national anthem
Submitted 2 weeks ago by restingOface@quokk.au to [deleted]
https://quokk.au/static/media/posts/mV/OS/mVOSmAYTHqS55T7.jpg
Comments
samus12345@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
FishFace@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
I always found black mirror to be like… very kid’s first sci-fi. Like, “what if you were FORCED to watch ads?” “Bro, like… What if Facebook likes mattered! Like a lot!”
The ideas aren’t impossible but… from the dystopian episodes I saw, there always seemed to be significant obstacles in getting there from where we are that are never explored or explained away.
sundray@lemmus.org 2 weeks ago
I think it was writer Daniel M. Lavery who described Black Mirror as, “What if cell phone… but too much!”
Zink@programming.dev 2 weeks ago
That’s kind of an accurate way to describe a lot of society these days though, from doomscrolling to phone addiction to social media disinformation to surveillance and tracking and advertising.
Blackmist@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
The title even refers to your phone screen.
It’s just a new generation of The Twilight Zone or The Outer Limits, written by a comedian. It’s not supposed to be amazingly deep.
FishFace@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
accurate!
heh@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
To me that’s always been the point of the show.
Take some real world thing and push it to the point of being dystopian.
In the “Facebook likes” one, you can make a connection to social credit systems IRL.
justme@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
in particular because there are other countries which in some parts are already further down the road
Uranus_Hz@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
The explanation of “how we got there” is all around you. Every day.
FishFace@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Nah.
SaraTonin@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
FWIW, showrunner Charlie Brooker says that the starting point for every episode is finding an idea he thinks is funny
TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The episode “Dogs” isn’t funny though. It went straight for the jugular! It is way scarier than The Terminator films if you ask me.
Gold_E_Lox@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
and what a fantastic first dystopian scifi those first seasons were (for me)
TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Black Mirror is about placing the mirror to society (hence the title). If you find the show childish, maybe because humans are childish?
there always seemed to be significant obstacles in getting there from where we are that are never explored or explained away.
Just my opinion but i don’t think it matters. Since the show is about putting the mirror onto society and how immature (and cruel) we are, my impression is that getting to the dystopian aspects is because we dropped the ball and allowed ourselves to submit to the darker and physical manifestation of our psyche that we see in technology spying or trying to kill us, or torturing a person over and over just to feel good about ourselves inflicting what we perceive to be “justice”.
FishFace@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
It matters to me because it renders it ineffective. The mirror isn’t held up if what you show doesn’t reflect reality and, because of what I said I don’t think it does.
tempest@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
They are but since we don’t get a lot of true scifi media ( I would describe most as space fantasy ) I’ll take what I can get
fonix232@fedia.io 2 weeks ago
If we're talking about sci-fi and disappointment, I can't help but state again how disappointed I am that after nearly a decade of rumours and promises and whatnot, we are not getting a Gateway TV show after all...
TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Are you familiar with the idea of parables? Sometimes people just want a way to present their ideas without having to go full-Tolkein and go into WAYYY much more detail than is strictly necessary or believeable. You’re entitled to your opinion, I’m not gonna be offended or anything that you clearly don’t like a show I personally haven’t watched in years, I just think that Black Mirror is (most of the time) clearly more concerned with “what if” rather than “how would”
FishFace@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
Yeah, at this point I’m very aware that many many people don’t perceive media the same way I do. It can be a curse.
I actually am surprised I got replies instead of downvotes and rage tbh
buddascrayon@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I like the added level of hilarity in the meme of specifically using Peppa Pig while talking about watching the first episode of Black Mirror. 😂
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
There needs to be more mention of this
hOrni@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
IMO the best first episode of any series ever.
zod000@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Honestly, the second episode "Fifteen Million Merits was the most soul crushing thing I had ever watched, the first episode paled in comparison. Then again, I’m not a pig so clearly Peppa would be a little more traumatized.
mika_mika@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I smoked my first blunt before turning on Fifteen Million Merits, my first episode of Black Mirror. Everyone online told me to watch it before Ep. 1.
My emotion was heightened by 10 fold from THC.
I hate this show so much I have watched every episode multiple times.
True joy does not exist to me anymore.
Ibaudia@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I feel like it fell off HARD after season 1. Stopped asking interesting questions in favor of “wouldn’t this scifi bullshit be fucked up?”. Like yes Black Mirror, you’re so edgy and avant-garde, good for you. I, too, think that trapping your consciousness in a digital torture prison forever is messed up (happens like 10 times). Not really interesting though.
spacegoat@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I feel like we’ve lost the meaning of shitposting
UnhingedFridge@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I guess it only makes sense if you know the synopsis of episode 1
Spoiler: >!The first episode involves a politician fucking a pig on live broadcast - as ransom to get his daughter back from a kidnapper!<
chiliedogg@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Not even his daughter. He’s the PM and he does it to get a princess released.
And it turns out she’s released before he even does it.
spacegoat@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
I’ve seen black mirror. My point is that a reaction image is not necessarily a shitpost. This doesn’t even strike me as low-effort.
neuracnu@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I have a suspicion that Netflix is messing with the episode order for some folks.
My partner and I were on the phone with their mom when she mentioned that she just started watching Black Mirror. I had a silent freakout moment and half-apologized for the early episodes being “pretty gnarly” but she mentioned the first one she saw was a USS Callister or something else.
abigscaryhobo@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Had it happen with love death and robots too. I think if there’s a new season out it starts you on the 1st ep of the newest “complete” season, which is really annoying.
msfroh@lemmy.ca 2 weeks ago
Oh, I remember the controversy about that show! For Love, Death, and Robots season 1, Netflix randomly put people in one of four buckets (probably a hash of your account ID mod 4 or something), and your bucket determined your episode order.
Apparently, they thought it would be a neat way to present an anthology series (since order doesn’t matter). Conspiracy theories arose that Netflix had sussed out peoples’ sexual orientation and were using that to determine the episode order.
DanceMomsSavedMe@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Its probably because she was episode 1 of a different season not season 1
kuberoot@discuss.tchncs.de 2 weeks ago
The first episode for me was the VR fighting game (to avoid more spoilers), which didn’t exactly motivate me to watch more
pandora@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
I always recommend to skip this particular episode. It just is really disgusting and does not convey any meaning whatsoever. It absolutely fails to be an example for the rest of the series. If you haven’t seen it, just skip it. If you did see it and stopped watching the show because of it, please watch another episode. They are all good in their own way, except for this first one. I have no idea how anyone could have thought, it would be a good idea to open the show with this particular episode …
It’s called “The National Anthem”, btw. Just skip it, seriously.
marcos@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The author said in an interview that it was a filter to get the public he wants for the series. No idea if that’s post-facto rationalization, though.
Anyway, Netflix changed their entire system so that they could order that one show differently. It’s the last episode there.
pandora@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 weeks ago
You mean, he was actually trying to hook a certain kind of audience with this episode, so they would be open for the other episodes, they would not have been interested in otherwise? What kind of audience would that be?
Yes, netflix plays the seasons of the show in reverse chronological order, because it’s an anthology and the episodes don’t directly build on one another. I am actually really glad they did that. If I had started with the first episode of season one, I would probably not have continued watching.
DanceMomsSavedMe@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Doesn’t convey any meaning whatsoever??
what did you watch it?
restingOface@quokk.au 2 weeks ago
It’s clearly “what could happen when someone abuses technology”, just like the rest of the series.
then_three_more@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Literally watched it when it first aired. Never watched another episode after even though it’s the kind of thing that should be my cup of tea and I hear so much good about it. Whenever I hear people talk about it I think I should try it again, then forget about it.
ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My wife and I were like you… if that episode was representative of what the series was like it wasn’t something we wanted to watch. We stopped after the 1st. Our adult kids kept telling us though the rest weren’t like that one and to watch the rest and we eventually gave it another shot.
Honestly while quite different than the 1st, we both thought the 2nd episode was weak and weren’t too enthused about continuing, but they honestly get soo good that it’s worth it. A couple episodes still stand as some of my favorite moments of any series ever. Very thought-provoking and moving. You should definitely consider giving it another chance.
imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
I love me good series. Heard tons of good reviews about The Black Mirror.
I have only managed to get to episode 3. Couldn’t do it after. Way too disturbing. Would 1000% recommend to watch. I just couldn’t 😭
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s like Requiem for a Dream. Great movie, would recommend it to anyone except my elderly mother, am not gonna fuckin ever watch it a second time.
imetators@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Yes! Exactly on point but for me The Black Mirror was worse to digest. Great comparison!
Codpiece@feddit.uk 2 weeks ago
I much preferred it before Netflix got hold of it. It’s not bad now, just different.
realitista@lemmus.org 2 weeks ago
It used to be scifi, now it’s horror.
Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
White Christmas?
snooggums@piefed.world 2 weeks ago
The one with the pig.
Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
Hawt
djdarren@piefed.social 2 weeks ago
David Cameron enters the chat
realitista@lemmus.org 2 weeks ago
It’s getting hard to keep going with this series. Now it’s just full on horror.
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
I find real life depressing enough, after seeing a few episodes of seasons one and 2, I’ll pass thanks.
suodrazah@lemmy.ml 2 weeks ago
It’s a shallow, boring show.
MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
My first (and so far only) episode I watched was The Entire History of You.
I need to be in really specific head-space to watch that show…
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 2 weeks ago
I’ve only seen one episode, the San Junipero one. I can’t wait to watch the rest. I do love some cozy, optimistic sci-fi.
Banana@sh.itjust.works 2 weeks ago
Oh honey.
That’s only that episode. That episode is an outlier
The rest of the show is pessimistic dystopia at best.
restingOface@quokk.au 2 weeks ago
There are a few that are not.
spoiler
a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It was a great episode.
HAL_9_TRILLION@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 weeks ago
Well, as others have said, Black Mirror is definitely not cozy/optimistic. In my opinion, it’s easy to miss the final point of San Junipero. You have to have watched the episode White Christmas. If you’ve seen that episode, you know what cookies are and you know that there is an implication in the last seconds of San Junipero that, in my opinion, is pretty dark.
Still the best fucking episode though.
restingOface@quokk.au 2 weeks ago
What is so dark? I feel like I must be missing something. Their consciousnesses are being maintained by a server farm. But what is dark about that? It just seems optimistic and such how they get to pretend to live in their 20s forever. Nothing like living in a torturous snow globe or whatever.
muzzle@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
I’ve watched both White Christmas and St Junipero and I do not see what the implication should be. Care to elaborate?
just2look@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Cozy and optimistic is an interesting way to describe that show…
hansolo@lemmy.today 2 weeks ago
That’s one of the best episodes by far. Honestly, stop while you’re ahead.
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 2 weeks ago
Honestly don’t get why that one was so popular. Cookies find a relationship after death, yay? Not anywhere near as philosophically interesting as lots of other episodes.
adj16@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
How do none of the replies notice your obvious joke?