Commentary: ‘Black Mirror’ Succeeds Despite Making Viewers Sad 

By and large, entertainment is supposed to elicit positive feelings. People engage in entertainment to pass the time in a meaningful way, so enjoyment is usually an important part of the experience. However, entertainment can also be art, which challenges audiences to think and feel in uncomfortable ways. Stories can even leave audiences feeling sad rather than happy. This is usually fine for film as it’s a self-contained story. Once the movie is over, audiences don’t have to dive back into experiencing it again. Things may be different for a television show, though, which has multiple episodes and needs viewers to come back for more. So it’s very strange that Black Mirror has produced so many seasons where it often leaves its audience feeling terrible afterwards.

There are so many sad episodes of Black Mirror that it’s practically the show’s trademark. The most recent season is no exception. The premiere episode, titled “Common People,” is about a woman named Amanda (Rashida Jones) who has part of her brain replaced after the removal of a tumor that would have been fatal. Instead, synthetic brain tissue is used to stream a digital backup of her mind into her brain. Unfortunately, the company that provides this service slowly nickel and dimes Amanda and her husband, Mike (Chris O’Dowd), until they are driven to lose everything just to pay the bill. As her mind is overrun with advertisements because she is unable to pay for premier service, Amanda has Mike smother her. It’s then insinuated that Mike takes his own life while on a live stream service he was using to make money in exchange for humiliating himself.

There’s no denying just how sad this episode is. It shows the dangers of allowing profit-oriented corporations to control a person’s mind. Crafting dark cautionary tales about technology is a Black Mirror specialty. Even though the episodes can be traumatizing, they have relevant and poignant messages about today’s society. Relatable themes that cause audiences to think are what drives the show’s popularity. It’s absolutely entertainment, but these episodes don’t elicit positive feelings in its audience. So the show creates a bit of a paradox that viewers can become addicted to it, even though it makes them feel sad afterwards.

Black Mirror is now streaming on Netflix.