“It’s not a technological problem we have, it’s a human one.” BLACK MIRROR and its dystopian narrative on technology, social media, surveillance and the technobody.

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“It’s not a technological problem we

have, it’s a human one.”

BLACK MIRROR and its dystopian narrative on technology, social media,

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Abstract

The British television show BLACK MIRROR is an anthology show. The overarching

theme of the show is about how people deal with technology and the consequences of their behaviour. It uses a dystopian narrative to criticise current society. The aesthetics support the dystopian stories and accentuate the twist present in every episode. Social media and

surveillance technology consist of the notions ubiquity, conformism, non-optionality and the possibility of resistance. In addition both have issues with privacy. They have the possibility to create a mob mentality, also through populism. Entertainment in BLACK MIRROR is used to normalise surveillance. It is also used as a distraction, turning the viewers into docile and spending bodies. Besides criticising reality television, the show also passes judgment on the UK’s obsession with the Royal Family. The cyborg is put in a negative light and is not an enhancement to society. The human body and technology should not be combined. The cyborg beyond the body cannot exist, because human interaction is the most important and technology fails to recreate this interaction. Eventually it is not technology that is the problem, but humans using technology.

Key words:  BLACK MIRROR  Dystopia  Technology  Social Media  Surveillance 

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Introduction

Humanity and technology; a complicated relationship. Traditionally technology is perceived as a giant advancement leading to a utopian world where man and machine live in harmony with each other. But there is evidently also a dark side to technology. Ever since the Industrial Revolution stories about dystopia have been thriving. Technology is predicted to be our downfall. Man and machine at war with each other. Or at least machine making it even harder for man. As spectacular and exciting as these two extremes sound, the ambivalent area in between the good and bad is much more interesting than picking either side. It is about seeing how humans interact with technology and which choices they make when doing so. What happens for instance when you are having your personality transferred to a an egg which looks suspiciously like the latest Apple product? Or when you are being chased by an armed gunman whilst people silently film you with their mobile phones? What happens when the British Prime Minister is pressured through social media to perform a sexual act with a pig to save the crown princess? These scenarios seem to be far apart thematically, yet they have a lot of things in common. Technology, social media, but mainly the way humans deal with them. The interaction is the most important motivator behind Channel 4’s series BLACK

MIRROR.

BLACK MIRROR is a satirical show about the advantages of technology being used and abused by society and it was first broadcast in 2011. Charlie Brooker is the big name attached to the show. He is a columnist for The Guardian, known for his acerbic and cynical views. He is also a TV maker, known for panel shows such as THE 11O'CLOCK SHOW and for spreading

his sceptical views of current affairs and culture in the different ‘Wipes’ shows, such as WEEKLY WIPE, SCREENWIPE and NEWSWIPE. He has also ventured into fiction with the shows

DEAD SET and NATHAN BARLEY. DEAD SET is the obvious predecessor of BLACK MIRROR.

Situated in the BIG BROTHER house, a group of people locked in try to survive the zombie

apocalypse whilst being watched by whoever is still able to watch the live stream. The future is bleak and entertainment television is calling the shots. The internet and digital technology

“If technology is a drug – and it does feel like a drug – then what, precisely, are the side-effects.”- Brooker 2011.

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(in this case digital television) already featured in NATHAN BARLEY. Fusing these ideas was only a matter of time. Where in DEAD SET surveillance was signified by television cameras, Brooker is taking it to the next level in BLACK MIRROR, demonstrating its usage and

appearance in our society.

The title BLACK MIRROR refers to all the screens of devices that are turned off which

in this day and age also almost resembles a small current dystopia for the technology diehards. But it also represents the dark side of technology and society, the show makes us look at ourselves through this so-called black mirror. So far there have been two series of three episodes and a Christmas special. The episodes are disconnected; the characters, environments and stories are standalone. The show is both critically and publicly acclaimed and has won several prizes.1 So what is the fascination with this show? Is it about the

technology? Is it about a certain form of voyeurism? Or is it the twist occurring at the end of an episode, turning all your perceptions and beliefs upside down whilst creating a shock felt in the mind as well as in the body? Obviously all are incorporated, but I argue that it is the atmosphere and the dystopia which ring close to home. It is not about science fiction created through new technologies, but predominantly about how people and society happen to deal with them and the problems that could occur in situations that are not out of reach for long. We are all using social media, we are all dependent on technology, it is not difficult to

imagine the possibility of taking it all one step further. In the United Kingdom there is a lot of CCTV already, cameras are directed at us on a daily basis. How is that being dealt with in BLACK MIRROR? How do the main characters deal with the new technology shaping their worlds in each episode? These ideas have led me to my main research question:

Through the genre of dystopia, how does BLACK MIRROR deal with and critique technological advances and surveillance?

First I will have a look at what a dystopia is and which types of dystopia exist. Then I will apply the genre to BLACK MIRROR as an anthology show. I will examine the aesthetics,

which I have divided into the following subcategories: Editing, colour, environment and set

1_See:_{http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-20406749}_-

http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/black-mirror-returns -

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design, and music. The aesthetics will underline that even though the episodes are completely different, the dystopian theme runs throughout the series. I will also briefly deal with the idea that the episodes could take place in the same universe.

In the second part I will address the technology. This consists of social media and surveillance. The question here is how and what kind of surveillance is being used? How can this be related to technology of current society? Social media will be explained through utopian and dystopian lenses, but also the notion of ambivalence will come up. Because conformism to technology and surveillance is an important theme, the question of resistance also appears. When it comes to resistance, is the personal political in BLACK MIRROR? It turns

out resistance is only seemingly possible and is advised against by the show by lining it up with deviance. Also it is highly commodified. Besides these themes I have also established the concepts of mob mentality and entertainment and their importance in BLACK MIRROR and

surveillance. Mob mentality problematises the concepts of justice, morality and populism. Entertainment exists to undermine criticism and to normalise surveillance.

In the third part I will look at cyborg theory and how it fits in utopian and dystopian thinking. After establishing what a cyborg is, I will apply it to the cyborgs in BLACK MIRROR.

Important themes are ubiquity, (in)visibility and humanity. BLACK MIRROR’s cyborgs will add

to the dystopian ideas surrounding the technobody and reject positive theories and the idea of going beyond the body. The majority of the themes in all three parts are intertwined with each other and will without a doubt create an overlap within the different parts, which will be addressed in part four, the conclusion. This paper attempts to show that BLACK MIRROR

portrays a negative point of view on surveillance, social media and the cyborg, but that there are also traits of ambivalence surrounding these topics. BLACK MIRROR emphasises that the usage of these devices causes the problems, not the technology itself. To strengthen this vision, every story is set in a dystopian society, which in turn criticises current society and its characteristics in general and the United Kingdom’s in particular.

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Part 1: Black Mirror and dystopia

In this part I will look at what a dystopia is and I will illustrate the theory with several examples. I will first explain its counterpart, utopia. Then I will apply the theory of the dystopia to the series as an anthology as well as to the separate episodes, namely “Fifteen Million Merits”, “The Entire History Of You”, “The Waldo Moment”, “White Bear” and “White Christmas”.

1.1 Utopia

There is one word that appears in every review of BLACK MIRROR: dystopia. A dystopia is the other side of the coin to a utopia; where there is a dark side, there also has to be a positive counterpart to provide a balance and to create the opposition. However, gradually the idea has come about that utopia and dystopia are not necessarily the strict opposites as they have often been made out to be. To define the bad of dystopia, the good of a utopia also needs to be able to exist, or more importantly, the idea of a utopia needs to exist. They cannot be existent without each other. Utopia and dystopia go hand in hand like heaven and hell (Williams 97).2 In addition, someone’s utopia can be another’s dystopia. For example Disneyworld is a fictional yet also real place, which can be joyful for one and a fairy tale hell for another (Booker 15). To move towards a definition of and understand the workings of a dystopia, it is helpful to see what a utopia can be and what it consists of.

The term utopia was coined by sir Thomas More in 1516 when he wrote the book with the same name. His Utopia is a fictional island where people try to create an idyllic society. The moral and cultural improvement needed for his ideal society is brought forward through “natural science”. And whilst his concept of science might not be exactly what is understood as modern science today, the key aspect is that “science has been linked to utopian thinking since the very beginnings of modern science” (5). Technological advancements in modern

2_{In Raymond Williams’ book heaven and hell are also forms of a utopia and dystopia, albeit rarely.}

“Each episode has a different cast, a different setting, even a different reality. But they're all about the way we live now – and the way we might be living in 10 minutes' time if we're clumsy.” - Brooker 2011.

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times have created a shift in thinking about societies. Francis Bacon for instance, a pioneer of new science, saw the prospect of revolutionising society through the “beneficial impacts that science and technology might have” (5). Also it is not just the practical benefits he became aware of, “more important is the sense of purpose and direction that scientific thinking gives to his idealized society” (5). And that is what a utopia entails, it is seen as the final ending of where our world could be heading towards. Several possibilities could lead to this ultimate societal achievement as well, as described by Raymond Williams. For instance by an “unlooked for natural event”, which is utopia’s “externally altered world”. Willingly transforming society means adapting to a new society after a new kind of life has been uncovered through human achievement. By far the most important aspect throughout history will still be the “technological discovery” (95). The latter also speaks to the mind the most. Adapted to the advancements and developments in our current society, a utopia has become a place where technology and humanity have formed a balance and where they strengthen each other. Inventions starting from the Industrial Revolution have all brought the same premise: “new technology will bring universal wealth, enhanced freedom, revitalized politics,

satisfying community, and personal fulfilment” (Winner 1001). The people who believe in this type of society, the techno-utopists, celebrate technology and believe that “we will […] no longer be bound by bodily limitations” (Davis 956). One could imagine science fiction technologies such as cyborgs, the famous depiction of half machine-half man. But also nowadays the idea of technological enhancements are available, for instance through creating prosthetic limbs with a 3D printer. Imagination creates endless possibilities for printing. Here technology benefits humans and it functions as both an aid and an enhancement.

However, the different possibilities of forming a utopia could evidently also be applied harmfully, creating several types of dystopia. It is a term which triggers the imagination and expectations about what type of world is being depicted. It is a greatly used inspiration for fiction, more than the world of utopia it seems. A few recent programmes tried to fictionalise the world of utopia yet again. For instance there is a Dutch reality TV show along the lines of Big BROTHER called UTOPIA, where people are trying to build a new society. Also a British

fictional programme exists with the same name where a group of people find a secret manuscript that predicts disasters which they try to prevent from occurring. An Australian show with again the original name of UTOPIA, deals with the problems of actually creating a

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utopia. Problems are easier to imagine than everything being perfect. Especially throughout the 20th century a scepticism about utopia appeared which made it easier to imagine

nightmares than to imagine dreams about the future. So instead of the idyllic, books and films have shown us the dystopia. Who is not familiar with novels like 1984 and Brave New World and films such as THE MATRIX trilogy(The Wachowski Brothers 1999), the TERMINATOR

(Cameron 1984) and METROPOLIS (Lang 1927)? Or at least the dystopian concepts used in these works of fiction?

1.2 Dystopia

The question raised now is, what exactly is a dystopia? According to Oxford Dictionaries it is “an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one”. Merriam-Webster sees it as “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives”. Sargent creates the following definition of a dystopia: “a non-existent society described in considerable detail and normally located in time and space that the author intended a contemporaneous reader to view as considerably worse than the society in which that reader lived” (9). Missing from these definitions are the notions of the (near) future and that worst-case scenarios are being overly dramatised to criticise current society and politics. This demonstrates there is not one exact definition of a dystopia, also because several types of dystopia exist. Williams’ categories for utopia can be turned around to describe diverse forms of dystopia. There is an “externally altered world”, which is the new situation caused by natural events which alter the basic ideas of human laws, often catastrophically (96). Think about catastrophes caused by nature

changing the world we live in. For instance, even though man and technology play an

important part, the world in 12MONKEYS (Gilliam 1995) is depicted as a post-natural disaster

film.3 On television THE 100 (The CW 2013) can be seen as externally altered when the dystopian situation emerges after a nuclear disaster, which makes it hard for humans to build a new society.The so-called “willed transformation” is the more classic idea of a dystopia. Tyranny, ideology and dictatorship control the universe created, which is more important than technology used to build and sustain a controlled society. George Orwell’s 1984 comes to mind here. Even though the Big Brother technology is important, the technology is “clearly

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the servant, not the master of the Party” (Beauchamp 55). Technology actually serves

ideology. The dystopia which focuses on technology and the changes it creates is aptly called “the technological transformation”. Ever since the Industrial Revolution, the idea that

machines could do harm has taken shape and has been a prevalent concept of doom. This started with the Luddites, who did not in fact fear technology, but who were primarily against its “fraudulent and deceitful manner” of going around the standard practices of (human) labour of that time (Conniff 2). “Dystopian views can provoke strong actions to oppose the dark side of the technology” (Fuchs et al. 300). The Luddites considered being human the most important above all and therefore preferred human practices over automated labour. The idea that “the machine […] will become the measure of all things, the model for man to emulate” is called “mechanomorphism” (Beauchamp 59). This fear was most noticeably brought forward in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, which is the earliest science fiction novel depicting the idea of going too far with experimenting with technology and the human body. This can be perceived as one of the first techno bodies in fiction. Even though it is “partly a satire on the failed aspirations of the Revolution”, Frankenstein is also personal fear of technology and what it can do to humans personally (Claeys 113). The film which depicts this concept intensely is THE MATRIX , where a society lulled into a false sense of happiness is kept asleep by evil technology and robots, which in reality have taken over the world.Albeit there are different forms of dystopia, the general and most familiar form taps into the fears of technophiles and being controlled by (Matrix-like) technology. Historically, technological determinism has become the “dominant philosophy” of dystopian novels (Beauchamp 55). In fact, a dystopia manages to combine two fundamental fears of humanity: “the fear of utopia and the fear of technology” (53). Dystopias are often seen as these distant futures being ruled by technology, a science fiction of how things could be.

Another important trait of dystopian worlds is that there is a form of control which has a tight grip on the inhabitants of society. Control is about repression, disturbance is not

tolerated. Control is needed to keep the false impression alive that society is perfect in every way. Control can for instance be maintained corporately, bureaucratically, technologically or through the implementation of a strict philosophy or religion. Corporate control is where one or more large companies use media, advertising and products as means of control. MINORITY

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personal and unavoidable through an eye recognition system.Bureaucratic control uses never-ending Kafkaesque bureaucracy, waiting lines, regulations, office windows and inadequate civil servants to keep citizens in check. BRAZIL (Gilliam 1985) is a famous film dealing with this concept. The technological form puts the control in the mechanical hands of machines, robots and/or other scientific resources. This is the territory of Terminators and other androids and MATRIX-type societies. Different types of philosophy or religion could also be the

regulator of a dystopian society. An apt example is Margaret Atwood’s novel The

Handmaid’s Tale, where a new religion makes women possession of men and their primary

existence is to bear children. The viewer is encouraged to witness the dystopian society together with the protagonist of the story. Their perspective makes us question parallels with our society, whilst in the meant time we identify with the struggling central characters who are trying to escape, change things or try to figure out what exactly is wrong with the society they are living in. This can be accompanied by a sense of not knowing, of confusion or even a form of amnesia. They try to break away from control or expose the problematic structure of the dystopian society. Through scenarios which are exaggerated and ring closer to home, a dystopia is constructed to criticise current societal values and tendencies. Therefore dystopias need not be set in the most technologically advanced science fiction surroundings to work. This is an important aspect, it is where fiction and themes in current society can overlap and inspire each other. Also this demonstrates that a dystopia is also in need of a utopia being able to exist, because “dystopian critiques of existing systems would be pointless unless a better system appeared conceivable” (Booker 15). It is something to aspire to, a construction to work towards even though it might not entirely be achieved. According to Williams society can only be classified as dystopian in the technological sense “when it is used as an image of consequence to function, socially, as conscious […] warning” (Beauchamp 15).

1.3 Dystopia in BLACK MIRROR

For his show BLACK MIRROR, Charlie Brooker’s idea was to base the gadgets on

current technology, but only a few (disastrous) steps further. This supports the notion that dystopias do not have to be pure sci-fi, but might work even better as criticism when it is set a little closer to current times. He is not even interested in science fiction for the sake of being sci-fi:

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As a result, the device called the Grain in TEHOY combines the technology of a DVR/ or TiVo recorder with the technical characteristics of the Google glass (figs. 1, 2 and 3). Storing your memories and your social media expressions online to “become virtually immortal” is actually already possible with the website “Eternime”.4

This is similar to the premise of the episode BRB, where people live on virtually after their death.

Fig. 1 – The Grain behind the ear as shown in a commercial on a screen in a taxi.

Fig. 2 – What the person using the Grain sees (the image of fig. 1 is still slightly visible).

Fig. 3 – Liam’s eyes when using the Grain. Fig. 4 – The egg device.

Through social media data a deceased person can chat online with their loved ones and even phone them. Eventually it is even possible to build a technobody looking like the deceased

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person, which reacts according to all known online data.5 The egg in WC looks as streamlined and white as any Apple product in shops today (fig. 4). The functions are essentially modelled on the idea of the Amazon Echo gadget.6 This is a voice recognition activated device

connected to a cloud to control the technological equipment in your house. Apart from not having an identical copy of yourself inside it like in WC, the features of this already existing device are pretty much the same as the ones from the egg. It is designed to make life at home easier. With a little imagination, your copy is already in the Echo gadget. Thus where in Victorian times technology consisted of large, easy to destroy machines, technology is much more integrated and sometimes even almost invisible today, which makes it harder to wipe out. It is omnipresent. Information and communication technology (ICT) have become an integral part of our daily lives. This happened because ICT as an “enabling, generic

technology” easily adapts to other technologies which in turn “manage, monitor and regulate” other technologies, keeping the circle going (Hetland 9). Also ICT is able to connect

technologies and people together in ways that have not been done before (9). BLACK MIRROR

makes even more distraught connections than previously imaginable.

1.4 BLACK MIRROR as an anthology show

Since it is the genre term applied to the show in every review, it is intriguing to see which types of dystopia can be found on BLACK MIRROR and which kinds of society and

control are represented in the different episodes. Being an anthology show, it means that the episodes are not connected and that every episode is a fresh, new look on a dystopian society set in the UK. These dystopian societies can be created in several ways and the technology differs; the message however never changes. This message is ‘beware of technology, or at any rate, beware of how you deal with new technologies and how you incorporate them in your life’. Thus what all episodes at least have in common is a view on technology intended to make our lives better taking a turn for the worse, but all technology is being controlled by humans. “The bleakness partly came about because all the episodes are self-contained and only 50-minutes long; it would feel like a cop out to have everything reset and be okay again” (B. Doyle 2013). Show runner Charlie Brooker’s aim is to unsettle and unnerve the viewer.

5_{See part 3.}

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This is in line with the show not evolving around a hero or heroine saving the day, rescuing the world from the evil that technology can be. It is about regular people leading their regular lives dealing with unforeseen consequences. “We didn’t want to do a show that was about reassuring people, which most programs are” (B. Doyle 2013). To ensure this sensation each episode has a twist which turns the episode upside down. Happy endings cannot be found on BLACK MIRROR, which strengthens the claim of the series being dystopian even more, making the form of an anthology series the appropriate one to depict dystopian stories.

The show does not make any statements about times when technology was not around either, there is no ‘no technology nostalgia’, it simply accepts it as a given, as something that is ordinary and all around us. In several episodes there is not even a choice whether to make use of new technologies or not, they are already inherent to society. The real life block system on WC, the Grain and the redo function of it at airports and job interviews in TEHOY and the artificial society of FMM, no citizen is complaining about which systems have been

implemented, they just deal with them day by day.7 This reflects on how quickly people adapt to new technologies nowadays, but also on how they are not ready yet to deal with the

consequences of new technology. This makes that all episodes have in common that they depict familiar technologies and that a lot of the situations are not as different from our real world as it first may seem. This also means that societies purely led by technology and/or robots are absent. This can easily be related to Brooker not wanting to be in science fiction territory for the sake of making a sci-fi programme. But also something as ordinary as bureaucratic control, which is also a characteristic of dystopia, does not feature on this show either. Corporate control can be found, for instance in FMM. In this episode television and therefore also the unavoidable advertising are an important part of the citizens’ daily lives (fig. 5). Judge Hope owns most television channels (he offers the time slot to the protagonist) and judge Wraith owns the adult channels.8 Both are in the jury of Hot Shot (fig. 6), which is this dystopian society’s BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT. The former reveals himself to be the

dictatorial Simon Cowell of this society who is in charge, or at least has the power to make essential decisions about people’s lives. Even though technology is important, it is a means

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See part 2 and 3 for more about the Grain and the block system.

8_{Judge Hope seems to offer hope, but does not in the end. Judge Wraith’s name is aptly chosen, since his} drugged porn stars come across as numb ghost-like versions of themselves until they die. A talent show is anything but a Charity, the name of the third judge. Also it is a wordplay on Hope, Faith and Charity.

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for an unnamed and unknown company to keep the citizens in check, using entertainment and virtual currency to keep them pleased and make them well-behaved citizens. However, in the other episodes the show focuses most prominently on Williams’ “technological

transformation” dystopia with a slight deviation here and there.

Fig. 5 –Wraith’s porn channel advertising has a habit of interrupting at the most inconvenient moments.

Fig. 6 – Hot Shot judges Wraith, Charity and Hope.

1.5 The anthology and its aesthetics

There are several stylistic choices to create coherence in BLACK MIRROR, which adds

the overarching theme of people and technology.

1.5.1 Editing

The stylistic editing choice which makes the series look the same is the division of every episode into four parts. Every part is announced, apart from the first, and all finish with an “end of part ...” , apart from part four.9

These intertitles divide the episodes into the “arcs” (Newman 23). “Arc is to character as plot is to story” (23). Being an anthology show the aim of BLACK MIRROR is different from a serial show. Instead of the character arc stretching

across many episodes, the characters need to be introduced quickly for the viewer to form a bond with. At the same time enough space is necessary to outline the story. This gives every episode the same build up, even though the story and protagonists are completely different. Just as in episodic shows, the viewer does not need memory from other episodes to

understand what is going on. Where the narratives of episodes differ, the overarching theme in every episode and every series is about the dangers of technology in human hands. These

9_{In BRB between the end of part 1 and the start of part 2, the White Bear logo briefly flashes on screen. This ties} the episodes together, but mostly serves as a nice gesture for the viewer paying extra attention or re-watching the series.

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themes are the only things crossing over each episode. The intertitles function as a countdown towards the inevitable twist, to the shock of the horrific ending created by the dystopia. They not only provide the narrational structure, they also serve as a reminder that the viewer is watching the same show during different episodes. The intertitles strengthen the overarching theme and emphasise the necessary twist occurring in every episode. Thus the anthology form is appropriate to portray dystopian stories, because the twist need not have any consequences for other episodes and it is counted down to with the intertitles.

1.5.2 Colour

To create a coherent structure in an anthology series, all episodes have a colour filter which accentuates darker colours and mainly favours earth tones over bright colours. This colour scheme stands out when there are episodes with a different set design, which emphasise the coherent uses of colourisation throughout the series. In FMM we see

performances on Hot Shot. Because it is about an audition on a TV show, the lighting is as spectacular and appealing as you would expect it to be on such a show. In WC we see a scene in a hospital and from inside the egg, which also have a different look because of the

abundance of the colour white. However, apart from these scenes the show has a gritty, unglamourising look which gives it a present-day feel.

Colour is also used to increase the shock of the twist. For instance, TEHOY is basically a love story between Liam and Ffion. He is afraid of losing her and he is using the Grain to see find evidence of his suspicion of her unfaithfulness. The warm colours emphasise the love in this story, whilst their relationship is actually slowly unravelling. This contrast leads to the twist, where Ffion leaves Liam and he is tortured by constantly replaying memories of her. He sees no other way out than removing the Grain. In the mean time, the colours have slowly turned more blue during each part to emphasise Liam’s loneliness and loss of love. At the end the blue colour represents Liam’s new uncertain and Grainless life.10

Colour is furthermore inserted to add a layer of criticism to the generally dark colour scheme within an episode. For instance, in FMM colours criticise the treatment of people in that society. The general public all wear grey tracksuits, creating a uniform mass for everyone to blend into. Dimmed white ceiling lights are accompanied by the brighter colours provided

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by enormous television screens. The absence of colours in their reality and the abundance of colours on the screens create an uncomfortable atmosphere which wants us to favour the virtual avatars over the real people. The avatars of the humans are living the lives humans are supposed to lead. The other people clearly below the workers’ class are the cleaners. The bright yellow clothing of the clearly overweight cleaners brings an unbalance to the

monochrome/colour dichotomy representing respectively the negative and the positive. The cleaners clearly are the lowest class in this society. They are being used as maintenance slaves, are often bullied (one of Bing’s colleagues cannot get enough of this) and are portrayed in a videogame as the villains to abuse and even kill for personal entertainment which makes them the victims eventually (figs. 7 and 8). This criticises the verbal abuse overweight people receive as well in our society.

Fig. 7 – Cleaner and Bing’s work area. Fig. 8 – Video game killing cleaners.

Also the colours symbolise the good and contrast the virtual colours putting them in a bad light. Even in this society, things are not as black and white as they seem at first sight. The brightly coloured Hot Shot set does not offer the escape it gives the impression to offer after all. The usage of colours criticises the power of the entertainment industry and the idea of being slaves to the (virtual) economy. BLACK MIRROR reinforces the notion of entertainment

as an opium for the masses, which will be more thoroughly addressed part two. BLACK

MIRROR uses colours to contrast, emphasise or criticise storylines which eventually lead to a

dystopia.

1.5.3 Environment and set design

Within an anthology series, there are different aesthetics of the surroundings in every episode. The ending of TWM, seen during the closing credits, has a very familiar, distinctive dystopian

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look. In contrast to the other episodes, society has become dark and dirty and it is raining all the time. This look is very reminiscent of old dystopian films such as BLADE RUNNER (Scott 1982) (figs. 9 and 10). This is unexpected, as the environment throughout the episode is like

Fig. 9 – Society after Waldo. Fig. 10 – Scene from BLADE RUNNER.

it is nowadays. The viewer sees a regular election process. The only thing which is distinctly different is the presence of a virtual, blue bear who at first interrogates the politicians in his TV show and then later decides to join the elections himself. However, at the end during the closing credits, there is a new, gloomy place outside in the city, filled with screens and slogans. This society has become a totalitarian regime. Riot police are patrolling the streets, immediately beating down any disturbance. Homeless people are being chased off the streets. Jamie, sleeping on the street as well, experiences brutal police violence firsthand when he throws his bottle at onscreen Waldo out of anger. He is being tasered and beaten. This dystopia falls into the “willed transformation” category and this time it is clearly Waldo’s will. The virtual blue bear has taken over the world, its blue face is everywhere, from the UK to Asia, in the Arabic world and everywhere in between. Since the true dystopia is only shown during the closing credits, we can only guess what has become of the world. This is most likely a social order with a form of philosophical control. Waldo comes across as the dictator ruling the world (his face is even portrayed on fighting planes, suggesting military violence and hostile takeover) and he is being used a part of education in class. His

philosophy encompasses political slogans such as ‘hope’, ‘change’ and ‘believe’. Populist politics have clearly got out of hand and turned into this world’s philosophy. BLACK MIRROR

warns that technology can also be used for political bad by aligning it with a dystopia.11

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The episode that aesthetically is very distinctive and looks the most science-fiction is FMM. In contrast to TWM, this is a very stylised and clean looking environment. It also stands out from the other episodes by being set in a far future, the setting is not one to identify with at this point in time. In this episode, the citizens have to pedal on home trainers to earn merits the currency of this society (and most likely provide the society with electricity, however this is never disclosed). With these merits they can buy accessories for their avatars, TV programmes or videogames. The society is mostly virtual and the citizens live in closed off, claustrophobic spaces. Bing is the protagonist of this story. The dystopian sensation in FMM is created by the monochrome, mostly grey and black look of both the people and their surroundings. FMM is looking and feeling very claustrophobic, without any type of flora let alone fauna, because everything is artificial and technological (fig. 11). The only natural things are the human workers and the people on television shows (and there even the audience is virtual!). Bing even comments on the food inside the vending machines: “The most natural thing in there is probably grown in a petri dish”. Thus the organised looking style and the cleanliness are not used as a positive science-fiction design, they actually emphasise the isolation, sterility and artificiality in lifestyle.

Fig. 11 – Confined space in FMM. Fig. 12 – Bing’s bedroom cubicle with screens.

When Bing progresses to a better class of worker at the end of the episode (from pedalling on a bike to a presenter of his own TV show), his room is bigger and he seems to have more freedom. He first lived in a small cubicle bedroom surrounded by screens, which has been rebuilt in his new room for the television show (figs. 12 and 13). He is pretending to be a revolutionary voice for the workers, whilst he is actually above them in this society

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now.12 The enormous window in the new room depicts some type of forest, creating the idea that he has really made it in life and is therefore being rewarded with a permanent view of the beautiful and bright green outside world. On closer inspection however, it might not be a window at all. Since the forest looks so radiant, we can safely assume it is not a window but a huge screen instead. Also after a closer look the view resembles the top of a rain forest, which is definitely not a common sight in the UK (fig. 14). It makes the society of his former

colleagues look even grittier, they do not even have an image of nature in close proximity. This science-fiction looking setting is not an improvement and leads to an artificial, dystopian atmosphere.

Fig. 13 – Reproduction cubicle in new big room. Fig. 14 – Window or screen?

Fig. 15 – Silent onlookers with their mobile phones in WB.

Fig. 16 – The White Bear logo.

WB is another episode which immediately sets off the dystopian surroundings alarm. Protagonist Victoria wakes up in a strange house, not knowing where she is or how she got there. At first it seems she is all alone. The empty and silent suburb creates a very eerie atmosphere. It has tones of an “externally altered world”. She spots a few people behind

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windows in other houses looking at her through their mobile phone cameras. Soon she is being hunted down by a masked stranger, whilst people keep looking at their mobile phone screens to see what is going on. Asking them for help is futile, they act like a silent mobile army of techno zombie onlookers (fig. 15). Victoria most definitely has amnesia,

accompanied by involuntarily triggered flashbacks. The viewer goes on the journey with Victoria, figuring out where she is, what has happened and why there are people set out to kill her. She encounters other people, who are victims too, and more strangely dressed and

masked killers. After the twist it turns out there is no such thing as mobile zombies and that there is no externally altered world to adapt too. She is merely a pawn in what can only be perceived as a justice theatre. Victoria was an accessory to murder, she and her boyfriend kidnapped a little girl. The cuddly white bear left behind became the mascot of this terrible case, hence the name of the park being White Bear. The control turns out to be at least partially corporate in the end. The White Bear Justice Park ‘rangers’ are the ones in charge setting up the same justice show every day and giving instructions to the visitors on how to behave during this elaborate play. Baxter, who comes across as the leader of the park, is the one erasing Victoria’s mind every night, having the ultimate control over Victoria’s fate. She has to relive this dystopian nightmare every single day. There is some advertising to be seen, with the White Bear logo (fig. 16), but it is used as a trigger for Victoria’s mind rather than as an act of capitalism.13 Therefore this episode can be seen more as having a philosophical form of control than strictly corporate control. It is mostly about the philosophy and morality of crime and punishment. The episode keeps the viewer on their toes by tricking them into thinking an apocalyptic type of dystopia has been created where Victoria is the good girl trying to make sense of it all. However in the end it is still debatable whether Victoria is the abuser or the victim of this story (or both) and what justice exactly is.

The other episodes are not as distinctive in creating a highly recognisable dystopian appearance as the ones above do. These episodes are rooted in daily life, which is also underlined by the use of social media on BRB and “The National Anthem”. These episodes demonstrate most visibly that dystopias “are generally more or less thinly veiled refigurations of a situation that already exists in reality” (Booker 15). BRB is very plausible up until the

13_{The logo back to Victoria’s crime and confuses her because she does not know where she has seen it before.} Turns out it was her boyfriends striking tattoo in his neck.

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very human looking cyborg appears, which is still impossible in our reality.14 TNA is an episode which has no new technology and the events are a possibility to happen in current society, making it the dystopian nightmare most within our grasp. 15 Or it actually makes us wonder if we live in a dystopia already, which means that a science fiction appearance is not a necessary condition for criticism on society.

1.5.4 Music

First of all, melodic music is not used a lot on BLACK MIRROR. Usually they are obscure sounds or soundscapes setting the mood and tension on the show. This tension leads the viewer towards the inevitable twist, the foreshadowing of the dystopian ending. The absence of happy melodies means the show is serious, the absence of sad melodies means the show does not aim for a melodramatic effect. Therefore the use of music stands out

massively. Not only because songs are largely absent, but also because the songs used in FMM actually foreshadow the dystopian narrative of this episode.

The first of the recurring songs is a cover of ABBA’s “I Have a Dream”. It is being sung by the biggest star coming from the TV programme Hot Shot, which gives an authentic song a layer of artificiality associated with talent show pop stars. It is an uplifting song sung in a bleak environment which does not miss making its cynical mark. Lyrics such as “a song to sing to cope with anything”, “a fantasy to help me through reality”, “and my destination makes it worth the while, pushing through the darkness still another mile” give meaning to what is not being said by the citizens living in the FMM society (ABBA 1979). The working class people will not only provide power and virtual currency for themselves, they silently also keep on paddling to find that bright future. Yet the song also works as a forecast of Bing’s own particular narrative in the episode. Bing also believes in an angel, in this case Abi, who represents the beautiful and authentic in a largely artificial world. He creates a dream for her, besotted with her and her voice, he decides everyone should listen to it. However, Bing’s dream turns into a nightmare when judge Wraith recruits Abi for his porn channel through peer pressure and the Compliance drug, which makes Abi unable to resist the ‘fantastic offer’.

14

See part 3.

15_{If someone is crazy enough to attempt creating an art piece like that, which goes as follows: The British Prime} Minister gets a rather strange ransom demand when the crown princess has been kidnapped. He has to have sex with a pig in order to grant her release. It turns out to be some sort of art exhibition event in the end.

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When Bing finally steps up by going on Hot Shot, but instead of performing making a statement whilst holding a glass shard to his neck, he fits the “when I know the time is right for me I'll cross the stream” part of the lyric. However his act of desperation does not save Abi and after being employed by judge Hope. For Bing the only positive after crossing his stream seems to be a larger room and not having to pedal any more, but everything around him –including the message of the shard and his own revolutionary rant- is still as

unauthentic as before. The wooden penguin, representing the little paper penguin Abi had made him earlier (one of few ‘earthly’ possessions he had before), only intensifies this feeling of artificiality. A bigger room means nothing when you cannot be with the person you love.

The other prominent song used on the episode is Irma Thomas’ “Anyone Who Knows What Love is (Will Understand)”. This is what Bing hears Abi sing in the restroom and the song she sings for her Hot Shot audition. It is a soul song from the ‘60s. An era still regarded by some as the time of real music, this song represents authenticity as well as her soul. The melancholic tones of the music foreshadow Abi’s future. This song shows her unspoken love for Bing. The Hot Shot judges can shame her, blame her or pity her, she still will care for him. Even though in the song the lyrics say “I won’t ever let you go”, she unwillingly will have to let Bing go in her life. It is telling she does not even come that far singing the song on Hot Shot. In the mean time she has shown a bleak society for a second “what happiness love can be” (Thomas 1964). She is a spark of light in Bing’s pale world, she gives a soul to an emotionally deprived society. The only thing the judges therefore can do is shut her down to keep control. Instead of having a bright future as a popular and authentic singer, Abi is turned into a numb, drugged porn star. BLACK MIRROR creates a contrast between authenticity, which is signified by both pop songs (bust mostly Thomas’ song), and the artificiality as seen in the FMM society. The uplifting lyrics about love and hope contrast with the deteriorating

relationship between Bing and Abi. Just as in our society the question occurs if virtual relationships are just as strong as real life ones. According to BLACK MIRROR this is not the

case, by criticising all that is artificial it favours the authentic, which does not have a lasting life in FMM.

The other episode where music plays an important role is WC. The recurring song here is Wizzard’s “I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday”, a happy song accompanying a usually festive time of the year. In this case it is actually used as a torture song on Joe, to

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make him remember him accidentally killing his former father in law. This song was playing on the radio when he committed the crime. Obviously Joe does not want it to be Christmas every day, he wants to forget all about that horrible day in his life. He actually manages to do so, but the cookie made from his memory betrays copy Joe inside the egg, making him listen to it on repeat. The irony of this happy song in sad times is not lost. The song turns into a means of control when the police officer puts it on repeat in the egg just for fun. Joe’s cookie copy, who nevertheless has real emotions, has to suffer through this upbeat song throughout the holidays, which for him last a thousand years because time is fluent and adjustable with the egg technology. The music in this episode does not provide any narrative clues, but in this case it indicates an important feature of the egg, as will be explained in the next part.

Although BLACK MIRROR is distinctively an anthology show, the idea that it all takes

place in one big universe has been fuelled by WC. There are several nods to other episodes to be found. Abi’s song is sung during karaoke, Victoria’s name is to be seen on the news’ ticker tape, someone uses Waldo as his online screen name and we see images of Hot Shot on television. Even so, it is impossible for the world to be simultaneously ruled by Waldo, have a society like FMM and to have justice parks for every single criminal out there. Let alone to implement all other technological equipment found in other episodes. The nods can be regarded as Easter Eggs for the viewer who pays extra attention. Yet they also strengthen the notion that technology is an enabling and encompassing medium and that it easily adapts to other technologies which in turn “manage, monitor and regulate” other technologies,

connecting them in ways that have not been done before (Hetland 9). And even if there is an absence of absolute technological control in BLACK MIRROR, technology and how to (ab)use it are important themes throughout the series. These topics are put in the narrative of the

dystopia which consecutively is strengthened by the aesthetics on the show. Sound and vision work towards the inevitable twist, which sets the bleak ending of the dystopian world in motion. The anthology form is the appropriate way to get the dystopian theme across, because it shows the route to dystopia in with different narratives and technology without needing continuation, a cliff-hanger or a happy ending. All episodes are about how people deal with gadgets and the consequences of their behaviour. Technology is important to keep the power which is needed to control behaviour. One of the means to maintain control in the several

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BLACK MIRROR dystopias is using technology for surveillance. In the next part I will elaborate not only on surveillance, but also the consequences of technology and social media.

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Part 2: B

LACK

M

IRROR

, social media,

technology and surveillance

In this part I will discuss social media in general and in BLACK MIRROR in particular. I

will then move towards surveillance and technology. I will address the notions of ubiquity, conformism, non-optionality and the possibility of resistance. The latter also has a connection with mob mentality. Eventually the role of entertainment in BLACK MIRROR will be discussed. All episodes are featured.

2.1 Social media and internet

Technology on Black Mirror also means the use of the internet and social media. The internet is a medium that fits well in the discourse of ongoing debates about the positive and negative which arise with every newly introduced gadget. In addition, the terms utopian and dystopian are not only used as fictional genres, when it comes to social media they are no strangers either. It has been framed as a medium that encapsulates both sides. “On the one hand, technology offers the potential to augment or even enhance personal and public life” (Davis 955). It is the overtly positive rhetoric about the internet, the idea of a utopian all-connecting online society, is a very persistent notion that is pro-innovation and full of hope (Hetland 4). The concept of Facebook is still part of the “celebratory perspective in the public technological discourse” (Davis 957). It is all about connecting people all over the World, social media is about inclusion. People can record and share private moments and they can include themselves in the private moments of others. Physical presence is not needed, we can strengthen relationships with known people, create new ones and keep in touch with people who live abroad (962-964). Citizens can overthrow governments through the power of

Facebook and Twitter and even the most marginalised voices have a platform now (965). The connections and possibilities of sharing are endless and leading us to an electronic utopia.

On the other hand, the internet and social media also have their dark secrets. Usually these secrets are tied to acts which are not accepted in general and lie well beyond normal

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boundaries: Criminal activity, “political activism outside the democratic tradition” and sexual deviance (Hetland 9). The internet can be perceived as “the wilds of nature” (9). The

downsides of social media such as Facebook have frequently been part of these discussions about internet and online interactions as well. “On the other hand, technology looms with the potential to supplant or replace real experience” (Davis 955). The repeatedly heard

complaints are that relationships are not deep and meaningful any more but rather shallow, that representation is more important than the user’s current experience and that connection is just too easy. “Virtual places offer connection with uncertain claims to commitment” (Turkle 153). The internet is always there as a distraction (even more with smartphones) making life just “scroll by” (163). There is even a “dystopic anxiety” about addiction and the

“medicalization of perceived technological over-use” (Davis 958). Because in the end the expanding technology will cause a “total institution” which will entirely encapsulate us (Fuchs et al. 299). These are a few of the dystopian discourses surrounding social media regarding techno-pessimism. Digital technologies are recognised as new resources of surveillance and social control. Furthermore instead of overthrowing governments, they are perceived as “the reification of existing power hierarchies” as well. There were the so-called Twitter revolutions in Egypt and Iran, but in the end Twitter did not have the expected (or hoped) impact on the revolutions themselves (or lack of real revolutions in case of Iran) (Tusa 17). The marginalised voices “blur into an oversaturated din” and have a hard time creating one strong opinion (Hetland 9).

It is significant to notice that besides the utopian and dystopian discourses surrounding technology and social media, there is also a more ambivalent position. The ambivalent

position is lying exactly between the utopian and the dystopian view. There is the hope of the former and the fear of the latter. Ambivalence is “rooted in the politics, propensities, and potentials of technology” (Davis 958). Even though there is an ambivalent position, Davis demonstrates that there is the important notion of non-optionality which makes ambivalence harder:

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everyday life makes it quite difficult (perhaps impossible) to “opt out.” Certainly, one can “log off” (e.g., delete social media accounts), but one cannot escape a social system that increasingly operates on and through social technologies (967).

One of the potentials of ambivalence is the technological control position made possible through the “co-construction of users and technology” (Hetland 10). The idea is that “all problems created by new technology also have a technological solution” (11). Control is entrusted within new technology. Hetland identifies three more control situations surrounding the internet, namely “individual control”, “social control”, and “institutional control”, added to the abovementioned “technological control” (10). The first two are categorised as active, whilst the latter two are in the reactive class of online control. The social control position assumes internet users will all behave as responsible members of society. The opposite of this responsibility consists of online harassment and so-called flaming and trolling. This ties in slightly with the belief in individual control, in a user being responsible for their own boundaries and guidelines. Individual control is accentuated because the idea is that

“technology cannot be controlled” (10). Institutions cannot keep up with all the technological advancements, meaning laws are behind on the times. Users will always find a way to bypass newly invented control measures online. Institutional control also means that authorities want the police and national security to have new powers, new competence and not least, increased resources” (12). The mass media are important defining and recognising risk and control in our current society. In utopian and dystopian views of the internet, control is ensured through surveillance. The importance here is who controls the mass media and therefore who defines the risks. Power is an important notion when it comes to both the utopian and dystopian rhetoric as well as the more ambivalent stance on technology and social media. Who has access to which technology and which media, who controls the access and who doesn’t have access at all?

2.2 Social media on BLACK MIRROR

Two of the seven episodes are mainly built around social media, namely TNA and BRB. It also is the main feature of one of the three story lines on WC, although there the

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social media usage is not as ordinary as in the other episodes. In the case of BRB, the first time protagonist Ash is on screen, he is glued to his smartphone, not an uncommon sight these days. His girlfriend Martha even asks him to put the phone in the glove compartment box, so she can have a normal and undistracted conversation with him in the car. Ash is such a heavy social media user, that after his death a friend of Martha signs her on for an unnamed online service which allows people to talk to their nearest and dearest who have passed away. His life has literally “scrolled by” (Turkle 163). The key part of the episode is the ability to construct a technobody/cyborg from the recovered social media data. The importance of social media here is that the service and the cyborg demonstrate that individual control in the end creates its limits for the technobody. This will be thoroughly addressed in the next part. For now it is important as a reminder that according to BLACK MIRROR social media are

already completely entwined with our lives.

Fig. 17 – Social media statistics in TNA. Fig. 18 - Matt’s vision of what Joe’s Z-Eye sees.

TNA features social media as we now know it. YouTube and Twitter cover the breaking news about the Duchess being kidnapped and the kidnapper’s demands well before the normal news media channels mention it, just as often happens now (fig. 17).

This partially has to do with the injunction set for the news media channels and which does not prevent users online to freely share and distribute the news. This is also how the ransom demands video goes viral, the government trying to stop the video from being seen cannot work as fast as all the internet users who constantly upload the video to several different sites. There is no social control, it is all individual. Even though there is ‘normal’ surveillance employed by the government, such as GPS tracking systems and satellites, it is not the main focus of this episode, it is about the power social media has over the public opinion, the swiftness of breaking news and even the decisions made by the government. The latter cannot

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control social media, the news nor the public opinion, which ultimately have the power over Prime Minister Callow and his decision to go through with the ransom demand. Institutional control entirely fails. Just as with ‘law making’, the government is behind and lack control of social media technology. In the end it is not the technology that gets the PM to perform his act on the pig, technology is merely an assistance to the terrorist and the public. This episode undoubtedly underscores Brooker’s idea that humans are a bigger problem than technology.

WC combines surveillance and social media, both merge in Matt’s company, a dating service with online assistance. He helps desperate men to try to get a date at Christmas parties of companies they do not even work at. By way of the device called the Z-Eye, Matt is able to see and hear what his client witnesses as well being able to guide and to talk to him (fig. 18). Via the internet a group of men, also clients of Matt’s, can witness the whole dating event as well and are able to comment at the same time. Whilst the twist of this storyline hangs on the idea of online social communication (Harry’s date Jennifer thinks he hears voices in his head too whilst he is talking to Matt and his online friends and decides to commit a murder/suicide so they both will get rid of the voices), it is the intrusive surveillance of a man’s life which dominates this story line. Technology creates a problem in real life for Harry, because Matt’s individual control fails. Matt can communicate with Harry, but he cannot talk to let alone control the woman who is with Harry. This time the problems get so out of hand that there is no technological solution available, which eventually causes Harry’s death.16

Matt can scream at the screen all he wants, Harry cannot take control of the situation after Jennifer has

poisoned him. In this case it was only surveillance from Matt’s side without any possibility of interacting and without having any control on the situation, which seems to be the exception to the rule of surveillance. BLACK MIRROR heavily implies that you can have all the advanced surveillance technology you want, it does not mean you can control every situation you are using it for. “Surveillance today is a central means of social sorting, of classifying and categorizing populations and persons for risk assessment […] and management” (Lyon 172). This is not how Matt intended it, he clearly misjudged Jennifer and her motives and failed to do any risk assessment. His social sorting essentially consisted of finding willing women and using surveillance to entertain his other clients. Social media is a part of surveillance, namely

16_{The ending of the episode hints at Matt’s business not being entirely legal, hence him not calling in emergency} services. By failing to report this murder, Matt gets a criminal record and is put on a permanent block list.

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social surveillance. This episode addresses the wrongs of social surveillance by using it as a means to mock a helpless victim. Usually surveillance technology is in place to keep tabs on people’s actions and whereabouts and surveillance is used as a means of control, or at least has the disguise that it does. Technology and surveillance, power and control, they all are closely connected. So what kinds of surveillance actually exist and which implications come along with them?

2.3 “Visibility is a trap” (Foucault 200)

Michel Foucault’s theory of the Panopticon is without a doubt the most famous in the field of surveillance. Whether it is being confirmed, weakened or adjusted, his ideas about power and control are still influential to this day. For every article out there, they constantly prove to be a good starting point. In his famous book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of a

Prison from 1977 (originally in French) Foucault expands on Jeremy Bentham’s invention of

the Panopticon, a new plan for the architecture of a prison. It is the famous design of the central watchtower in the middle, with a vision on all the inmates who are or are not being watched by a guard. The tower itself is the beacon of light. The inmates do not know which side the guard is on and cannot see him or her because of the lighting and the Venetian blinds. It does not even matter if somebody is inside the tower. There is also the possibility of not being observed at all, the feeling of being observed is enough. “As crucial as visibility is to maintain power is also unverifiability” (Koskela 298). This is the “major effect of the

Panopticon: to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power” (Foucault 201). Furthermore there is a hierarchy in the placement of prison inmates so they can also correct each other. Subsequently the Panopticon functions as a laboratory to create what Foucault calls “docile bodies”. It is used for training, correction and alteration of human behaviour (203). The most important aspect of Foucault’s idea is that “surveillance leads to normalization” (Lyon 175). With all the cameras outside nowadays, it is no wonder Foucault’s concept of the Panopticon is the starting point for surveillance studies today. CCTV cameras also have a gaze into the world, without knowing if the camera is actually working, if someone behind it is watching the images and if so who is watching the images. The citizen’s behaviour is adjusted according to the notion of being watched. The main distinction with the Panopticon, is that most likely no one is watching live

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and that the images are being recorded only to be used after a crime has been committed. Also it is impossible to know the location of the control room or people watching the camera (Koskela 299). However, as Elmer points out, there are differences between Bentham’s Panopticon and Foucault’s writings about the Panopticon. It is often thought the main concern of Foucault’s idea of the Panopticon was about monitoring people, but that is actually

Bentham’s Panopticon (Fuchs et al. 27). Foucault stresses the notion of discipline and the notion of self-governing. For Bentham the tower is the centre, for Foucault the prisoners. For Foucault there cannot even be a Panopticon without discipline, without it being a “laboratory of power” (23).

Thomas Mathiesen thought of the concept of the synopticon as a critique on as well as an addition to the Panopticon. He was thinking about the implications of surveillance and mass media. His idea is that we live in “viewer society” (219). He says Foucault sees a society which has gone “from a situation where the many see the few to a situation where the few see the many” (221). To Mathiesen it works the other way around, mass media is an additional control system where the many see the few. Mathiesen administers power to media personalities and institutional elites (226-227). For instance celebrity culture or politics are environments in which the many (fans/voters), watch the few (celebrities/politicians). The synopticon exists alongside the Panopticon, institutions can actually be both. A. Doyle thinks the synopticon is one-sided, because it does not take the idea of resistance to surveillance into account. It is too top down and overlooks the audience’s possibility of agency. The ideas of media personalities and political elites having such power is outdated. A. Doyle says Mathiesen also overlooked “a new era of surveillance”, facilitated by the internet (295). Bauman and Lyon see Foucault’s notion of discipline as “key” (53). Deleuze notes that even Foucault stated that we moved from a disciplinary society to a controlling one (174).

However, both discipline and control can be found in BLACK MIRROR. Lyon still sees the Panopticon and synopticon existing, and thinks “whatever panoptic effects may still be present in today's societies, they cannot be understood in isolation from the synoptic”

(Bauman and Lyon 68). He also cites Bigo, who thought of the ‘ban-opticon’, which is about who is under surveillance by which profiling technologies. “Transnational bureaucracies of surveillance and control, both businesses and politicians, now work at a distance to monitor and control population movement, through surveillance” (61). This is seen as more ‘liquid

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surveillance’, which is not static like the Panopticon. Bauman sees the ban-opticon used for both confinement and exclusion: “The ban-opticon guards the entrances to the parts of the world inside which DIY surveillance suffices to maintain and reproduce ‘order’” (63). This type of surveillance is found on the streets and mainly in public places such as shopping malls and airports. All of types of -opticon are present in BLACK MIRROR and say something about

current society. The examples will add to the discussion above and will show their implications.

2.4 Frames of surveillance practices

The Panopticon and all its modifications are not the only discourses about

surveillance. Drawing upon five categories Neuman et al. uncovered within news media, Barnard-Wills applies these five discourses to different surveillance practices. These

discourses are all prevalent in the United Kingdom, which as a country is deeply embedded in surveillance discourse. The UK is well-known for all its CCTV cameras and is as a result “one of the most surveilled societies in the world” (Cole 430). Because the show is regarded as satire, expressing trends and worries about current society, it is interesting to see if surveillance discourses found in ‘UK News Media’ can be applied to a fictional television show. The five discourses are “economic themes”, “human impact”, “‘them’ and ‘us’ divisions”, “control by powerful others” and “moral values” (Barnard-Wills 555). Each discourse has its positive and negative aspects. Simultaneously the positive aspects all fall into the suggestion that surveillance is for the benefit of the citizens, in the sense of crime prevention, risk management and notions of safety and security and protecting the vulnerable (555). Any criticism is being regarded as paranoia and the suggestion of social control is being denied. The negatives are found in the line of privacy, democracy and discrimination, but also in concepts such as the cost and accountability. The most important discourses which are linked to dystopia are the “them and us” and unsurprisingly “perceptions of control by powerful others”. The latter uses the obvious term Big Brother (555). In this aspect the notion of a surveillance society is found. The “Orwellian” framework also invites rhetorics of fear and as a result the criticism of paranoia. Even though there is a disagreement about the

equivalence between current society and authoritarian, oppressive surveillance, the concept of Big Brother is still a much used model in fiction which vividly speaks to the mind. Therefore

“It’s not a technological problem we have, it’s a human one.” BLACK MIRROR and its dystopian narrative on technology, social media, surveillance and the technobody.