But Black Mirror isn’t just about the technology we carry around in our pockets that are supported by the “Cloud” (that ephemeral concept of service) which requires mind-boggling millions of square feet of brick and mortar servers around the world to store and pump out our personal data measured in exabytes (of which 30% is porn). Black Mirror is a dire warning of what’s underneath our obsession and dependence on those sleek, stylish devices.
The real question Brooker’s series asks isn’t some journalistic softball about whether we’re being exploited by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook, but rather why our lives are so devoid of deeper benefits and beliefs that would normally compel us to look away from those ubiquitous screens and face the issues of our lives and times. It’s not what we think and say about technology – it’s what our technology …show more content…
It’s also the least cynical. A pleasingly rumpled 20-something couple in love, gentle unassuming Martha (Hayley Atwell from Captain America) and affable Ash (the immensely talented Domhnall Gleeson of the recently released Frank), suffer a tragic loss. Ash dies in an accident on the highway that may or may not have been caused by using his cellphone while driving, leaving Martha alone without her soul mate.
In the midst of her sudden grief, she realizes she’s pregnant and achingly longs for her lost lover. A girl friend suggests a new predictive software company’s phone app that replicates her deceased boyfriend’s personality and voice from the threads of his uploaded life, every tweet, message, post, Instagram, Snapchat photo, and voicemail, including even the porn links he used to visit. Martha’s grief is soon mitigated by Ash’s voice, which is amazingly responsive and even aware of himself as an absurd artificial
The real question Brooker’s series asks isn’t some journalistic softball about whether we’re being exploited by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook, but rather why our lives are so devoid of deeper benefits and beliefs that would normally compel us to look away from those ubiquitous screens and face the issues of our lives and times. It’s not what we think and say about technology – it’s what our technology …show more content…
It’s also the least cynical. A pleasingly rumpled 20-something couple in love, gentle unassuming Martha (Hayley Atwell from Captain America) and affable Ash (the immensely talented Domhnall Gleeson of the recently released Frank), suffer a tragic loss. Ash dies in an accident on the highway that may or may not have been caused by using his cellphone while driving, leaving Martha alone without her soul mate.
In the midst of her sudden grief, she realizes she’s pregnant and achingly longs for her lost lover. A girl friend suggests a new predictive software company’s phone app that replicates her deceased boyfriend’s personality and voice from the threads of his uploaded life, every tweet, message, post, Instagram, Snapchat photo, and voicemail, including even the porn links he used to visit. Martha’s grief is soon mitigated by Ash’s voice, which is amazingly responsive and even aware of himself as an absurd artificial