Black Mirror Review
Charlie Brooker really can write the s*** out of a show can't he? Screenwipe, Dead Set and now this (we'll forget the 10 o'clock news live because no one really watches that anymore). If you haven't seen these then they are a must and most are probably free (legally) knocking about on the internet on 4od and BBC sites somewhere. Black Mirror is a serious Brooker show about serious things, seriously. It is a comedy to an extent where you may chuckle at the situation that the person is in whilst also being horrified by the parallels that can be drawn with our own society.
The show is split into 3 hour long mini self-contained dramas each dealing with an issue that is obviously grinding Brooker's gears. The first deals with the intrusion of media into everyday lives and the abhorrent callousness of the great British public (there's also some suggested bestiality in there), the second episode deals with the destruction and commercialisation of all things beautiful which in my opinion is the best and most damning of our society. The third episode deals with...well I'm sure it deals with something deep but it essentially throws out a "what if?" in the form of; what if we could record our memories and then play them back.
I'll review each separately on their own merits because they are entirely different beasts with different directors and casts. Brooker writes the first one and co-writes the second one with his wife Kanaq "Konnie" Huq (yeah the girl that was on Blue Peter for 9 years co-writes a dystopian future satire,odd that) whilst the third one is written by Jesse Armstrong of Peep Show fame (there's even a bit of first person-ness in it).
The first episode is the most realistic perhaps, a princess is captured and a video is uploaded to youtube of her capturer telling the prime minister he must...ahem... perform unsimulated sexual acts upon a pig. Wait, wait, wait come back. This isn't some weird thing I found on the internet its Charlie Brooker so have some faith although you might not look at Bacon the same way for a while. The show jumps from kidnapping chase to marital drama to social commentary with brilliant acting by all involved with the callous Prime Minister's aides, the brilliantly acted Prime Minister himself as well as snippets of the public reactions. Brilliantly directed and brilliantly acted but suffers from the short run time in that some aspects of the story can't really be closed but giving the viewer the difference between the media's perception and private life of the Prime Minister at the end if surely a stroke of genius.
The second show deals with virtual reality and our over-reliance on media. It follows Posh Kenneth of skins fame moping his way through an alternate reality where people are inside all the time and cycle all day to power electricity that runs everything around them. They live their lives through avatars (parodying the Xbox or wii characters) but they can transcend this by becoming stars through the reality TV show. This is the one to watch as the slow drawn story builds up into a climatic finale and one of the most heartfelt, angry and thought provoking speeches in recent cinema or television history. I won't spoil the ending or the story itself as there lies the triumph of this short story but let's just say that you may end up hating society by the end of it. Not really an up-beat jaunt into the world of reality TV this one, but I'd still recommend it if you have a strong stomach for the socially grotesque.
The third show is an entirely different affair, maybe because it has a different writer. It seems to have something to say but no clear direction or message to put through to the audience although I guess seeing a timeline of all one's life could be directly related to the Facebooks. The film follows some lawyer bloke who goes to a party with his wife who acts strangely with some bloke and then he gets angry at his wife and over-analyses everything about that night (literally because he can bring up his past experiences up on the TV). Hilarity ensues. Well of course not hilarity, there is very little humour to be had in this one as its played pretty straight and Jesse Armstrong revels to put some very awkward moments in there but that isn't to say its not good. In fact its brilliant in its own self-contained way as it is the most close to home and thrives on personal emotions. The first episode deals with society and the twitter age the second deals with society and the commercialisation of beauty but the third deals with the self, with relationships and we see the struggle and loopiness that one man can go through, deep stuff.
Watch it, its free and genuinely a spectacle to behold after that watch Dead Set because its a zombie show set in the Big Brother house, how brilliant is that concept? Anyway this gets, lets say 9 out of 10, the only faults I can realistically point out are that I felt like punching society in the face directly after watching it, take that society.
The show is split into 3 hour long mini self-contained dramas each dealing with an issue that is obviously grinding Brooker's gears. The first deals with the intrusion of media into everyday lives and the abhorrent callousness of the great British public (there's also some suggested bestiality in there), the second episode deals with the destruction and commercialisation of all things beautiful which in my opinion is the best and most damning of our society. The third episode deals with...well I'm sure it deals with something deep but it essentially throws out a "what if?" in the form of; what if we could record our memories and then play them back.
I'll review each separately on their own merits because they are entirely different beasts with different directors and casts. Brooker writes the first one and co-writes the second one with his wife Kanaq "Konnie" Huq (yeah the girl that was on Blue Peter for 9 years co-writes a dystopian future satire,odd that) whilst the third one is written by Jesse Armstrong of Peep Show fame (there's even a bit of first person-ness in it).
The first episode is the most realistic perhaps, a princess is captured and a video is uploaded to youtube of her capturer telling the prime minister he must...ahem... perform unsimulated sexual acts upon a pig. Wait, wait, wait come back. This isn't some weird thing I found on the internet its Charlie Brooker so have some faith although you might not look at Bacon the same way for a while. The show jumps from kidnapping chase to marital drama to social commentary with brilliant acting by all involved with the callous Prime Minister's aides, the brilliantly acted Prime Minister himself as well as snippets of the public reactions. Brilliantly directed and brilliantly acted but suffers from the short run time in that some aspects of the story can't really be closed but giving the viewer the difference between the media's perception and private life of the Prime Minister at the end if surely a stroke of genius.
The second show deals with virtual reality and our over-reliance on media. It follows Posh Kenneth of skins fame moping his way through an alternate reality where people are inside all the time and cycle all day to power electricity that runs everything around them. They live their lives through avatars (parodying the Xbox or wii characters) but they can transcend this by becoming stars through the reality TV show. This is the one to watch as the slow drawn story builds up into a climatic finale and one of the most heartfelt, angry and thought provoking speeches in recent cinema or television history. I won't spoil the ending or the story itself as there lies the triumph of this short story but let's just say that you may end up hating society by the end of it. Not really an up-beat jaunt into the world of reality TV this one, but I'd still recommend it if you have a strong stomach for the socially grotesque.
The third show is an entirely different affair, maybe because it has a different writer. It seems to have something to say but no clear direction or message to put through to the audience although I guess seeing a timeline of all one's life could be directly related to the Facebooks. The film follows some lawyer bloke who goes to a party with his wife who acts strangely with some bloke and then he gets angry at his wife and over-analyses everything about that night (literally because he can bring up his past experiences up on the TV). Hilarity ensues. Well of course not hilarity, there is very little humour to be had in this one as its played pretty straight and Jesse Armstrong revels to put some very awkward moments in there but that isn't to say its not good. In fact its brilliant in its own self-contained way as it is the most close to home and thrives on personal emotions. The first episode deals with society and the twitter age the second deals with society and the commercialisation of beauty but the third deals with the self, with relationships and we see the struggle and loopiness that one man can go through, deep stuff.
Watch it, its free and genuinely a spectacle to behold after that watch Dead Set because its a zombie show set in the Big Brother house, how brilliant is that concept? Anyway this gets, lets say 9 out of 10, the only faults I can realistically point out are that I felt like punching society in the face directly after watching it, take that society.