Black Mirror

About

Black Mirror is a British science fiction television anthology series created by Charlie Brooker, which is best known for its dark, dystopian storylines centered around the consequences of emerging technologies. The first two seasons, including a Christmas special, were released on British Channel 4, with subsequent seasons released on Netflix. The series has received critical acclaim and gained a significant following online.

History

On December 4th, 2011, Black Mirror premiered on British Channel 4, with the first season consisting of three episodes. Charlie Brooker wrote the first episode "The National Anthem" and also wrote the second episode "Fifteen Million Merits" with Kanak Huq. The last and third episode in the season "The Entire History of You" was written by Jesse Armstrong. On February 11th, 2013, Season 2 of the series premiered on Channel 4, which contained three episodes written by Brooker. On December 16th, 2014, a Christmas special episode titled "White Christmas" was released starring Jon Hamm, which was written by Brooker and directed by Carl Tibbetts.

In September 2015, Netflix commissioned 12 episodes of the show. On October 21st, 2016, Season 3 of the series was released on Netflix.

Bandersnatch

On December 27th, 2018, Netflix uploaded the trailer for the Black Mirror "event" entitled "Bandersnatch." The post received more than 1.7 million views in 24 hours.

The following day, Netflix premiered the first Black Mirror "event," a choose-your-own-adventure-styled film called "Bandersnatch. In the film, viewers can select the main character's choices, changing the outcome of the film (trailer below). While there are 312 minutes of footage shot for the film, the average runtime is about 90 minutes.^[4]

The response to the film was overwhelmingly positive, particularly on Twitter, where fans and critics praised "Bandersnatch." BuzzFeed TV Editor Scott Bryan tweeted,^[5] "Without spoilers – the whole film is CYOA. Options appear at the bottom of the screen and you tap when prompted. Amazingly, the screen does not fade to black or stops. The film continues with your option chosen as if you never tapped it. This is astounding." The tweet received more than 300 retweets and 1,900 likes in 24 hours (shown below, left).

Others tweeted about actually participating in the interactive elements of the story, describing even the most mundane decisions as stressful. Twitter^[6] user @unlitmemes tweeted, "THE FIRST ACTUAL CHOICE WAS SUGAR PUFFS OR FROSTIES AND IM STRESSED ALREADY #Bandersnatch." The tweet received more than 680 retweets and 2,400 likes in 24 hours (shown below, center). Twitter^[7] user @kfhtreason tweeted a Daily Struggle meme featuring two buttons both reading "fuck stefan's life up," referring to the decisions made on the main character's behalf. The post received more than 230 retweets and 830 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Twitter also published several Moments pages based on the reaction and anticipation for the episode.^[8][9][10]

Online Presence

On September 9th, 2012, the /r/BlackMirror^[3] subreddit was created for discussions about the series. In November 2015, the @BlackMirror Twitter feed was launched, garnering upwards of 135,000 followers in the next two years. In December, the official Black Mirror Facebook^[2] page was created, which gained over 678,000 likes in two years.

Parodies

On July 17th, 2016, YouTuber Bona Weiss Media uploaded a Pokemon GO-themed Black Mirror parody (shown below, left). On December 9th, Funny or Die released a parody of the show titled "Realistic Black Mirror" (shown below, right).

Reception

The show's first season earned critical and audience acclaim an 8.9/10 on IMBD, a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a score of 4.9/5 on Facebook. The show has won a number of accolades with the show winning Best TV Movie/Miniseries at the International Emmy Awards. The A.V. Club placed it on the Best of 2013 list and actress Bryce Dallas Howard received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her performance in the Season 3 episode "Nosedive."

Season 5 Reaction

On June 4th, 2019, the fifth of season Black Mirror premiered on Netflix. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes^[11] the season received a score of 63% (based on 19 reviews). The site's critical consensus states, "Though Black Mirror's abbreviated fifth season never quite reaches the heights (or surprises) of previous installments, it remains one of TVs most thought-provoking offering -- for better or worse."

Following the show's release, fans on social media website Twitter began expressing their opinions of the season. Twitter^[12] user @robinc137 posted a Me Explaining meme with the caption "Me explaining black mirror to my friends." The post received more than 1,700 likes and 550 retweets in 24 hours (shown below, left). Twitter^[13] user @triviaminnie tweeted, "lemme tell you black mirror is on some SHIT." Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 2,800 likes and 570 retweets (shown below, center). Twitter^[14] user @ashleyippolito tweeted, "it’s 4:30 am but guess who just finished the new season of black mirror ahahahahah ᶦ’ᵐ ˢᶜᵃʳᵉᵈ ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ˢᵉⁿᵈ ʰᵉˡᵖ." The tweet received more than 1,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below, right).

Fans were especially laudatory of singer Miley Cyrus' performance on the series. Twitter user @DanOffTheRadio tweeted, "Just watched the new @blackmirror feat. @MileyCyrus and its REALLY good. Love the way the show takes reality and ONLY JUST tweaks it. Super sinister, Miley is great in it… Now I'm worried about all my fave pop stars. Hope you're OK huns." Within 24 hours, the tweet received more than 895 like and 190 retweets (shown below).

Twitter published two Moments pages on the reaction to the season.^[15][16]

Just watched the new blackmirror</a> feat. <a href="https://twitter.com/MileyCyrus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">MileyCyrus and its REALLY good. Love the way the show takes reality and ONLY JUST tweaks it. Super sinster, Miley is great in it… Now I'm worried about all my fave pop stars. Hope you're OK huns.
@NetflixUK pic.twitter.com/fcQnDoWgBG

— Dan Morrissey (@DanOffTheRadio) June 5, 2019

Search Interest

External References