Thank you, universe, for the genius of Charlie Brooker. Whether you like it or not, Black Mirror Season 7 also subtly captures the essence of our overreliance on technology, deploying distorted yet eerily plausible twists to stir our emotions.
Since you’re probably subscribed to this newsletter for technology news rather than movie reviews, I’ll briefly go through each episode, highlighting one tech trend it explores.
S1E1 Common people: the pressure to subscribe and sneaky advertising
The most obvious technology-related trend, of course, is subscription fatigue. Too many companies are luring us into a dependency model where you can’t simply buy a product outright. Nearly every device, including those from Garmin, now comes with a subscription. But what if your life depended on a subscription, and the prices kept ballooning?
Another striking trend is the hyper-personalization of advertising. Ads are becoming increasingly tailored to individuals. Even more concerning, sometimes you feel a strong urge to buy something without even realizing you’ve been persuaded. The recent UGG Lowmell craze we discussed is one of the finest examples of this kind of sneaky advertising.
S1E2 Bete Noire: the scary powerful tech
I hope this episode sparks viewers’ interest in quantum computing. Recent scientific breakthroughs – while still debated – are genuinely quite exciting. For example, Google is hinting at the actual possibility of a multiverse. Can you imagine?
Of course, some people are more freaked out than excited, since quantum computing comes with the potential to crack classical encryption. This could lead to the death of Bitcoin and the massive leakage of top government secrets, among other things.
S7E03 Hotel Reverie: how real is online?
Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?
This quote from the Harry Potter movies resonates with our present, especially as we immerse ourselves in virtual reality. For instance, a woman reported being raped in the metaverse. Physically, it didn’t happen – but does that mean her experience wasn’t real?
On a side note, the episode also touches on current movie trends: reboots of familiar stories, expanding franchises, and increased diversity. Speaking of which, Potterheads seem quite torn about the recasting of Severus Snape in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter reboot.
S7E04 Plaything: can a machine feel?
We haven’t yet figured out how human consciousness evolved, so what can we say about machine sentience? It might not matter whether artificial lifeforms can feel or not. What matters is how we perceive them. Humans can be relatively easily tricked into feeling empathy for a robot – or even a chatbot.
We’re even starting to develop a code of ethics (of sorts) when it comes to robots.
S7E5 Eulogy: doesn’t this sound familiar?
An isolated man is introduced to technology that allows him to reconstruct his long-forgotten relationship with his late girlfriend. We first encountered this concept in Season 1, Episode 3, The Entire History of You. The ability to revisit your own memories doesn’t seem so distant or unfamiliar these days, does it?
When you can barely remember what you did on Friday night, you can easily check your bank account, Google Maps timeline, or the metadata of the photos you took. Devices track you, watch you, and listen to you. Who knows – maybe in the near future, this technology will help us win personal arguments or write eulogies for long-lost lovers.
S7E6 USS Callister: all is lost
This episode is like an onion, with dozens of layers waiting to be peeled. One topic that stood out to me was how real games can feel to some people. The more we immerse ourselves in digital worlds, the more we risk becoming little more than "meat bags," chained to our chairs and escaping reality.
For some, games are just games – filled with looting, shooting, and all sorts of mischief. For others, however, games become their entire world. It is deeply disturbing as some tap into games to “not take no for an answer” and rape women.
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