Leave it to the British to outdo us on horror and sci-fi. I mean, come on. They gave us Dr. Who. All the episodes of Black Mirror are exceptionally good, but there were two that I could not shake off. They were stuck in my mind like cobwebs of reality.
Black Mirror
Black Mirror is a British science fiction anthology that was created by Charlie Brooker. The series is supposed to be inspired by one of history’s best all-time horror/sci-fi series, The Twilight Zone. There are thirty-three episodes of Black Mirror that premiered on the British television network, Channel 4, before streaming on Netflix. So far, Netflix is streaming only seven seasons, and the subject matter explores a dystopian future through psychological horror, comedy, and political satire.
Here in the States, we’re not laughing because a lot of what’s happening in the show is happening for real over here, for example, episode two of season four, titled “Arkangel.”
Arkangel
This episode, “Arkangel,” directed by Jodie Foster, is about a mother’s (Rosemarie DeWitt) panic after losing her three-year-old child at the neighbourhood park. After a frantic search, the neighbours find Sara. She is safe.
Little Sara is your typical curious child, but she had only strayed that one time to follow a cat. That one time was too much for Mom, who decidedsto have an implant put into the child. Everything that Sara does or feels is tracked via a tablet computer. Mom is what you would call a helicopter parent.
I’ve met a few helicopter parents while working at the museum. The hovering drove me insane because the child was not allowed to explore while in the museum. And don’t get me started on the child harness. But…our opinions change with the times. Mine did. I now have a great-granddaughter who is making me crazy with fear. I’ll call her Waldo. This pint-sized Houdini has committed so many disappearing acts that it has made me rethink child safety. I kid you not, my little pint-sized Waldo had caused an entire Bounce Play Arcade to go on a full-blown manhunt, while she sat unnoticed in a section of the ball pit that was not open to the public. She knew we were looking for her, but to her…it was a game. That child harness is sounding pretty feasible to me right now.
In “Arkangel,” the situation changes as Sara becomes a teenager. Sara (Brenna Harding) is a good kid, but she is a teenager, and they don’t always make the best choices. When mom learns that Sara is dating a coworker from her after-school job, she begins tracking her daughter again and goes so far as to threaten the young man (Owen Teague).
What do you do in a world where our government leaders are involved in not only human trafficking, but the sexual abuse of children? As I said, it’s getting scary here in the States. How tight of a leash do we put on our children to keep them safe, while preventing them from experiencing real life? I have friends who monitor what their children watch on their phones, including the text messages that they receive. They are linked to their children’s exact locations via their phones. The parents feel safe, but what about the children? These devices can be hacked. Someone else can be watching. Sometimes caution will protect those you love…sometimes it opens the door to real monsters.
Metalhead
Season four’s fifth episode, “Metalhead,” starring Maxine Peake and directed by David Slade, gave me nightmares. If you’ve been watching the news, you know that American cities are under attack by our own government. The government agents, who have no identification or warrants and wear face masks, have been terrorizing American citizens. They’ve used everything in their arsenal except robots…which leads me to my thoughts of “Metalhead.”
The episode closes in on a desolate landscape. Three people are on a mission to find something. Bella (Maxine Peake), Clarke (Jake Davies) and Anthony (Clint Dyer) look like refugees from the earlier seasons of The Walking Dead. The three travellers are searching for something special for someone back at camp. Jack is dying and in a lot of pain, so we assume that they are looking for meds. After entering a warehouse, Bella and Anthony eventually find what they are looking for, but before they can retrieve the object for Jack, a four-legged robotic guard dog sprays Bella and Anthony with shrapnel containing trackers. Bella is the only one to escape, but she is being followed by these hounds from hell
These robotic dogs are absolutely frightening. I’ve read that the inspiration for this episode came from Boston Dynamics and BigDog. These military robotic dogs are real, and they can be used to attack humans. If the military is involved, and there is a weapon that can be used to destroy the “enemy” the same weapon can be used on anyone. This episode did not have a happy ending, but there are few happy endings in a dystopian world.
Conclusion
Sometimes, reality mimics fiction. Books have been written about the downfall of these United States. Some books have been adapted into films or television series. Right now, cities in these United States are being attacked because they protest the horrific treatment of immigrants and refugees. The rich and powerful corporations are financially enriching themselves in this chaos. So far, the agents are only using bullets to eliminate the citizens who speak out. But how much longer before the military uses their robotic dogs?
Black Mirror is one of the best series that I’ve seen since The Twilight Zone. Authors like Suzanne Collins, George Orwell, and Margaret Atwood had a premonition of what could be our future…unfortunately…they were right.
Black Mirror is available on Netflix.
