Mogliano Veneto, ITALY – “Black Mirror” is famous for being a thought-provoking, disturbing series made up of dystopian tales that reflect modern-day society.
Listen to the author read this review:
In the “Black Mirror” episode “Common People,” which was released last year, the show’s unsettling true nature is on display in all its glory.
The first episode of season seven of the show follows Mike Waters [Chris O’Dowd] and Amanda [Rashida Jones,] who are trying to conceive a baby.
While teaching at a primary school, Amanda collapses and falls into a coma because of an inoperable brain tumor. Mike is then offered a solution which will allow his wife to regain consciousness, but will force the couple to pay a monthly subscription fee to the service, Rivermind.
At first, the system seems to work. Amanda is able to work and live a somewhat normal life. But as new versions of the Rivermind are released, the couple struggles to keep up with the rising costs of the program, but not upgrading to the new versions has its own cost.
Amanda is constantly tired, and breaks out in spontaneous ads while talking, causing her to lose her job. Mike fights his own battles, taking on extra shifts until he is forced to resort to a disturbing, deeply unsettling solution.
In “Common People,” the true enemy isn’t Rivermind – which still proves to be a piece of lifesaving technology – but its creators. The greed of the capitalist system, shown in its most negative form, enslaves them.
It turns what could be a revolutionary implant into a corporate trap to sponsor other brands through its clients, while stripping them of their savings with no prior warning.
“Common People” warns us how easily a system can become corrupt and just how much damage it can deal to someone’s life.
Amanda and Mike don’t only lose their saving and salaries, but their dignity, autonomy and health as well.
Amanda’s body becomes an ad platform as she starts spontaneously promoting companies that sponsor Rivermind.
She loses control over her own body, her freedom, and furthermore her profession as a primary school teacher. Mike, who is pulling extra shifts as a manual laborer, is then forced to resort to a trashy, dark platform that goes by the name Dum Dummies, where he commits obscene acts, sacrificing his pride, to scrape up enough money for their monthly subscription.
All this for Amanda’s health to simply deteriorate even more.
Her life suddenly turns from a right to a privilege the couple can’t afford. This is a horror that hits too close to home as the price of healthcare continues to rise in many countries and more and more families suffer because of its cost.
Because of how much the story reflects our modern day world, the choice of actors is poor.
Although O’Dowd and Jones portray their roles in a raw and profound way, their fame clashes with the title and symbolism behind “Common People.”
Hiring two unsung actors to interpret the roles of the main characters would’ve made the episode even more gut-wrenching and disturbing.
The most horrifying part of the episode is perhaps its Platonic ending. It announces a chilling statement – that the only way to escape a corporate and capitalist system is suicide.
This episode ends on the most bitter of notes, reminding us that the system made them pay their throughout their whole lives. The only thing that they actually didn’t have to pay was death itself.
Gaia Stella Crose is a Junior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
