By Daniel J Broadley
Image: Netflix
Charlie Brooker returned to our screens on Friday with his third instalment of the dystopian Black Mirror series, making its Netflix debut.
Brooker certainly hasn’t lost his touch. This first episode takes a scathing look at social media and the way in which people compare their lives to others. The fakeness of residents in this idealistic, pastel-coloured American suburb is cringeworthy, but not too far from the world we know today.
Everyone is rated by a five star system via a smartphone app after every social interaction. It creates a hierarchy, with those with higher ratings receiving increased privileges.
But the episode questions who is really happy; the ‘upper class’ – 4.5 stars and above – are all fake smiles and plastic laughs, whereas 3.5 and below seem to be freed of a suppressive social hierarchy, all of which is reminiscent of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.
Unlike previous episodes of Black Mirror, rather than leaving us feeling like the world is doomed to be glued to screens for eternity, Nosedive offers an optimistic twist. It tells us not to worry about what others think of you, to speak your mind, be honest and not to pretend to be something you’re not for the sake of some Facebook likes.
All six episodes of season 3 of Black Mirror are now available on Netflix.
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