We are used to the typical imagined repressive dystopia, where our movement is limited and our will is repressed. But what if what happened is the reverse--a world where we willingly surrender our will, because of, as Huxley aptly put it, our "infinite appetite of distraction"?
That's what this episode is. A very good satire on a media-saturated world, where we . A world where everything is consumed as pure entertainment, and what we worked hard through and through (the endless cycling) ultimately is to reach the goal of consumption. It is a world where distraction is structurally offered in every chance--a world full of copious amount of advertising, that we cannot resist or even reject, as rejecting makes it our loss (literally, as skipping commercial costs a dime here).
As it is a world of mass consumption, as its consequence, it is also a world restraining for women. As women is judged first by her look and second by her other qualities. Abi, a good singer on her own, nevertheless has to submit as a porn actress as she is deemed too pretty and too hot. Even the woman judge has to agree, though she must shed her tear in silence.
The ending strikes as powerful as it reinforces the whole theme of the episode. As Bing attempted to kill himself after pointing out all the fault in the world--the facade and the inauthenticity--then judge is then silenced. But only for a brief moment. They then continue to judge and value the amusement of Bing's speech as an entertainment--a "performance"--as the shocked audience then also greet Bing with a thunderous applause when the judge offered Bing his own show for a heart-breaking speech. Eventually, the supposedly revolutionary Bing agreed with the offer. Bing became Che Guevara of his world, but even more ironic is the fact that he commoditize himself--he ended up being as the very reason of the existence of the farce he criticized.
7.5/10
So Good
This show is so
Frickin Awesome
and the ingenious way it
is written means it's
ageless and Timeless
it always remains so
Relevant and current.
in fact here's a little
Relevant story from
2023.
I know a girl right who is
Great looking, i mean hot
but who is also
very very intelligent and
driven.
She went to university
to study Law,
She put the years and
hours in their to become
a very successful Lawyer
but before she completed the
Degree she followed what all
her friends did and dropped
out to become an overnight
Internet sensation
With an
"Only Fans" page
To which she now earns
a 7 digit figure every couple
of months for taking her
Clothes off and performing
on request Sexul acts
over the Web. She's
actually in
the top 1 percent of being
The best and highest paid
on Only Fans right now.
"True Story".
Sad really when you
Think about that,
what she gave up
with hard dedication
to simply throw it all
away so she can
Take her clothes off
for millions of people
and make more money
than most of us will see
in our lifetime.
Everyone is free to do
what they choose as long as
no one else is getting hurt and I'm not
Judging her but for the relevance of this particular
episode just thought I'd share this story for how
Spot-On
Black Mirror
actually is with it's
dark reflection on
the world at large.
(plus I've just finished
this year's BGT
and started AGT).
Review by LucanBlockedParent2023-06-18T19:01:27Z
This is like the saddest Black Mirror ever got. Every character is so chronically lonely that it makes you wanna cry. They are so socially inept that it brings out an almost disney-esque cute tone when they interact with one another, which is pushed further when Abi shoots for the stars and enters a talent show in hopes of becoming a star all thanks to Bing. It's an insanely cute relationship but the episode makes sure to always have a slight underlying darkness to it all. Really, they were so bored that they're doing this almost as just 'something to do' and the so-called aspiration is completely dictated by the commercials they are being sold on their own personalised TVs.
It then, of course, gets very dark and intense and the pornography ad that oddly kept popping up throughout the episode makes a full return and kills any chance of happiness for anyone, including us.
Leading man Daniel Kaluuya is remarkable - that speech is iconic and does such a good job portraying a man who is so depressed, almost never showing emotion or sign of life, until he finally snaps in a fit of rage which he and his forehead vein pull off perfectly...and then the actual ending/cut to credits is thought-provoking in seminal Black Mirror fashion, and even slightly meta too.
This episode is becoming more and more true to life every year.