The Philosophy of Black Mirror - Wisecrack Edition 

K1LL 5W17CH yeah... as if we weren't going to die anyway, some deep intelligent insight

Sounds pretty accurate

Humanity was always fucked, but i would say we are less fucked than before

@Jamie Aryan Yea, been using InstaFlixxer for since november myself =)

not me

All of them! Every single one!

knaengt what I felt awesome

Louis Chiasson what's the episode where the guy has a spider body or something

Sandwich without sand r u thinking of Playtest

playtest

Yes, WE MUST GO DEEPER!

bargains002 YESSSSSS

He acctually did. If you want to learn more about mass psychology, search for it.

"if you want to see us do some breakdowns of individual episodes let us know in the comments" -voice in video ;)

but he never did

woah... you're right

Julio Agosto yep-you've either been following Brooker since his early days or your highly intuitive-either way you've hit the nail on the head

The director himself said "Black Mirror" is a cellphone/computer screen when its off, all you see is you looking back at you in the darkness.

+Andrew Wishon I think it is both

Julio Agosto aha I like that..never even thought about that even though so obvious now

Mateocubs Nope, everyone knows San Junipero is!

Mateocubs i'd have to say "be right back" is it for me, downright miserable

I'm starting on my first binge watch of the series and watched nosedive first, and so far it's been the most powerful for me

As a gamer that likes to travel, I'd have to give it to 'Playtest'

But did you notice that Nosedive is really just the Meow Meow Beans episode of Community, which came out first?

Marcos Torres same , and that twist

The ending had me fucked up, staring at my own reflection in a "black mirror" as th credits roll

the thing is we had a protagonist that isn't that good with tech,i mean he made so many mistakes/irrelevant actions in the beginning: 1.if he didn't want his sister to use his laptop why not put a damn password on the laptop,nooo he should put a lock on the damn door 2.jerking off when you have a damn camera in front of you knowing that minutes ago your pc had a malware 3.never cooperate with hackers(this works the same for National Anthem and their cooperation with the terrorist which was totally illogical),i mean following this guy orders will surely keep you safe,isn't like he can just post whatever shit he has on you on the internet anyway: a)if there was only about a jerk off video,what's the point,in time ppl will forget anyway-isn't like he was in high school or smth b)the problem with him is that he jerked off at kids pictures,but still what evidence is there that he watched photos of kids while jerking off,i mean if you send a screenshot of a desktop and a video that doesn't mean that they correlate c)if he said no,then it will most likely be over,why would the hackers lose time sending that film anyway,you may think because they're trolls,but the whole fun behind that reveal at the end was because he has done so much and that video was still posted(he robbed a fucking bank) The protagonist is insecure,immature,stupid,easy to manipulate and somehow even with his flawed personality he still cares about what ppl think about him.

GHhost don't spoil it for everyone else

GHost The whole point of blackmail is to get someone to feel forced into something because they're panicked. He wasn't stupid he was just irrational because the only thing he could think about was his mom seeing him yank to kiddy porn. You say "never cooperate with hackers" but you would too if you thought your entire life was on the line.

Taylor Newkirk like what they did with Star Wars and breaking bad?

writedrunkeditsober it honestly hit me hard af.

It also brillianty incorporates Jean Baudrillard's philosophy and concepts from Herbert Marcuse's philosophy. Have been thinking about writing a paper on it for a long time... hmm. Also, notice that Bing is an analogy to Brooker himself, and that Black Mirror is his "Hot Shots" show. Black Mirror is just another show on Netflix after all. Its criticism of the spectacle has been incorporated into the spectacle (See Marcuse: repressive tolerance) and has been commodified.

Mine too! The music was also spectacular!

Richard Lionheart That’s crazy!! I hadn’t thought of how that episode parallels his reality in that way! Like wtf ?!?!

Yep I loved that episode. Disappointingly I have heard many people incl my friends say it's their least favourite but I think it's just because of the confusing ending.. but the acting was some of the best I've seen in the show and the outcome was devastating

It's only a black mirror when it's off, which is pretty much never.

I love that it works on multiple levels. The screen reference, the fact that the commentary is a mirror being held up and reflecting society through a very dark tint... awesome.

or when you turn on youtube dark mode

I remember understanding the pun of the title for the first time after seeing my own reflection in the screen when I shut down my computer just having watched an episode of Black Mirror.

K Naimah in white bear that play its like a black mirrior the people see right rew it but the girl cant its a one one mirror

Grey Tiger How many? Oh I know! FUCKING NONE! IT'S ACTUALLY SO RETARDED! IT'S DUMB! I SAW ALOT OF IT! IT'S SHIT...

@@lad7436 let me educate your ignorant ass a Lil bit. We are already rating each other because but in amount of followers, not in stars, and all the people in corporate are being rated in starts quite literally, like you by your Uber driver. Politicians go around shaming organizations and when elected to represent that community, they become the very thing they came to destroy, like Obama. When a logical person makes sence its unsettling and "boring" instead we flock towards the flamboyant fucktard stupid shit because that's entertaining like Kanye , taylor swift, Justin Bieber over kid Cudi, lorde, Colter wall. We are constantly trying to be something we are not to show other people so that they'd like us and we eventually get depressed cause it. We have created virtual worlds and rather stay there than live in the real world like in Minecraft or pubg, moreover, we'd rather live inside our heads making up situations than fix our real life even if it's a life or death situation. I could go on and on and on because black mirror is not something metaphorical, it's literal. They have to exaggerate the technology because nobody wants to accept that mobile phones, Instagram and all that stuff is ruining us but when it's in future we're quick to jumb on the high moral ground. Educate yourself, or at least watch the show because commenting retarted shit on someone's perfectly logical comment.

TheMofoHeister wake up dude

@@lad7436 ima remind you of this, idk maybe you'll cringe lol

@@lad7436 my turn to remind you of this :)

Dedgynout have you watched any of black mirror? *says a nameless and faceless person on the other side of a screen*

They already do. Hell, they always did, they never needed a phone.

lulu app

We are already doing so my friend..Uber rides? you gotta fake smile and have an awkward convo with your uber driver/rider to get you a good rating

Ever heard of facebook?

Ush even before facebook, Pirandello talked about it with his concept of masks at the beginning of the 20th century. And it was already an old concept back then.

2b Sirius Black Mirror will make you do that :)

I wonder, why does one consider books to be more authentic than media? I am not talking about quality here (shows like black mirror can be much more quality than many books, while books like The Trial (just an example) can be much better than the greatest of shows) but rather I am talking about how they all reflect a different world that you simply can't be in. I am not trying to start an argument but I am simply curious about what you think. They are both commodities in a way and although one is much less accessible (books) that doesn't change the fact that it is a commodity. Again, I am simply curious about what you think.

Fuck that, I just want to flee into the hills and abandon any remnant of civilisation. It's the only way to be sure.

If I were to hazard a guess, perhaps it's not the medium itself but the context it's experienced in. Books are generally experienced on a much more personal\solitary level. However, with the integration of Social platforms every time you watch a TV show, RU-vid video, a show on CrunchyRoll, et cetera, you are typically only a few inches away from comments by other people. You can choose to reply or not on these platforms, but what you can't escape are the ads. And of course Facebook and Twitter exist only as social commodities. When you read a book, it is just you and the book. Dip a toe into electronic media, and you quickly begin to interact with a rapidly expanding number of people and corporations all of which will attempt to shape your perception, knowingly or unknowingly. Gods, I sound like an old man.

2b Sirius still spectacle, and you would be looking for some self worth i others. mainly by unplugging and being different.

Nasorean Havent we had tons of spectacles? WW2, Cold War, etc. Or even worse, slavement crisis in Sudan due to USA, *with nobody caring about it* . Yemen invasion by Saudi Arabia, ISIS false flags, Erdogan secretly and slowly becoming a ditactor by undercovering with the masses and wanting war with Syria. To me, there is a spectacle way worse than most of the ones that are shown in Black Mirror. Most of us are evil by nature and made to compete so we can live and make the next generatiom better even tough many might die. Thats the truth.

Abraham Lincoln won over 200 bare knuckle boxing matches

Reagan was an actor lol

Who cares we are in the middle class. We have no political power

@@nathanielgarza9198 yes we do

Would like to chime in and also express my gratitude for the subtitles!

Same!

Agree.

Andrés Gómez filthy frank for anime adaption

Andrés Gómez I second the philosophy of Doug Stanhope!

The Private Select I thought the same thing!

The Private Select Charlie Brooker has gone on record saying that the notion that it’s a depressing ending is “bullshit”

The Private Select excactly! Finally somebody who gets ir!

The way I understood it, the San Junipero place is indeed about that and it's what most people there do. It still has a positive ending in my opinion, because two people find something real in this world of illusion and artificial pleasure. Yorkie is finally okay with being herself and truly bond with someone, and Kelly - knowing full well that SJ is merely senseless fun and illusion - makes a conscious and well-thought-out choice to live there because she realises that, while almost all of SJ is fake, the love she shares with Yorkie is real. The story of San Junipero isn't about an ideal world. It's a touch of hope in a bleak world, and that's what makes it a happy episode. Hope that there will always be something real and meaningful in a honest and loving human relationship, no matter the context.

Also coz those aren't actually people but copies of human consciousness who are like another species altogether, like the 2nd season of westworldA

One of these days, people like you will save my hope and sanity. Thanks for being around.

YoungTheFish we're in this together.

But what if the truth is that your actions do not affect the world? DUN DUN DUNNNNN P.S. Good comment though

Im with WisePictWarrior on this. Call me pessimistic but the truth I was given is that nothing really changes, and people with power will do everything they can using their power to stop you from trying even though your efforts are likely fruitless anyway. Ill establish the difference between the smaller things in life and the gigantic things though. It will always be worth it to change the smaller things, like eating the right foods and exercising the right amount. Avoiding propoganda ridden media and knowing when youre seeing it. But the bigger things never change, and are stuck for the most part in a continual loop. Things like descrimination, overwhelming dependancy of human beings on others, and so much more. Because in those cases, fixing one problem is really just conditioning to cause others. A prime example would be the fight against sexism. Yes, women have been oppressed for quite a while now, but were reaching the point where people are so catering for SPECIFICALLY women that men are very quickly being completely ignored targets for sexism, or even becoming more frequent targets than women themselves. And astoundingly only a VERY SMALL handful of people actually see this happening. And even while people are fighting hard against sexism and racism (and failing as previously mentioned) assholes who dont know any better are still finding it very hard to understand mental illness. And so as it stands the mentally ill (which take up a HUGE majority of people in the world) in all shapes and sizes are now arguably THE MOST discriminated against... Wonder how long itll take to fix that one up... Another few centuries maybe? Sounds accurate to me... Then when thats sorted out well probably have to fight for rights of men instead. As we all know, the truth aint pretty ;)

WisePictWarrior Thanks, but the truth is that we don't recognize the consequences of what we're. For example, to study the moment of an object (A rock or lazy person) you need a reference because technically everything is moving, but the you the rock is still. Your existence affects the world, you just have to choose to do more.

Daaaamn, going right for the jugular with the 2 most hardcore episodes in the series.

Really? White Christmas hit me way more... that was some seriously fucked up shit.

Philip Zeplin oh I completely forgot! The whole concept of having another you! And how she had to go through how many years with nothing to do 😂

The Chevy Ferrari this episode fucked me up but I agree with what you say

This is so true I got goosebumps

jose gamboa you know that this channel doesn't make Black Mirror right? Your cries are falling on deaf ears.

PeeJay Torres oh shit I knew I should have learned sign language...

Nosedive made me SO upset because she got fucked over because she had an argument with her bro. How fucked up it was that he gave her one star knowing she's struggling to reach 4.5. I get it's because he was pissed cause she was being an asshole to him, but still :

You should have seen her naenae at nay nays wedding

I was thinking the exact same thing.

Critics hated the episode when it first aired claiming it was unrealistic

Well, Trump is a real person and also not a nihilist Waldo is something that people in other countries wouldn't really get, but Britain has a lot of made up joke political candidates, and some of them even get pretty close to winning

Lazypackmule Lord Buckethead 2020

more accurate would be the use of pepe.

Loup Truth.

Like watching Black Mirror?

No on ALL individual episodes

Snows Winter Fascinating, but like so much else in science fiction, an intentionally unrealistic extreme, practically fantasy-esque in nature. Classic science fiction was all about bringing normal, everyday things to their most logical conclusions, which is why so many science fiction authors are practically credited with creating everyday concepts like artificial satellites. Modern sci-fi, in contrast, is all about taking stuff to a ridiculous extreme either for the purposes of social commentary or just because "it sounds fun to explore I guess". Black Mirror is also a laughably pessimistic show; just like how optimism is unrealistic and ignores what's best described as common sense, pessimism is equally unrealistic and ignores what's best described as common sense, and there are times when I was watching and repeatedly thinking "someone would've done X or Y by now, in fact here's time and again a similar scenario plays out differently in real life, let me literally look it up because I need to mentally comprehend how socially unrealistic these scenarios are". (Yes I actually did that several times, LOL.) Long story short, it was interesting, but the pessimism led to repeated bursts of melodrama and flat out unrealistic conclusions to scenarios to the point I dropped the series before I even finished the first season. It's fascinating, yes, but also annoyingly inaccurate to life...

same. also this is a meaningless comment as well.

GunpowderCoffee same here...

GunpowderCoffee wait you mean to defend your indepence of mind by stating you dont have a will of your own. neat joke.

+Walter Carvalho Hadn't thought about that one. It sounds like a great idea.

Joel smades EXACTLY

Ya I think he missed the part about the people that were going crazy in the simulation because they couldn't feel anything anymore.

Existing inside a server vs outside in what (for all we know) might be another server is a pretty trivial difference.

agreed.

eh i kinda feel like it's a horseshit cop-out to think we're just "in a server room" like sure *_maybe_* but undoubtedly it's far more unique and inexplicable compared to the one in san-junipero @Reform Project

I especially love how "Nosedive" effectively satirized how today people are obsessed with social media. At first, I felt the episode was over the top, but then I realized: THAT WAS THE POINT.

/r/iamverysmart

Drake Santiago There is nothing special about you. You are just as bad as anyone around you.

Stranger Jones Even if over the top is the point it's still a consistently over the top show, I've never been able to finish more than a few episodes.

You're not that smart. Or special.

I 99.8% agree with this comment.

Haha, good one ;)

I give these comments a 2.5/5

@@shamoonsaqib penis

It needs to be a 4.5 in order to be trending

I agree, it's essentially a caricatured reflection of reality. kind of like a fun house mirror.

Good call, I just started watching it yesterday and its scary how accurate most of it is. :)

Maor Fadlon I second this

S3 ended, but they'll probably be another season. Also all the seasons are self contained, so he should do an ep on each season.

Maor Fadlon LITERALLY, a breakdown of EACH SEASON would be fantastic!!!!

Maor Fadlon, Dude Yessss! It just sucks how we wont get season 4 until like 3 years from now due to Hawleys busy ass schedule. The man is a goddamn artist.

i still can't watch it no matter how much i really do like it. Way too creepily real for me.

Scripts Are Queens i would say the near-realism is what makes the show so gripping

Agreed, the show is just so fucking depressing. It's good though.

I don't find it creepy or scary at all, sure in the near future some of it would be terrifying to live through, but some of the episodes are more of good things, such as White Bear, San Junipero, and Shut Up and Dance, which I don't know seems like a good way to use technology.

The problem is that is isn't real, and the show requires you to believe it is.

and HERCULES MULLIGAN

Ali Koç congratulations, you've missed the point.

Trump became a candidate through spectacle and populism, which is accurate I guess, but Hillary became a candidate through underhanded schemes and dirty politics, which isn't something Black Mirror really focuses on Well, you could say that even Trump only got ahead due to that same corruption, since he won the nomination in part due to Hillary and the DNC setting him up to win since they thought him being their opponent would be a sure win for them

Lazypackmule It is only partially true that the show doesn't focus on the Clinton side of the election. In fact it does just that without going too deep into corruption but the things that are supposed to distract you from corruption. Just like the other candidate that wasn't Waldo used to gain votes through hollow spectacles ("Watch me shake common peoples hands like I'm one of them eventhough I really consider myself better and hate touching them." and "Watch me take a picture next to orphans eventhough I don't give a fuck about orphans."). He was used to distracting people from his policies by giving them something nice to watch an argue about instead. This is exactly what Hillary was trying to do. She never tried to actually win the primaries with her policies and didn't care if she was revealed to be a liar or changed her opinion twice a week. All she banked on was that the idea of "the first female president" would carry her into the white house. She was a living spectacle with barely any values running against an actual politician focussed on politics (Sanders) and she won because spectacle wins. But then Waldo (a.k.a. Trump) came along and had even less values but even more spectacle, so he basically won for the same reason she won the primaries. The episode isn't supposed to show that career politicians and "living meme" politicians are total opposites but rather that career politicians turned politics from serious business into nothing but showmanship in order to then be beaten because other people are better at giving their audience a show.

I wouldn't say Trump had less values, he had pretty strong nationalistic positions, it's just that he relied more on emotional hype winning people over than any logical thought out arguments, which still makes him comparable to Waldo, just not on the angsty "fuck the system" nihilism part Though to be fair, a lot of the people who saw through Trump's salesman schtick but still still supported him did so for exactly those kinds of nihilistic reasons, thinking a shakeup that big could be the only shot we'd ever get to help the system in the long term

Danniel taylor Nosedive is definitely allegorical. It, like lots of other episodes, takes an idea to an extreme to illustrate a point. I don't think we are ever being our true, authentic selves when we're around or interact with most people. We all already pre-judge each other on superficial merits (wealth, race, national identity, physical appearance, etc). American citizens are judged by the elite with credit scores, based on the meaningless idea of how well they pay off debt. Everyone puts on a facade in order to please as many people as possible while they simultaneously are pitted against each other in a competition for artificially limited resources. They have no choice or else they'll be ejected from society and possibly become a pariah. So nosedive is not so much a warning as it is a dark reflection of how society functions today. Thus, a Black Mirror.

Danniel taylor 9

Not taken to an extreme but is actually happening. Technology advances every month or so, what black mirror shows is merely a fraction of what our technology will reach in few years time. In reality things will be much worse than Nosedive I'm afraid. Nothing is taken to an extreme. If anything the producers are being gently.

Honestly Nosedive is the most disturbing episode to me. I'm a sarcastic and impatient. I literally couldn't survive in a world like that. A few minor social errors in that society actually actually effect your way of living. People can easily and casually ruin your life just by giving you a bad rating.

The ending 5 minutes is the best part.

Trump won because he was up against Hillary, plain and simple. This is a woman who stole $100,000 of furniture from the white house. I mean an absolutely balls to the wall insane woman. The problem is that most people who weren't politically aware when Bill was in office don't know any of that strange crap because she managed to bury it so well.

I'm very confident that Trump won't have a second term, because he's alienated most of his support base in one way or another (such as alienating 2A purists like myself when he banned bump stocks and trigger cranks) and hasn't done his big ticket items in general. Sure, he boosted ICE funding, but compare his actual deportation numbers and southern border security numbers to Obama. Obama was more serious about the Southern Border than Trump. The Dem nominee would need to be someone as bad as Hillary for him to win in 2020.

@@cm01 Agreed.

bernie 2020

@@cm01 The reason why Obama has better immigration numbers is because of catch and release, something Trump got rid of.

Neo Machine economic systems are actually pretty relevant considering Debord put a huge focus on them

wisecrack: "spectacle is now a commodity" "spectacle is born when the economy invades the very fabric of our social lives" "bing pointlessly rides a bike to accumulate virtual currency that he can only use on necessities, entertainment, or his 'me'" comment: ugh stop trying to bring economics into unrelated things!

Doug garrett YES! BEAT ME TO IT!

Reggie Harris Why? What was special about it? It's just a couple living in simulated reality. It really wasn't as deep as any of the other episodes. You'll see people try to explain how "deep" it is, but really they're just digging for "philosophy" to make it seem like it was.

A lot of people seem to really like San Junipero and White Bear. SJ was okay - if it were a full length movie, I'd pay to watch it - but White Bear made me go, "Oh. Okay. I get it, but meh." while it apparently blew other peoples' minds. I think Playtest and Be Right Back were most impacting for me. Fifteen Million Merits was the most upsetting though. If I ever rematch the series with a friend, I'd skip that one because the ending made me want to die... :'

+MGOFadeToBlack also what happens to warriors with no more wars to fight??

Can love bloom on the battlefield?

Fuck you! I won't do what you tell me!!

Well that is so true and dark at the same time.

Just watched it and I feel sick

Nicholas Gariepy Id thub you up but it wouldn't be genuine 😊😣

_Are we in hell?_ You only just worked it out? Political Christians believe so little in their own religion they had to make hell and its sufferings for the poor, the ill, the unfortunate and the downtrodden in this life.

Purgatory.

You are late pal, this has already happened countless times, remember the story about the chick on the plane who made a joke about aids and Africa? He life was a mesely entertainment for people and some of them going so far as saying she should be raped and recently Kevin hart not being able to get the gig comedians work their life off because he did not comply with Twitter raping him while we begs to everyone. Black mirror is not an exaggeration, it's literal. It's impossible to make people see that they are torturing people in real life without taking a whole different approach and ones they see the episode they go tweet how bad future is gonna be.

That is correct.

Don't be silly Russia hacked the elections... :p

Sad that it took a literal fish to your face for you to notice.

No, trump won because he was entirely different from others politicians, and seemingly better than his predecessors, and of course the spectacle helped him but it wasn't the main reason of why he won the presidency

@@AAlfredjoseph *Influenced. They recognized the USA’s addiction to Kardashian-esque entertainment and put on a good show for us. It worked like a charm, and we can still feel the mass psychosis to this day.

Evangelion, broadcast version (original version) It starts off ordinary enough, maybe a little bleak. The first ten episodes are like your giant robot fighting shows, except the robots are flesh organic things, with Christian mythology giving it a supernatural element. After episode ten, things started to shift, with less time spent on monster of the week. At episode 16 things really changed. This was in part due to a tragic event that happened in Japan around this time. The last 10 episodes and by extension the whole show, due to how these episodes re-frame the early narrative, we have a story about depression. The critical role of self acceptance, self identity and the toxic nature of obsession and fixation. The writers demonstrate often, harsh and abrasive ways that no one can really rely on others for their self identity. Friends, colleagues, authority figures, the government, your job, even lovers and family. None of them are a replacement for self worth, because at the end of the day, other people have their own things to worry about. Shinji's life is an un-ending cascades of failures that drive home this point. What Shinji wants most is validation of who is as a person. And one by one these things are taken from him. No matter how hard he tries to impress his father, his father remains distant. Shinji's friendships and work relations often let him down, if he's not out right robbed of them. His job betrays him and the status he gets from being important, ultimately makes him a target. In the end Shinji is striped of everthing. This is represented literally and figuratively by the end of the world. The final two episodes revolve around the end of the world and the transformation process that Shinji goes through as he has finally been locked away with nothing but himself, and forced to confront his own existence. It's not until Shinji accepts who he is, that he is a thing that exists and existing on its own is power. It's not until he stops relying on the rest of the world to support his full weight, stops relying on the rest of the world to give him meaning, that these other relations flow into existence. Its about making that break through and recovering from depression, where you realize that you value and power over your own life, and that what you get from relationships is intrinsically tied to what you give. Self identity and acceptance are things that come from within and flow out into the world. Not things you can pull from the world and crammed inside. Relying on everyone else can work for a time, but it will never last. You are the only person that will be there for every moment of your life. These are the main themes portrayed in the show.

KalebebYT So what? Is reading Darwin from your phone less valuable than from a book? Is making music from your computer less valuable than with instruments? You're watching smart content, not reality TV. Don't confuse a tool with the ways in which it can be used.

@@late2647 he says it because of what it is said in the video.... About the black mirrors

The only philosophy of Black Mirror is that its audience is the problem. The first episode shows what trash humanity is for wanting to watch a man fuck a pig, by showing its audience a man fucking a pig. The entire point of the show is to make fun of the kind of person that would enjoy watching this kind of show.

home ak 47 "The Philosophy of Human Cake"

Mr. Mothman people have been utilised and exploited as fodder for the benefit of their overlords who figuratively "eat the poor"

filthy frank philosophy = joji

Sudev Sen let them eat cake

home ak 47 guys don't waste time liking or commenting this, instead put up your own comments that say the same thing so there is a higher chance it will be seem

Just read his interview. It's thought provoking

what interview

+