Reality on the Screen: The Subject of the Dystopian Future/Present. Thoughts on episode “Fifteen Million Merits” of Black Mirror

Bojana Radovanović

doi:10.25038/am.v0i17.275

Authors

Bojana Radovanović

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i17.275

Keywords:

Black Mirror, “Fifteen Million Merits”, dystopia, screen, interface, cyberspace, avatar/doppel

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

Author Biography

Bojana Radovanović

Bojana Radovanović
Institute of Musicology SASA, Belgrade
Serbia

Bojana Radovanović (1991), musicologist and art theoretician, is a PhD student at the Department of Musicology of the Faculty of Music, University of Arts in Belgrade. She holds master degrees in musicology (thesis: Science as Art – Interdisciplinarity in Dragutin Gostuški’s Scientific Works, 2015) and theory of art and media (thesis: Experimental Voice – Contemporary Theory and Practice, 2017). Her research interests include contemporary history and theory of music and art, art and popular music, relations between art and politics, theory of voice, theory of media. She publishes articles and studies in collections, Serbian and international magazines, and participates in national and international conferences, tribunes, and panel discussions. She works on archiving and promotion of Serbian film and art music on internet with association Serbian Composers. She is a collaborator with Belgrade’s Center for Popular Music Research and Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. She works as an associate and music critic at the Third Program of Radio Belgrade. Currently, she is engaged as a teaching associate at the Department of Musicology of the Faculty of Music in Belgrade.

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i17.275 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i17.275