I think I’ve done really well not to binge watch the new series of Black Mirror. I’m not gonna lie, I’m a serial binge watcher. Orange is the New Black? Every series completed in 2 days mate. The thing is, I think of Black Mirror as something to be cherished. You don’t know if or when you’re going to get a new series and if/when you do, it is only six episodes. Think how 17/18 year old me felt watching the first two series’ whilst at college. They were six episodes IN TOTAL. Perhaps this is the reason I am being so cautious with my viewing this time round. I really don’t want to soak it all up in a week and be left for three years twiddling my thumbs in anticipation for a possible fifth series. Like a T.V obsessed Miss Havisham if you will.
This is part of the reason that I’m reviewing this season over a six week period. I want to take my time and I want to give people a chance who are in the same anti-binge mode as me to be able to read about each episode at a leisurely pace. I realise that this is my blog and I don’t need to justify why I’m doing what I’m doing yet here we are.
So without further ado, I give you my review of ‘Arkangel’. THERE WILL BE SPOILIES. Enjoy!
[Featured image from http://collider.com/black-mirror-season-4-trailer/]
Arkangel
Netflix
Directed by : Jodie Foster
Written By : Charlie Brooker (Creator)
Top Billed Cast : Rosemarie DeWitt, Brenna Harding, Owen Teague
Rated : 15
Synopsis
Fun fact : This is the only episode of Black Mirror to be directed by a female.
Arkangel explores what I want to term ‘The Rapunzel Complex’. What I mean by this is an over protective mother (or in ‘punzels case, mother figure) who shelters said offspring from the daily horrors of the world. Now obviously Rapunzel is fictitious and there are less parallels to draw from the two stories here than there are similarities, but the core theme is there. The only difference really is that Charlie Brooker in his everlasting wisdom brings this classic German fairytale into the future. But before I go off on a tangent, I want to swing back around to the episode and discuss what happens here.
[Image from : https://www.netzwelt.de/serien/black-mirror/staffel-4.html]
Upon nearly losing her daughter, Sara (Harding), after she decides to chase a cat from a playground, mother Marie (DeWitt) enrols her daughter in an experimental programme in which a chip is planted in her head and allows full parental control over everything she hears, sees and does via an iPad-esque parental hub. Marie can censor all the bad things that her daughter responds to. Things such as a barking dog, blood, violence, even her granddad having a stroke all become blurred out of her consciousness in order to create a safe environment for her to grow up in. As she grows up, we learn the programme has been discontinued however there is no way to remove said chip from Sara’s head so Marie is advised to throw away the parental hub device. OF COURSE THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN THIS IS BLACK MIRROR NOT F-ING DAWSONS CREEK. Much to her dismay, Marie learns the hard way that Sara is not her little girl anymore. By being able to see exactly what she sees through the device. She sees her having sex and taking drugs provided by her ‘no good’ boyfriend who is actually super super nice and this whole thing is a misunderstanding. There is only so long you can shelter your young, and Charlie Brooker answers the question of what happens when your sheltered, spoon fed, suffocated child has finally had enough…
What do other people think?
In this sensational review by Zoe Williams for The Guardian, she explores the dichotomy of the older generation versus what she terms ‘Digital Natives’ – this meaning people who were born after the digital age and cannot remember a time without the internet and smart devices. What she suggests is :
‘What if the operative word isn’t “digital” but “native”? What if the young have adapted to the new order perfectly well, and the people who really can’t handle it are us, the non-natives, the catcher-uppers? What if we’re the ones who will lose our sense of, first, proportion, then of morality and finally, self? What if the main problem for the next generation is not how to handle new technology but how to watch us not handling it and not hate us?’
[Image from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5709250/mediaviewer/rm1704546816]
This, for me, hits the nail on the head. The whole concept behind this episode is the idea that smart devices have now adapted to the point where parents who are struggling to let go of their offspring and let them live now have the option to keep them under the thumb in a ridiculous voyeuristic way – without them ever knowing it is happening. Whilst this doesn’t seem like abuse, the way this episode ends would suggest otherwise – but I’ll let you watch it to see what happens. Williams goes on to say :
‘The thing that makes it interesting – no, wait, a mother-daughter dyad in which the mother is a narcissistic control freak is interesting in itself. But what makes this interesting in its own particular way is that you totally would, wouldn’t you? If you could, you would check what your child was doing whenever you felt like it. Only if she spent her life reading would your interest ever abate.’
This is interesting and also self explanatory.The episode itself is basically parodying the whole ‘keyboard warrior’ element of modern society. It is easy to sit on the sofa, device in hand and watch this episode thinking and/or commenting on just how awful the *fictitious* mother is for being so obsessive and paranoid about her daughter. But odds are if this was a real thing how many people do you think would actually give this programme a go? I bet the numbers are higher than you’d actually think. In ‘Arkangel’s’ defence, whilst Marie’s parenting style is portrayed as overly obsessed with her child’s whereabouts, the potential sinister twist that this whole technology could have in the wrong hands could and would be absolutely catastrophic.
You can read the review in full here and please, I strongly recommend you do because it is so thorough, thought provoking and one of the best reviews I’ve read so far on my blogging journey.
[Image from : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5709250/mediaviewer/rm1805210112]
What do I think?
Again, upon research I’ve found that a lot of people had an issue with the run time of this episode. Why? Is it because it drags? ‘Cause it doesn’t! Personally I think the episode is so full of emotion, so rich in narrative that it needs and warrants the run time. I’ve found a lot of criticism of this kind when looking at things dealing with women directors. They have a lot of stick because they are meticulous and careful in the material they present to the world with lack of explosions and whatnot. Black Mirror has very much been a mans world thus far meaning that Foster had a lot to live up to. This episode of Black Mirror is no exception. Jodie Foster approached the subject material with enough sensitivity for you to be able to somewhat empathise with both mother and daughter at the same time whilst in keeping with Brooker’s ability to weird you out in a strange but #relate-able way.
This episode wasn’t one of my absolute favourites, I’ll be completely honest. On the surface it seems very mundane and a bit neurotic but once you pick it apart it is actually a better episode than first meets the eye.
The sheltered life, the cosy family house, the same breakfast smoothie day in day out, the same route to school everyday and the general beige-ness that seep through the screen all work together to create a false sense of security. A mundane daily routine turned into a parental prison. I really liked this episode – like I said it hasn’t been one of my favourites, it will take a lot to top ‘White Bear’ from series two. However I understand the message and understand what Charlie Brooker and Jodie Foster are doing here.
[Image from : https://www.log.com.tr/black-mirror-4-sezon-2-bolum-arkangel-on-incelemesi/]
What do you think? Did you like ‘Arkangel’? If not/so, why? What has been your favourite episode of Black Mirror thus far? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear from you!
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