INSTEAD, HULK FEELS LIKE IT'S A VAGUE SERIES OF KNEE-JERK REACTIONS TO POPULAR THINGS AND BASIC HUMAN INSTINCT TO BE TRANSFIXED BY WHAT WE REVILE, WHICH IN THE END, JUST RENDERS IT AS SEEMINGLY PURPOSELESS AS THE PAINTER'S PIECE OF NONSENSICAL PERFORMANCE ART ITSELF. YEAH, IT'S HEAVY-HANDED, BUT AT LEAST IT'S CLEAR). OUR LACK OF PAYING ATTENTION TO SERIOUS ISSUES IN SOCIETY, LIKE WHITE COLLAR CRIME FOR INSTANCE (AS IN THEY WOULD USE THE DISTRACTION TO ROB BANKS OR SOMETHING.
WHEN HULK GOT A SENSE OF WHERE IT WAS GOING WITH THE GETTING PEOPLE GLUED TO TV'S, HULK FOR SURE THOUGHT IT WAS GOING TO GO FOR SOME STRAIGHT-FORWARD METAPHOR ABOUT TABLOID INTERESTS VS. IT'S A SEEMINGLY WEIRD DIG AT HIS WIFE WITH AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF JUDGEMENT, LEAVING HULK ASKING: THIS IS WHAT YOU REALLY WANTED TO SAY WITH ALL THIS? THAT'S YOUR LAST AND MOST IMPORTANT SHOT?īUT IT'S PRECISELY ALL PART OF WHAT MAKES "THE NATIONAL ANTHEM" FEEL SO WEIRD. AND THEN MOST OF ALL, THERE'S THE WEIRD POWER OF THE LAST SHOT WHERE HIS WIFE WANTS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIM, SEEMINGLY DISGUSTED BY HIS ACTIONS (HEROIC SACRIFICE?) OF FUCKING THE PIG. AND THERE'S NO REAL MENTION OF IT OR WHAT IT MEANS FOR CONTEXT. BECAUSE THERE'S THAT WEIRD MOMENT THAT COMES OUT OF NOWHERE WHEN THE PRIME MINISTER LASHES OUT AT LINDSAY DUNCAN, CALLS HER A BITCH AND THEN ACCOSTS HER. THIS BRINGS US TO ONE OF THE FIRST THEMATIC TRADEMARKS OF THE BLACK MIRROR: AND THAT IS: "PARTICIPATION IN MODERN TECHNOLOGY / SOCIETY IS BAD." THAT'S PRETTY MUCH AS NUANCED AS IT GETS AND THIS EPISODE SHOWCASES A LOT OF THOSE KIND OF TRADEMARKS: LIKE THE PATENTED: "You all did a bad thing, so you all deserve the bad thing happen to you!" AND ALSO, KEEP TRACK OF SOME OF THE WEIRD GENDER STUFF ON THIS SHOW. AND WRAPPED IN THE TERRORISM ANGLE, IT'S PRESENTED ON A DRAMATIC LEVEL AS TANTAMOUNT TO YELLING: "Hey look over here at this crazy thing!" AND THEN: "You idiots, you looked over cause I told you to! When really you should have been looking over there!" THERE REALLY ISN'T A MORAL ARGUMENT GOING ON HERE THAT ISN'T INSANELY JUDGMENTAL OF SOCIETY'S BASIC UNDERSTANDABLE HABITS. TO WHICH, HULK PHILOSOPHICALLY QUESTIONS: IS THIS REALLY A FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED PART OF HUMAN PSYCHE, ONE EXACERBATED BY TECHNOLOGY, AND WORTHY OF BEING ADMONISHED? ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S ALL BEING ORCHESTRATED AS SOME KIND OF MASSIVE GAME OF TERRORISM? TO COMPARE, WAS IT ALSO SOME CARDINAL SIN THAT WE CLUNG TO OUR TVS DURING 9/11? AND IS THE IDEA THAT THE PRINCESS WAS RELEASED EARLIER AND NO ONE SAW SUPPOSED TO BE SOME CRITICAL IRONY? NO, SERIOUSLY, IS THE MERE HUMAN GAZE AT THESE THINGS SO INDICATIVE OF HUMAN AMORALITY? SAME WITH THE INABILITY TO LOOK AWAY? WHETHER IT IS SHOCK OR HORROR OR CALLOUSLY NOT CARING, IT DOES NOT SEEM TO MATTER. BECAUSE THE ONLY THING IT SEEMS TO REALLY REFLECT IS THE IDEA THAT PEOPLE WILL BECOME TRANSFIXED BY SOMETHING TABOO AND DISGUSTING.
YOU WILL NEVER FIND A MORE EMOTIONALLY GUT-WRENCHING EXPERIENCE OF WATCHING A PRIME MINISTER FUCK A PIG ON NATIONAL TELEVISION.ĪND TO THIS DAY, HULK HAS NO IDEA WHAT BROOKER IS ACTUALLY CRITICIZING IN THIS EPISODE.
IN ESSENCE, IT IS STRONG WRITING AND POWERFUL IN ITS EFFECT OF DRAMATIZATION. YOU CARE INSTANTLY AS THESE PEOPLE ARE SOON PRESENTED WITH THE HORRORS OF THE TECHNOLOGICALLY ABSURD. THE COMMITMENT TO A SENSE OF REALISM, DETAIL, AND NUANCED PERSONALITY MAKES IT ALL FEEL SO IMMEDIATE AND LIVED-IN. CHARACTERS COME TO LIFE WITH VIVID ARTICULATION. COOL? COOL.įROM THE START, THIS EPISODE SHOWS HOW VERY EASY IT IS TO FALL INTO THE WORLD OF BLACK MIRROR. IF YOU FEEL X OR Y IS VALID, HULK WOULD BE DELIGHTED IF YOU SPEAK UP. AND, OF COURSE, HULK MORE MEANS ALL THIS AS A START OF DISCUSSION. AND SINCE IT'S AN ANTHOLOGY SHOW, HULK'S GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH EACH EPISODE AND DIG INTO WHAT THOSE EPISODES ARE SAYING, BEFORE ADDING IT UP TO "THE OVERALL VIEWPOINT" OF THE SHOW ITSELF. AND TO THAT, ALL HULK CAN DO IS MAKE A CASE ABOUT HOW HULK FEELS. THIS IS LARGELY A CONVERSATION ABOUT VOICE, INTENT, AND MEANING. IF SOMEONE ELSE FINDS IT INSIGHTFUL, THAT'S COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY VALID. LOOK, THIS PUTS US SQUARELY INTO THE LARGER CONVERSATION OF SOMETHING THAT IS ESSENTIALLY INARGUABLE. THE PROBLEM IS THAT HULK OFTEN THINKS "WHAT IT IS TRYING TO SAY" IS KINDA BULLSHIT. AND LIKE THE BEST ANTHOLOGY SHOWS DEALING IN TOPICAL MORALITY: IT IS AWARE OF "WHAT IT'S TRYING TO SAY" AND OFTEN GOES ABOUT EXECUTING IT WITH RAZOR SHARP FOCUS AND REAL DRAMATIC CHOPS. IT'S MOODY, DARK, CANTANKEROUS, AND A GREAT A SHOW-PIECE FOR A LOT OF TALENTED ACTORS AND DIRECTORS. TO BE CLEAR, BLACK MIRROR IS A REALLY, REALLY, REALLY WELL-MADE SHOW. TODAY, HULK WANTS TO TALK ABOUT THE OPPOSITE. SO RECENTLY HULK'S BEEN TALKING ABOUT A FEW SHOWS THAT ARE WELL-INTENTIONED AND SAYING "THE RIGHT THING," BUT LACKING WHEN IT COMES TO CERTAIN STORYTELLING SKILLS OR EXECUTION.