Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory

Contributions by Michael Mario Albrecht, Osei Alleyne, Francois Allard-Huver, Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, Derek R. Blackwell, Angela M. Cirucci, Sarah J. Constant, Mathieu dAquin, Eleanor Drage, Julie Escurignan, Erin Espelie, Antoine Faure, Matthew Flisfeder, Julia M. Hildebrand, Manel Jiménez-Morales, Hillary A. Jones, Morten Stinus Kristensen, Diana Leon-Boys, Marta Lopera-Mármol, Romin Rajan, Carlos A. Scolari, Erika M. Thomas, Pinelopi Troullinou, Macarena Urzúa Opazo, Barry Vacker Edited by Angela M. Cirucci, Barry Vacker

Publication date:

31 October 2018

Length of book:

274 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

229x159mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781498573535

Black Mirror is The Twilight Zone of the twenty-first century. Already a philosophical classic, the series echoes the angst of an era, a civilization and consciousness fully engulfed in the 24/7 media spectacle spanning the planet. With clever plots and existential themes, Black Mirror presents near-futures where humans collide with technology and each other—tomorrows that might arrive in five years or five minutes. Featuring scholars from three continents and ten nations, Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory is an international collection of critical media theory applied to one of the most intellectually provocative TV shows of our time and the all-too-real conditions that inspire it. Drawing from thinkers such as Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, Guy Debord, Marshall McLuhan, and Paul Virilio, the authors reverse-engineer Black Mirror by probing the ideas, meanings, and conditions embedded in the episodes. This book is organized around six key topics reflected and explored in Black Mirror—human identity, surveillance culture, spectacle and hyperreality, aesthetics, technology and existence, and dystopian futures.

Introduction

Section 1: Human Identity

Chapter 1: Race, Cyborgs, and the Pitfalls of Biopolitical Discourse in Black Mirror’s “Men Against Fire”
Diana Leon-Boys and Morten Stinus Kristensen
Chapter 2: Digitally Natural: Gender and Sexuality Norms in Black Mirror
Angela M. Cirucci
Chapter 3: A Virtual Ever-After: Utopia, Race, and Gender in Black Mirror’s “San Junipero”
Eleanor Drage

Section 2: Surveillance Culture

Chapter 4: Black Mirror’s “Nosedive” as a new Panopticon: Interveillance and Digital Parrhesia in Alternative Realities
Francois Allard-Huver and Julie Escurignan
Chapter 5: All Eyes on Me: Surveillance and the Digital Archive in “The Entire History of You”
Derek R. Blackwell
Chapter 6: Seeing the “Surveillant Face” of Technology in Black Mirror: Using Futuristic Scenarios for an Interdisciplinary Discussion on the Feasibility and Implications of Technology
Pinelopi Troullinou and Mathieu d’Aquin

Section 3: The Spectacle and Hyperreality

Chapter 7: Waldo Wins IRL: Donald Trump, Black Mirror, and the Politics of Jean Baudrillard’s Hyperreal
Michael Mario Albrecht
Chapter 8: Why Black Mirror is Really Written by Jean Baudrillard: A Philosophical Interpretation of Charlie Brooker’s Series
Manel Jiménez-Morales and Marta Lopera-Mármol
Chapter 9: Spectacular Tech-Nightmare: Broadcasting Guy Debord
Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns

Section 4: Aesthetics

Chapter 10: Rhetorical Ethics in Black Mirror: The Aesthetics of Existence in Hyperreality and Posthumanity
Hillary A. Jones
Chapter 11: The Hysterical Sublime: Black Mirror, “Playtest,” and the Crises of the Present
Matthew Flisfeder
Chapter 12: Black Mirror, White Spaces: Nihilism, Enlightenment, and Technology
Barry Vacker and Erin Espelie

Section 5: Technology and Existence

Chapter 13: Over-Extended Media: Hashtag Hatred and Domestic Drones
Julia M. Hildebrand
Chapter 14: Unbearable Burden: Discipline, Punishment, and Moral Dystopia in Black Mirror’s “White Bear”
Osei Alleyne
Chapter 15: The Entire Evolution of Media: A Media Ecological Approach to Black Mirror
Carlos A. Scolari

Section 6: Dystopian Futures

Chapter 16: Heterotopias and Utopias in Black Mirror: Michel Foucault on “San Junipero”
Sarah J. Constant
Chapter 17: Trapped in Dystopian Techno Realities: Nosediving into Simulation through Consumptive Viewing
Erika M. Thomas and Romin Rajan
Chapter 18: The Dystopia of the Spectator: Past Revival and Acceleration of Time in Black Mirror (“The Entire History of You” and “Be Right Back”)
Macarena Urzúa Opazo and Antoine Faure

Conclusion: Connecting Our Themes to Season Four and the Future

Index
About the Editors
About the Contributors

Black Mirror is a television program made to think with and, even to the casual viewer, it feels as though the stories plumb unseen depths at the intersection of human nature and the cutting edge of technology. Coming to grips with the deep currents of the show is difficult for the solo viewer, but Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory provides a set of maps for exploring this media text. Reading the collection is a bit like watching the show with a group of fans who share an interest in the structure of human culture. And like the show itself, each chapter stands well on its own but together they support a strong collection of thematic analyses that pull on the threads of ideas that run through each of the seasons of Black Mirror. Whether read by an interested fan or in the context of a course, there is something for every reader within this collection.