Black Mirror: the best psychological series in history?

Title Black Mirror, which translates as "Black Mirror", refers to the screens of electronic devices. Each episode of this series created by Englishman Charlie Brooker explores a different plot, but all of them hypothesize about extreme consequences of technological progress for human psychology and behavior, as well as for the functioning of the society.

This is why the series is extremely interesting to analyze from the point of view of psychology.

What does Black Mirror tell us about ourselves?

Most of the chapters Black Mirror they are situated in contexts that are to a greater or lesser extent futuristic. Present and future versions proposed by the series can be easily related to everyday aspects of the digital age in which we live, such as the violation of privacy on the Internet or the enormous influence of social networks, the television and mass culture.

Next we will briefly comment on the episodes of Black Mirror from a psychological perspective. Beware of spoilers!

1x01. The national anthem (“The national anthem”)

Black Mirror started with a very simple approach: to save the life of the princess of the United Kingdom, the prime minister must have live sex with a pig. This satirical chapter focuses on the public reaction to the humiliation of the elected leader -first mockery and sadism that reflect the resentment of the people against their rulers, then respect and gratitude. Rory Kinnear, who stars in the episode, masterfully conveys the peculiar emotional odyssey that his character goes through.

1x02. 15 million merits (“15 million merits”)

The futuristic setting of this episode is reminiscent of other science fiction dystopias as the A happy world and 1984. “15 million merits” is an allegory about the increasing value of social status and of the money, increasingly difficult for many to achieve, and criticizes the degradation to which the participants of entertainment programs in the style of The X Factor in order to achieve wealth and fame. Before Black Mirror Charlie Brooker created Dead Set, a zombie miniseries that satirizes Big Brother.

1x03. Toda tu historia (“The entire history of you”)

What would happen Yes allour memories will remain etched on an electronic device? Of course, Black Mirror offers pessimistic answers: we would live anchored in the past, which we would revise obsessively, we would mistrust the memory natural and there would be voyeurs who would pay for devices removed from young girls, who would later be rejected by a large part of society. Although there would also be those who would choose to live free of such a machine –either out of principle or because of “posturing”.

2x01. I'll be right back (“Be right back”)

A woman clones her dead husband using the data that she left registered on social networks, to which she was addicted. This chapter comments on the false image we project on the networkssocial (a recurring theme in Black Mirror) and explores the possibilities of artificial intelligence, which is also the backbone of another recent science fiction series, Westworld. He duel the death of a loved one is another main theme, especially the way we hold on to our memories during this process.

• Related article: “3 Ways Social Media Destroys Our Relationships”

2x02. White bear (“White bear”)

This is the first of several chapters of Black Mirror that hide key information from the viewer until the last few minutes. A woman wakes up with no memories in a world where, according to what they tell her, a virus has turned most people into mindless people who only care about recording with their mobile everything they see "Oso blanco" presents a fast-paced narrative to push the limit of the use of suffering of others as entertainmentof masses. Once again, the resource of memory manipulation through technology is used.

2x03. The Waldo moment

The plot will sound familiar to you: a television personality whose only role is to make fun of the "establishment" is running for prime minister. In this case the candidate is called Waldo, No Donald, and is a blue (instead of orange) 3D animated bear. The chapter prophesied the frivolous, intransigent and supposedly anti-system course that politics would take in the following years due to the absolute discredit of the rulers.

2x04. White Christmas

The Christmas special Black Mirror takes advantage of his extra minutes to narrate three related stories starring Jon Hamm (Don Draper in Mad Men). In "White Christmas" a device allows to blockwho we want to the point of no longer seeing and hearing them, and computerized copies of ourselves can be used as slaves to do basic computing tasks. Among other topics, this episode, especially dark and disturbing, analyzes the attitude that people will adopt when artificial intelligence advances to acquire emotions and sense of identity, and delves into the dehumanization to which technological progress leads us.

3x01. Nosedive

"Plummet" is inspired byPeeple, a real app that allows us to value other people based on our interactions with them. following the style Black Mirror of taking everyday technology to the extreme, for the characters in this chapter everything depends on their assessment (between 0 and 5 stars), from social status to the possibility of finding floor. In a few hours, the protagonist goes from being a person concerned only with appearances to the emotional catharsis of those who free themselves from the tyranny of "what will they say", embodied today in the "likes”.

3x02. Playtesting (“Playtest”)

A young backpacker's credit card number is stolen and he decides to try a videogame of virtual reality in exchange for money to be able to return home. In addition to presenting in a very suggestive way, in a nightmare environment, the possibilities of reality augmented and personalization of video games based on personal experiences, this chapter of Black Mirror talks about the use of technology to escape lifereal from the story of the protagonist, who doesn't feel able to interact with his mother after his father died from the Alzheimer disease.

3x03. Shut up and dance (“Shut up and dance”)

A teenager is recorded on his webcam while he masturbates, and the person who obtained the video threatens to send it to all of his contacts if he doesn't follow the instructions. The paraphilias are relevant in this episode, which presents, like several others of Black Mirror, characters with whom the spectator empathize and that they turn out to have carried out morally reprehensible conduct what we are given to understand at the beginning of the chapter.

3x04. San Junipero (“San Junipero”)

Probably the only episode of Black Mirror That can be described as positive to a certain degree, "San Junípero" is a nostalgic story that revisits the 80s. The chapter explores the possibility of theLife after death through the transfer of our minds to virtual media. He also reflects on the love in the last stages of life and about lost opportunities, and uses love relationships as a central theme between homosexual and bisexual people who have lived in times when their preferences were not legitimized by the society.

• Related article: “5 attitudes towards death”

3x05. The science of killing (“Men against fire”)

In this episode's alternate world, soldiers with neural implants that enhance their senses exterminate humanoid beings known as "cockroaches." "The science of killing" is a particularly sinister chapter that reflects on the dehumanization to which the military submits in order to carry out the brutal actions of the war, as well as about the false truths that governments use to justify their war campaigns before public opinion.

• Related article: “The Milgram experiment: the danger of obeying authority”

3x06. National hatred (“Hated in the nation”)

The longest episode of Black Mirror It is a police thriller with a format that is closer to what would be typical of a movie than to the rest of the episodes in the series. In "National Hate," set in the very plausible near future, every day The person who is tagged the most times diesOn twitter with the hashtag “#MuerteA”. The central themes of the plot are the virtual bullying and the diffusion of responsibility that occurs in public lynchings that take place on social networks: if the death of someone depends on the hatred of many people, is the fault of the victim or of each one of those who would like that died?