Essentially this generation’s Twilight Zone, Black Mirror is one of the most culturally relevant television series in today’s day and age. With the increasingly fast advancement of technology, there are a lot of dangerous realities that come with these many new inventions and technologies.
Often times Black Mirror has been able to successfully predict the future. Whether it be future events, cultural changes, or even specific technological advances, there is much the show has successfully predicted. Here are ten times that Black Mirror predicted the future.
10. Avatars
In ‘The Waldo Moment’, the main character becomes famous using a cartoon avatar as his proxy. Essentially he is able to capture his comedic performance and turn it into this cartoon that lambasts people on live tv.
In a reflection of this animated avatars are becoming more and more popular. Apple even recently released its new Animoji program that creates animal emoji avatars based on users’ faces. Also, the onset of motion capture technology has advanced to the point where actors’ performances can be mapped onto a digital avatar live.
9. We’re All Big Brother
In the episode called ‘White Bear’, it appears as though the world’s citizens cannot take their eyes off of their devices. They constantly use these devices to record and watch the protagonist throughout the episode.
It turns out that in real life, this is becoming increasingly the case. It seems that anytime an important event is happening or a crime is being committed, someone nearby is present and ready to film the whole thing with their smartphone. It’s also becoming the case that more and more mundane aspects of life are also being recorded. Everywhere you look, there is a camera ready to catch your every move.
8. Social Media Addiction
In the episode, ‘Nosedive’, audiences are given a look into a world where likes are a sort of currency. We follow the main character, played expertly by Bryce Dallas Howard, as she tries to make her way through this crazy world.
Throughout the episode, as Howard’s character gets fewer and fewer likes, she begins to deteriorate psychologically. In reality, today’s youth especially are struggling with this reality of social media. It turns out that every like is a big hit of dopamine, and essentially people can get addicted to social media. If you fail to get enough likes and interactions from “friends,” that can have a negative effect on your mental health.
7. Passing the Uncanny Valley
In ‘Be Right Back’, a character is brought back to life in the form of a completely identical robot. Although he was manufactured by human beings, this robot seems to be completely lifelike; he is completely indistinguishable from any normal human being.
Modern technology is getting to the point where we are getting past the uncanny valley. Both computer-generated effects and even robotics, scientists and artists are creating life-like representations of human beings that are nearly identical to the beings they are imitating.
6. Human Batteries
‘Fifteen Million Merits’ from the show’s first season shows a community that powers itself using humans on bikes. While the practicality of such a system seems unrealistic, there are actually recent developments in this type of technology.
Scientists at MIT have helped created wearable technology that people can use as their own personal power supply. Additionally, in Brazil, certain inmates are allowed to ride stationary bikes that serve as batteries for their prison’s power supply.
5. Freemium
In the world of ‘Fifteen Million Merits’, the citizens of this strange complex are forced to do tireless work in order to earn digital currency that they can use on various products such as food and entertainment.
This has been reflected in reality through the onset of freemium gaming. In freemium gaming, players are forced to perform various remedial, tireless, and often boring tasks in order to earn some sort of in-game currency. Since this episode aired, freemium gaming has become very, very common, especially on mobile devices.
4. Digital Resurrection
Hayley Atwell and Brendan Gleeson both gave wonderful performances in the episode titled ‘Be Right Back’. Gleeson plays the husband of Atwell’s character. After his tragic death, Atwell’s character resorts to interesting tactics to bring him back. Using data gathered from his social media accounts, a company is able to essentially create a new, artificial version of the husband.
A social media company is rapidly making this seemingly unrealistic technological ambition a reality. ETER9 is a social media network that gathers all of your digital information to create an AI-based on your personality. The creepy storylines of Black Mirror are much more realistic than you think.
3. Record Your History
One of the best episodes of Black Mirror is ‘The Entire History of You’. The focus of this episode is a small piece of technology, a type of contact lens, that can record everything you see and do. Then, you can use the memory of this device to look back at all your memories and essentially relive them.
With devices such as Google glasses and a Kapture, a wristband that is constantly recording, this technology is coming closer and closer to reality. In fact, Samsung already has designs for a type of contacts that would perform the exact same function as the contact lenses in the show.
2. Pig Love
‘National Anthem’ depicts a hostage situation where a British princess is kidnapped. Among the kidnappers’ demands are that the Prime Minister performs an intimate act with a pig on live television.
Only a few years later, rumors came out that the British Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron, had allegedly performed similar deeds with a pig’s head during his college days. While this prediction was not a technological one like many of the others, it is nonetheless equally uncanny in its accuracy.
1. Cancel Culture
In the episode ‘Hated in the Nation’, a semi-anonymous army of twitter users all vote on who’s worthy of death using the “#Deathto” hashtag. Then, whoever the unfortunate “winner” of the vote is gets murdered by an army of tiny bee-drones.
This is sadly reminiscent of modern-day social media culture, although thankfully without the bee-drones. Much like in the show, modern-day celebrities are constantly being called out on social media for any past slights. It always seems as though the army of twitter trolls responsible is hoping to essentially “kill” these celebrities’ careers. ‘Hated in the Nation’ could not be more relevant than today.
