When reality begins to attract dystopian fiction, such speculative stories lose their edge over time. The same can be said about the latest records in Charlie Bruker's "Black Mirror", a show once greeted as a gloomy provocatively in the best sense of the term. It is possible that our present reality is so hopelessly strange that the warning, pessimistic stories of the show cannot help, but to feel hollow compared.

Ad

However, the "Black Mirror" has repeatedly told in a timely manner, provocative stories of redundancy, absurd metropolis and stable deletion of everything that makes us human. The series brings a special vibration to mainstream television, the one where we starve for stories that push the boundaries of the genre as they force us to slow down and think. There is a conscious desire for episodes that take wild swings, especially those that combine the cold coldness of technology with the heat of the human relationship (which is ultimately used).

An evolving entity as the "Black Mirror" apparently influenced other television shows with thematic or conceptual overlays. For example, the element of mind bending, time loop in the episode "White Christmas" informed several basic concepts in "Grade"“While The San Jununipero served as a tone benchmark for Damon Lindeloff's "Ms Davis". But what are the influences that shaped the "black mirror" as an anthology interested in a particular brand of speculative fiction? Talking to The deadline In 2024, Brooker cited a bunch of inspirations, starting from Truman Show to the "Dusk Zone". However, the show -David Fincher's "Se7en" cited as perhaps the biggest when it comes to the "Vibe" series:

Ad

"I recently watched" Truman Show "again because I showed it to my children who are 10 and 12 years old and they wanted it. And I almost forgot how influential it was for me as a writer. I think that in terms of "Black Mirror", the most valuable films are probably "Dusk Zone", "Robocop" and "Robocop" and "Se7en". At the end of "Se7en" is often something I direct. "

While Brooker said this short time Season 6 "Black Mirror" premiered on NetflixIt is safe to say that the feeling persists and that the "black mirror" still aims to channel the morally violated conclusion of "Se7en". But what exactly did Brooker mean this? Let's rethink "Se7en" and think about how his ruthless last moments inform what the show stands for.

To refresh your memory: "Se7en" takes place in an unnamed, lawless city where two detectives - William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and David Mills (Brad Pitt) - work together to stop a serial killer (Kevin Spacey). While Somerset is more stuck and excluded from the terrible reality of his work, Mills is more passionate about the good struggle, determined to find a silver sheath. This difference in the perspective stems from the fact that Somerset is almost at the end of his career (worn out of the cruelty of the world). Mills, on the other hand, is not only at the beginning of his, but also has a lifetime with his wife Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), to expect. However, climate confrontation with the killer (called Johnon Doe) suffocates Mills's tender dreams in the latest possible way, leading to one of the most intense, heart lines in film history: "What's in the box?"

Ad

Somerset, a picture of apathy during "Se7en", is thoroughly shaken by the contents of the box. After estimating that the box contains a cut head of TracyMills is manipulated by fulfilling the DOO DOO (Spacey) killing scheme. Killing Mills's hopes and dreams of an oversee life (on which the killer could only strive for), DOOO DOE embodies envy, and if Mills pushes him to shoot from the anger of sadness, he will embody anger. This is exactly how things are going in the end, as the whole world of Mills has collapsed the moment Somerset asks the contents of the box. Even the most famous, optimistic justice is eventually spoiled by evil. Even with the perpetrator dead, true justice stays out of reach.

Ad

As cynical as this area is, Fincher springs a slope of hope When Somerset decides to withdraw for good. "About. In a sense, Mills's innate optimism now nurtures his partner, who finally realizes that the world is worth fighting. This is not strictly hopeful because it is at best bitter but infinitely it is better to Do something For a spoiled world than to distance itself in an apathetic bubble.

Circling the "Black Mirror", I believe that Brooker wants to catch this bitter feeling, where the traps of the dystopian world should be acknowledged, but the hopeless lecture is not the answer. Although not every episode in anthology can accept cautious optimism, a comprehensive vibration can be more significant than the comprehensive darkness of the reality that can still change.