Warning, spoilers. It is recommended that you watch the first two episodes of Black Mirror Season 6 before continuing with this article.
After four years, the sixth season of Black Mirror is finally available on Netflix. This new burst of episodes is more surprising and overall less focused on technological abuse, as it is also directed towards fantastical and more modern and even historical society criticism.
This means that Charlie Brooker, the creator of the anthology series, enjoys commenting on technologies that we know very well and that we use every day, such as streaming platforms like… Netflix.
Which is pretty brave and cynical since Black Mirror is available on the same streaming service. Charlie Brooker hijacked the American Giant’s name to create an ersatz version of the American Giant that he called the “Strimmer.”
And the platform appears in the first two episodes of the series’ 6th season, “Joan Horrible” and “Loch Henry”, in a rather clear reflection on the issues related to the streaming service.
Black Mirror pays Netflix
Thus, “Joan is Scary” tells how Joan (Annie Murphy), an ordinary woman, is shocked to discover that the global streaming service Streamberry has turned her life into a TV drama starring actress Salma Hayek. When her existence, her thoughts, her flaws and her quirks are revealed to the world in this series that chronicles her life, Joan loses it and loses everything.
But he understands that no legal help is possible because he accepted the terms of use (without reading them) when he created his account, which implied the creation of a series and the possibility of a fictional story. To make matters worse, Joan, who is actually the actress Annie Murphy herself, and Salma Hayek realize they are fictional versions of the real Joan, who suffers from the abuse of Streamer, who uses special effects and deep fakes.
It can be said that the first episode of Black Mirror season 6 received a great response from Netflix subscribers. Some are horrified, others understand the relevance of the episode, while some netizens also mocked Netflix, which was recently criticized for stopping password sharing.
Charlie Brooker explains in the press kit for this new season that he couldn’t parody, rip off, and mock Netflix’s “Joan Horrible” if the series wasn’t available on that streaming service: “Netflix is suing us because of how similar Streamberry is to their corporate identity. It took us a few conversations to ask Netflix if we could replicate their homepage and corporate identity and they said yes.”
Does Netflix really have to make fun of itself, or did the company really have no choice but to embrace parody, even self-criticism? “It’s ridiculous to bite the hand of the Streamer platform. If someone asks me, “Is this a shared world? I can say yes and it can also be my solution to any inconsistencies in the series. .”
But Black Mirror Season 6 doesn’t just attack the platform, its algorithms and terms of use, it also attacks its content. The second episode, “Loch Henry,” follows a young couple, Davies (Sam Blenkin) and Pia (Mihala Herold), as they investigate a peaceful Scottish village known for its haunting past.
Davis and Pia decide to investigate local rumors related to the horrific events of the past and make a documentary about a serial killer who has been kidnapping, torturing, raping and killing tourists for several years.
But while interrogating the residents of Loch Henry, Davies and Pia discover dark secrets connected to the Davies family, who have been involved in a series of disappearances and massacres just like another killer. During their research, Pia leaves her life there, and Davis ends up releasing a documentary about the case, which will be streamed on Streamberry, of course, a platform that replicates Netflix and that even wins awards.
Subscribers to the streaming service were quick to point out the irony of the episode, as Netflix is known for its many documentaries. true crime, which are very popular. But the American giant was also under fire from critics when the Dahmer series came out.
Although Ryan Murphy’s series was fictional, it was based on the true story of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Some of the victims’ families criticized Netflix for not warning them about the project and exploiting their trauma, and even Jeffrey Dahmer’s father wanted to file a lawsuit. The creator later responded to the controversies generated by the series.
Translation: “Not Black Mirror quietly criticizes Netflix for using true stories in Loch Henry”
Charlie Brooker wanted to capture this phenomenon of documentaries true crime with “Loch Henry” and sign a whole new narrative direction in Black Mirror season 6. He also reformulated and modernized the idea of Streamberry in writing due to criticism of streaming services, as he wrote “Loch Henry” before “Joan is Horrible”. If the creator deviates from a pure critique of technology, he fully considers it: “Black Mirror, when it’s not a technology satire, it’s a media satire”.
Black Mirror Season 6 is available on Netflix.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
