Black Mirror and Philosophy: Dark Reflections
Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series
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3 Months Free
Black Mirror and Philosophy: Dark Reflections
Buy Now for £15.59
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Narrated by:
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Emily Beresford
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Joel Richards
Black Mirror - the Emmy-winning Netflix series that holds up a dark, digital mirror of speculative technologies to modern society-shows us a high-tech world where it is all too easy to fall victim to ever-evolving forms of social control. In Black Mirror and Philosophy, original essays written by a diverse group of scholars invite you to peer into the void and explore the philosophical, ethical, and existential dimensions of Charlie Brooker's sinister stories.
The collection reflects Black Mirror's anthology structure by pairing a chapter with every episode in the show's five seasons-including an interactive, choose-your-own-adventure analysis of Bandersnatch-and concludes with general essays that explore the series' broader themes. Chapters address questions about artificial intelligence, virtual reality, surveillance, privacy, love, death, criminal behavior, and politics, including: Have we given social media too much power over our lives? Could heaven really, one day, be a place on Earth? Should criminal justice and punishment be crowdsourced? What rights should a "cookie" have?
Immersive, engaging, and experimental, Black Mirror and Philosophy navigates the intellectual landscape of Brooker's morality plays for the modern world, where humanity's greatest innovations and darkest instincts collide.
©2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (P)2020 TantorContinue the series
Useful for contemporary life
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Beware that this isn't a deep dive into the episodes. It's not looking into the "art" side of things. It uses a brief episode rundown and then promptly moves onto the philosophy side of thing. There are plenty of references from fanous philosophers, which are posed against an aspect of each episodes. It can get quite "highbrow" at times, but never gets to the point of confusion.
Not every segment quite hits the mark, perhaps your own individual episode preferences will govern which segments you enjoy the most. The Bandersnatch segment is by far the lengthiest, but for me the most frustrating. It doesn't translate well to an audiobook and drags badly, repeating the same topic of free will from every conceivable angle.
My biggest criticism is with one of the narrators. There are two reading this book, and they switch over at various intervals. The male narrator is very listenable and has more than a swipe of Bryan Canston to his delivery. The female narrator, however, just doesn't do as good a job. Far too rushed at times, and for me inappropriately timed inflections.
Overall this is well worth a listen for any Black Mirror fan with an open mind. I can't see it superceding any historical philosophical literature, however. That's not why most people would be listening in any case, so give it a go and see if it can increase your appreciation for such a highly regarded show even just a little.
Thought provoking but patchy
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