Black Mirror Reflection

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In this “Digital Age” that we currently live in, it becomes very easy for an individual to become infatuated with the amount of social media outlets available on the internet. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat all revolve around the idea of showcasing one’s personal life for the sake of receiving positive feedback or attention by peers and strangers from the outside world. An episode of the Netflix sci-fi anthology series, “Black Mirror,” decides to tackle this topic in a surreal yet imaginative way. The episode in particular, “Nosedive,” investigates a hypothetical future or alternate universe where social media profiles and star ratings have become the norm. The plot revolves around a young lady named Lacie, who …show more content…

During an elevator scene, we see Lacie and another woman engage in small talk. However they are constantly seen looking at each other’s profiles rather than actually making a genuine effort at eye to eye conversation. This is an obvious reference to how we as humans are becoming more reliant on mobile devices to stimulate our need for socializing and entertainment, rather than making genuine interactions with other people. It seems more easier to just isolate oneself in a digital world with Youtube, Twitter, and a plethora of smartphone apps than it is to talk to the person right next to you. In another notable scene, Lacie is seen getting visibly frustrated at the airport, to the point where she begins swearing. The woman at the front desk tells her to “monitor her language” and the customers behind her give her low star ratings for her inappropriate behavior. This scene is an obvious nod to online monitoring of speech. The rise of social media has given people the ability to critique, bully, or even attack other people for displaying behavior that they deem offensive, something the average person wouldn’t do in real life. Entire websites like Twitter and Youtube have begun censoring tweets and videos that they believe displays speech that could be seen as too much for some viewers to handle. One last

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