Charlie Brooker’s three part mini-series Black Mirror is definitely not your typical Sunday night entertainment. For those like me, who expected a light entertainment program, how wrong was I? This turned into a wickedly twisted idea, which continued to surprise me with every passing minute. Titled – The National Anthem, episode 1 was centred around a what-if scenario, of the kidnapping of a pretty princess by a smart and artistic terrorist. And in ransom ,the Prime Minister is demanded to perform an obscene act involving a pig, on national TV. It gets even more demented, when it is revealed that the ransom video was delivered via YouTube, and hence, the video goes viral, and the impact of the social media kicks in, and the Prime Minister has no way to go, other than giving in (pun intended). What starts as a bizarre premise, becomes deliciously tense and devilishly dark and twisted. But there’s more to it than just that.
There are multiple layers of social commentary that have been made in mere 45 minutes of its runtime. And I’d like to highlight them in this post. Hit the jump to join the discussion. Of course, SPOILERS ALERT.
1. Impact of Social Media
The impact of the social media has been highlighted at numerous occasions in this episode. From how public opinion can be easily viewed with trending hashtags to the unstoppable force of YouTube viral videos which continue to spawn copies, when originals are banned or taken down. It is this unstoppable potency of the social media networks that came in force during the Egyptian and Libyan revolution of 2011, and here, we get a mini taster of the same in a very believable way.
2. National Media Reaction
The other aspect of media is also shown to brilliant effect. The fact that the PM has been challenged on YouTube to perform an obscene act, has caught national attention through the internet. Yet, due to 10 Downing Street pressurising mainstream media to remain silent, there is a blanket thrown over the coverage of the event. No news channels are covering it – from BBC to Sky, and the public can clearly speculate what could’ve been the reason behind it. This goes to reinstate point no.1. In the digital age of twitter, facebook and YouTube, a mainstream media censorship can hardly be termed “censorship”.
3. Spooks meets In The Loop
It is inevitable to get a Spooks deja-vú , when it involves people dealing with a terrorist on the British soil. But when it is mashed up with people in the PM’s office, running around in black suits, and trying hard to contain the situation, handle with the terrorist’s demands as well as prepare for Plan B – we also got a reminder of a bit of In The Loop. I’d specially like to point out the brilliant depiction of how the PM, a man who has been entrusted with the power of the entire nation, feels powerless at the hands of his own people. When the terrorist releases a second viral video to show a cut finger of the Princess, the public opinion sways from No to Yes. And poor Mr. PM has no other choice than to comply.
4. Virgin Territory
I never expected the ransom to be this hideous act of demanding the PM to perform sexual intercourse with a pig on national TV. “What now? What’s the playbook?” the PM asked in panic. And his advisor replied: “This is virgin territory, Prime Minister. There is no playbook.”It gets more and more sick as we are revealed that it was all an art project by some sick, suicidal artist whose intention was to get his “art” seen by the entire nation at the very same time.
Virgin Territory indeed!
5. Take a bow!
Rory Kinnear was absolutely compelling as the PM. His journey from utter disbelief to dutiful self-sacrifice is believable. Lindsay Duncan as the Home Secretary was equally brilliant. But the biggest roar of applause goes to creator Charlie Brooker for this absolutely cracking piece of twisted drama that rocked my socks off. I was not prepared for this! And come next Sunday, I will be hungry for more.
9e3k rating: 5 Oinks Out of 5
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Thank you Sujoy, this was a really gripping post.
I managed to stop myself before the the spoiler and I’ve just watched it on 4OD then read the rest of your post. One other aspect worth mentioning is that the Media DIDN’T broadcast the fact that the princess was released 30 mins before the porky porno. To maintain narrative credibility I think this should have been 10 mins as it otherwise suggests that there was a deliberate media reluctance to masque the truth and that has distracting connotations to the main theme.
Am I just a super sceptic or did anybody else think that maybe somebody other then the Artist would be unveiled as the real mastermind, maybe one of the cabinet advisors, maybe the PM, maybe his Wife…
I know what I’ll be doing on Sunday evening! The Trailer for episode 2 looks awesome.
D.
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