Black Mirror is a Netflix original show that I have been told is a present-day version of The Twilight Zone. The show primarily consists of a regular or positive world when something happens, and everything ends in a much more complex society than the original. The show also portrays a heavy critique of social media, usually to the extent that technology has taken over the world. Why was this season different than all other seasons? Every episode had a female main character. I found this important because two stereotypes of women are that they do not understand technology, and that they are following men. Black Mirror showed some feminist views, despite some flaws.
The first episode, USS Callister, was about a man who stole some of his employee’s DNA to put them in a virtual game. The idea is too complicated to put in an article, but basically digital versions of themselves were put in a game for him to play in. The newest character, Nanette Cole, is determined to get the players out of his control. The players never knew what to do, but Nanette was able to figure out how to distract him (by going skinny dipping with him) enough to gain control over the game and leave the planet, reaching the freedom to do whatever they want and the creator stuck in the game. This episode, although not my favorite, portrayed strong female leads, who ended up saving all of the characters.
Next is the episode written by Jodie Foster (star of Silence of the Lambs), Arkangel, a commentary on helicopter parenting. A woman puts a chip in her daughter’s head so she can see through an iPad-like machine, Arkangel, everything she sees. It is all positive when she is a child, the mother can watch her play hide-and-go-seek, and she even can save her father’s life. The mother eventually decides to turn off Arkangel when she gets to middle school, but when her daughter starts lying, the mother turns it back on again. Through Arkangel, her mother watches her sleeping with her boyfriend and doing drugs. The mother then gives her daughter a morning-after pill. When her daughter finds out that her mother is still watching her, she breaks the Arkangel and almost kills her mother with it. Although terrifying and disturbing, at least it is women in charge of other women, there are no stereotypical gender roles.
Crocodile, definitely not my favorite episode, is another episode too complex to explain in this article. The main character, Mia, a detective, commits a series of homicides, one leading to another. Mia and her work partner are interviewing people by watching their memories. She ends up murdering two parents, and then has to kill their baby because the detectives will be able to watch the baby’s memories (although we find out later that the baby was blind). It is clear that the end that they are able to watch the memories of the guinea pig, and eventually catch Mia. It’s a very bleak episode, but at least the main character is a woman.
Hang the DJ had a female main character, but I would not necessarily say this episode was explicitly feminist in the way other episodes were. An app matched couples together, and gave the couple an expiration date, anywhere from 12 hours to 3 years. It was an interesting commentary on dating today, but again, not as female driven as the other episodes.
I honestly do not have much to say about Metalhead, it was people versus robot bugs. I would consider it a feminist episode, as a woman ran around shooting these robots. However, this was a typical “Technology is taking over the world” episode. This was not my favorite episode, however, the fact that a woman is chasing around technology with a shotgun in her hand is a rarity in media.
The final episode, Black Museum, was probably my favorite episode. Either that or Arkangel. Black Museum starts off with a Black woman (one of two in the season) who goes to visit the Black Museum. Each exhibit is a different person’s story, but then they get to one man who was stuck in a video for eternity. Eventually, we find out that the woman visiting is that man’s daughter, so she takes her father with her in technology, and leaves the museum owner stuck, suffering forever. Not exactly a feel good episode, but another example of women taking control.
Overall, I thought it was a great season, that was enhanced by the female leads.