black Mirror Epsiode Common People Review by Magicthreadworks

I love Black Mirror. This is one show which not only envisions how the progress in technology might look like but also makes a very strong commentary on how the mixture of advanced technology and human selfishness is a toxic combination which will come back to bite us. This is a true horror show, which we are actually living in a sense. This season of Black Mirror doesn’t disappear either. Let’s explore episode 1.

Storyline

Story of Amanda, school teacher who has a tumor in her head. A tech company takes backup of the infected part of her brain and replaced it with the chip. Her operation is done for free but there is a monthly subscription which Amanda and her husband, Mike, will have to pay now. At first everything goes well, then the company starts monetizing the products. First the area where the chip works is restricted, then. they add ads, then they start adding upgraded features so that Amanda can regulate the experience of her sense with just an app. Meanwhile, the husband, for whom the subscription was too high, is forced to work overtime, and even start doing strange activities on the dark web just to support upgrades.

Analysis

I could feel the sheer helplessness of the whole situation. Even now our mind is forced to work with in laws of rights or wrong prescribed to us by society. Even then we feel frustration of how we are not able to be ourselves. Now imagine how frustrating it would be if someone else is controlling your mind from the server. You are not allowed to have any thoughts of your own, you have just become an advertising mouth piece. Now you are earning just so that you could pay to survive. In a future update, Amanda would be forced to purchase a product and a part of her sale will go as an affiliate earnings for the brand. So you are essentially earning money, just so that you can advertise products to other people, your brain can be used to do other mental jobs for the company while you sleep, and maybe the future- company controls your impulse and everything you buy company gets a commission. In between, where do you get time to be yourself, do things you like and dislike. What makes you, you then ?

The Technology

The technology mentioned is transhumanism — where the parts of the human body will be enhanced by technology. We see a glimpse of superhumans where an app can actually simulate one’s mood based on their preference. A utility of this could be to increase the mind’s utilisation capacity. Elon Musk is anyways working on Neuralink chip which will act as an interface between the human mind and technology. They have already proved initial results where just by human thought, technology makes a response — play games in this case.

Real World Comparison

Let me contrast this with what we writers are doing on medium. Here we are acting as companies, who are providing their services as “solutions”. Here I find most writers writing articles on “How to earn more as a writer”. Blogposts on such topics are getting notorious vitality. Where is our creativity though. As a writer we are supposed to express ourselves and not just become affiliates of brands.

The Plea for Freedom

The combo of Money and Technology to generate more money is such a dangerous black hole, all the choices in our real life too are controlled by these. Who are we without our money and this technology? Even now the companies are influencing us in a similar manner. The ads, the coverage, the upgrades all of it works in a similar manner. Right now the choice we have is to not to give in to the clever claims of consumerism and reclaim our freedom. Ever wondered, what will happen if we stop buying things?