Black Mirror: 15 Million Merits

In this episode we are shown the future reality world and a sarcastic version of a reality show where people live in a secluded world. They must exercise on a bike daily, arranged in cells in order to power their surroundings and generate currency for themselves called Merits. The only way to get out of the world is to impress 3 judges at a talent show called “Hot Shots” (basically X Factor but a very exaggerated version).

This episode sums up the title of the series ‘Black Mirror’ which is partly a reference to an Arcade Fire song and partly an allusion to a turned off screen: all you see is a black reflection staring back. Nearly every surface in the episode was a screen. From the moment inhabitants of this dystopia woke up to the moment they went to sleep they were always looking at a monitor. An individual could even incur a penalty by shutting their eyes and not looking at a display.

Again, technology was a big part of this programme and showed our addiction to the digital world. Have all we come to is looking at a computer screen all day? Is the best way of communicating with people is through a screen rather than face to face? It also shows how far reality shows have come in this modern day and age and what has become of it. The writers in the programme have blatantly criticized reality shows for how they are made and then shown towards the audience. It is a scintillating piece that addresses how these shows work and how they manipulate and meld people so that they can be sold on the market. They are showing that reality shows may be pristine on the outside but on the inside they are much more of a vicious and cruel nature. This could be relatable to our film where if you get a character/building they may be pure and good/beautiful on the outside but on the inside you may get a person that is morally evil or a building that has toxic chemicals that you wouldn’t expect.