The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

The student newspaper of Bucks County Community College

The Centurion

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Black Mirror Continues to Captivate

Black Mirror, a creation of Britain’s Charlie Brooker, is a show like no other, leaving you with a disoriented feeling and existential thoughts.
Black Mirror is a science fiction anthology series that originally aired on British Channel 4, but now is available for streaming on Netflix. This series features three seasons, ranging from three to six episodes per season, each being around 1 hour long.
Each episode on Black Mirror takes place in the future, all with a plot of plausible scenarios that may possibly be achievable in our lifetime. Each episode has a different storyline, with different characters as well.
These stories can range from the invention of eye contacts, allowing you to have a pause, rewind, and play button on your entire life, to a VR-like, simulation game system able to enter your deepest, darkest fears.
After watching each episode, you may experience emotional exhaustion but with an even greater urge to dive into another episode. The stories that Black Mirror shows plays with every emotion or extreme thought you’ve ever had.
The most recent season that has come out, is receiving great feedback, which is much deserved.
Season three consists of stories of love, war, and social acceptance. The first episode, “Nosedive,” perfectly depicts the world that comes along with social media. The show follows a young woman, living in a society where social media credibility is at the forefront of everyone’s lives.
Each person is locked into their devices, constantly rating or liking each person they come into contact with. Everyone has a personal status; the higher the number, the higher on the social ladder you are. With everyone striving for perfection, there is no room for error, which in consequence of that, would mean a lower social ranking.
This episode alone facilitates our own fears of unacceptance and makes you wonder the lengths people are willing to go to achieve social recognition.
My personal favorite episode, “San Junipero”, makes you question what actually happens after you die. It also features stunning cinematography, making you want to experience this surreal dystopia for yourself.
This story follows two young women, Kelly and Yorkie, and their journey of love and defiance of space and time.
This episode is set in a magical California-esque party town, everyone there being young, beautiful, and worry-free.
This is one of the more Americanized episode in Black Mirror, where other ones are set in the U.K.
As the episode escalates, the dialogue starts to implement some ideas of these two having a previous life, Yorkie confesses her diagnoses of death, and so Kelly invites her to meet her in “real life.”
Confused, the episode goes on to show an elderly woman visiting her friend at a futuristic looking hospital, where we see that these two women are Yorkie and Kelly.
We are soon to find that people are offered different options for an afterlife other than just death, where if you choose, can exist in an alternate reality for the rest of eternity.
Upon finishing this episode, you may be left with an eerie feeling in the pit of your stomach and a face wet from tears.
Not only is this series an extraordinary example of where society and technology seems to be headed towards, it is a perfect reflection of where humans seems to be going as well.