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Sovjohn
Reviews
Black Mirror: Shut Up and Dance (2016)
A tale of modern morality (and age not mitigating consequences of actions)
I admit I didn't expect the major twist of this episode: We are introduced to a rather sweet teenager, Kenny, who seems to be plowing through life as many teenagers do: A bit shy and reserved, works at a fast-food chain, play nice with his mom, even behave like a decent human being to a little girl while at work.
Likable guy, am I right? I definitely liked him.
Then, as the episode progresses, we are led to assume that fear of extreme humiliation, of a video having him jerk off in high- definition splendor, motivates his actions and forces him to "obey or else".
Right. Plausible and all, even without an added twist, surely.
I mean, Hector (who is sufficiently sleazy but also far from a scumbag deserving his fate, all things considered) painted a bleak picture for Kenny in the car, when trying to convince him to continue obeying the demands in the phone:
Basically his video could well become viral, and stigmatize him for an extended amount of time -especially if he lived in a small town or something, ridiculing alone would last for bloody years-.
It just might justify even a robbery taking place. But then, towards the end, we find out the horrifying truth: Kenny had to fight to the death with another fellow, who, like him, was a pedophile. Jawdrop.
Now, don't get me wrong, but as I also read elsewhere, the dramatic effect of this episode would be much less profound if Kenny was a 45-year old man himself.
He was not, and this got me thinking about society's moral compass here - Crimes, such as pedophilia, public indecency, homosexuality or what have you, tend to differ in classification and severity depending on the culture and ethics of a given society / country.
For instance, sad as this may be, in certain theocratic or otherwise conservative countries, homosexuality is deemed a disease or a disability or a severe crime even today; pedophilia (and well, worse - child trafficking and prostitution) is commonly "accepted" or even "encouraged" in certain countries as a legal means for a poor family to make ends meet; the list goes on.
Should Kenny be treated differently than others because he's young? Even as a young adult (presuming he's over 18 in-character) would a court of law find him guilty if he grew up right inside the age of social media and media galleries all around, and somehow gained access to images of say 15-year olds when he, himself was 15, 16 or 17- years old?
My personal opinion is no, and considering the age of consent for actual sexual intercourse is legally lower than 18 years old in several countries, I would find it borderline illogical to "sentence" even an 18 year old fellow for somehow procuring indecent picture of individuals 3 or 4 years younger than him. Under the same reasoning all teenage pregnancies should be forcibly aborted, and the mothers-to- be thrown in jail, because "the horror!".
Of course the above would not apply for a different age bracket in question, but as a moral dilemma I admit it's rather intriguing. Hence I conclude that the episode would lack a great deal of emotional punch if the likable boy we met there was a "grown man in his own right".
Of course, in the context of the episode, the moral dilemma was already solved and decided for by the anonymous troll pulling the strings - They decided to punish all characters in the episode in a fell swoop, rendering their obedience to demands a moot point.
Apparently, people messing around with vigilantes have one thing in common: Everybody loses.
An episode to remember, especially when viewed from a "modern morality and consequences" point of view. Recommended.
Black Mirror: Playtest (2016)
A bleak outlook of the (near?) future: Enter "Playtest"
What's very intriguing about Black Mirror as a whole is its relevance with the world we live in. It's not, in general, a "feel good" series, but of course it was never meant to be.
The purpose of the series, of course, is to make our minds linger on some "What if..." scenarios which, in several instances, do seem creepy, yet quite possible, or even probable, to become a dystopian, even macabre reality at some point of time.
I thought "Playtest" had a very strong impact as an episode. Without spoiling anything, let's just say that it takes the concept of Alternate Reality (AR), something which today is indeed very new, quite evolving and captivating (think Pokemon Go! which was the first mass test-case of this) and twists it towards a very sinister path indeed.
It may seem far-fetched, but the lead "guy living next door" kind of adventurous fellow, Cooper, starring in the episode is certainly not prepared for what's thrown at him. And I doubt anyone would, in such a set of circumstances.
The episode, yet again, brilliantly captures the concept of benevolent technology used in a quite malevolent capacity, whether by accident or by design.
Myself, as a gamer who tends to follow technological developments in general, I found myself wondering if a similar scenario could realistically play out somewhere in the world in just a few years' time; it might not involve a game as a pretense, like "Playtest" did, but when the barriers of reality and fiction are blurred that much, nobody can definitively rule out the concept being used in experimental military interrogation techniques or what have you.
When one's mind is so grossly tricked, insanity (or worse things still) may very well manifest, quickly and irreversibly so.
Do watch this, and you'll grasp my point quite succinctly! Full marks from me, going to watch the remaining S03 episodes now :) .