Email this article Reality on the Screen: The Subject of the Dystopian Future/Present. Thoughts on episode “Fifteen Million Merits” of Black Mirror
Abstract
Currently one of the most controversial and intriguing science fiction series on television, Black Mirror (Channel 4, Zeppotron, 2011–present) gained worldwide popularity through dealing with the issues of technologically-driven society of the near future. The levels of similarity and dissimilarity with contemporary Western society are carefully balanced in order to make a significant cognitive and psychological impact on viewers.
This paper focuses on analyses of the second episode from the first season, titled “Fifteen Million Merits”. In it, people spend most of their days in an automated, high technology environment, surrounded by video screens. Their attention is focused mainly on performing one rather mundane task (cycling on stationary bicycles), and their sparse interpersonal relationships are also carried out through a particular kind of social network. The screens are also the source of fulfillment of individuals’ consumerist and diversionist leanings. Having in mind the theorization of the subject in cyber-space and screen as an interface, as well as questions that emerge from the field of contemporary media ecology, the primary objective of this article is to investigate the complex relations between human subjects and their virtual realities, the entertainment industry, and communication technologies.
Article received: March 30, 2018; Article accepted: May 10, 2018; Published online: October 15, 2018; Original scholarly paper
How to cite this article: Radovanović, Bojana. "Reality on the Screen: The Subject of the Dystopian Future/Present. Thoughts on episode “Fifteen Million Merits” of Black Mirror." AM Journal of Art and Media Studies 17 (2018): 103−112. doi: 10.25038/am.v0i17.275
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
Anton, Corey. Communication Uncovered: General Semantics and Media Ecology. Fort Worth: Institute of General Semantics, 2011.
boyd, danah. “Participating in the Always-On Lifestyle.” In The Social Media Reader, edited by Michael Mandiberg, 71–76. New York, London: New York University Press, 2012.
Brooker, Charlie. “The Dark Side of Our Gadget Addiction.” The Guardian, Dec. 1, 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/dec/01/charlie-brooker-dark-side-gadget-addiction-black-mirror. Accessed February 10, 2018.
Cavarero, Adriana. For More than One Voice: Toward a Philosophy of Vocal Expression, trans. by Paul Kottman. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2005.
Mandiberg, Michael. “Introduction.” In The Social Media Reader, edited by Michael Mandiberg, 1–10. New York, London: New York University Press, 2012.
Manovič, Lev. Jezik novih medija. Beograd: Clio, 2015.
Michaud, Tomas. “Science Fiction and Politics: Cyberpunk Science Fiction as Political Philosophy.” In New Boundaries in Political Science Fiction, edited by Donald M. Hassler and Clyde Wilcox, 65–77. South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2008.
Rosen, Jay. “The People Formerly Known as the Audience.” In The Social Media Reader, edited by Michael Mandiberg, 13–16. New York, London: New York University Press, 2012.
Singh, Greg. “Recognition and the image of mastery as themes in Black Mirror (Channel 4, 2011–present): an eco-Jungian approach to ‘always-on’ culture.” International Journal of Jungian Studies 6, 2 (2014): 120–32. doi: 10.1080/19409052.2014.905968
Stojnić, Aneta. Teorija izvođenja u digitalnoj umetnosti. Beograd: Fakultet za medije i komunikacije, OrionArt, 2015.
Stojnić, Aneta. “The Problem of the Political in Cyberspace.” AM Journal of Art and Media 7 (2015): 103–109.
Žižek, Slavoj. The Matrix, or, the Two Sides of Perversion. http://www.lacan.com/zizek-matrix.htm. Accessed September 16, 2017.
Žižek, Slavoj. “ʻI Hear You With My Eyes!, or, the Invisible Master.” In Gaze and Voice as Love Objects, edited by Renata Salecl and Slavoj Žižek, 90–126. Durham, NC, London: Duke University Press, 1996.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i17.275
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2018 AM Journal of Art and Media Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
AM Journal of Art and Media Studies ISSN 2217-9666 - printed, ISSN 2406-1654 - online, UDK 7.01:316.774
Contact: amjournal@outlook.com
Publisher: Faculty of Media and Communications, Singidunum University, Belgrade, Serbia
Indexed in: ERIH PLUS, EBSCO, DOAJ, and in The List of Scientific Journals Categorization of Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia (M24-2021). Beginning with No. 12 2017, AM is indexed, abstracted and covered in Clarivate Analytics service ESCI.