|
This season is really interesting, you should watch it if you liked early being human because it's got lots of early being human stuff and far less apocalyptic melodrama about vampires taking over the world or whatever. Speaking of vampires taking over the world, why does no one seem to remember that vampires took over the world?
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 16:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 00:10 |
|
|
meme posted:This season is really interesting, you should watch it if you liked early being human because it's got lots of early being human stuff and far less apocalyptic melodrama about vampires taking over the world or whatever. Speaking of vampires taking over the world, why does no one seem to remember that vampires took over the world? Because no one figured they'd get another series?
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 18:56
|
|
|
meme posted:Speaking of vampires taking over the world, why does no one seem to remember that vampires took over the world? Because they didn't? Unless you count hanging around in a Welsh warehouse then getting blown up as taking over the world.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 19:02
|
|
|
Flatscan posted:Because they didn't? Unless you count hanging around in a Welsh warehouse then getting blown up as taking over the world. Oh yeah, the future when they took over the world was a flashforward thing that the ghostsplosion fixed. Forgot about that since it's been a while since I watched it. My bad. Now things make more sense.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 20:07
|
|
|
Well, that Her Majesty's Prison - Aylesbury is errr... well...  It's proper good though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 22:09
|
|
|
Did an advert with a CGI-resurrected Audrey Hepburn really just run during Black Mirror? Someone at Channel 4 has to have done that on purpose.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 23:33
|
|
|
N3RDSTER posted:Did an advert with a CGI-resurrected Audrey Hepburn really just run during Black Mirror? Someone at Channel 4 has to have done that on purpose. Certainly gave me the horrors. And lord, does Mr Brooker have a sort of third eye that can see into the future? This must have been filmed long before the Eastleigh by-election was even a twinkle in Call-Me-Daves' eye, yet...
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 23:39
|
|
|
Watching Black Mirror at the moment and I was sad to find that there isn't actually a video of a dog farting the theme to happy days on youtube.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 23:45
|
|
|
I feel that episode of Black Mirror would have had a lot more impact if it had ended on the shot of the Tory politico being hit by the shoe. The Walystopia afterwards was ironic and funny, yes - but I think it cheapened the point as a whole. Great show however, easily the best of the three this year.
|
|
#
?
Feb 25, 2013 23:59
|
|
|
Black Mirror seemed to be a longer, less funny version of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyYFeHOvAv4
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:01
|
|
|
Irisi posted:Certainly gave me the horrors. Working in Eastleigh made the political circus in this episode very familiar indeed.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:02
|
|
|
atal posted:I feel that episode of Black Mirror would have had a lot more impact if it had ended on the shot of the Tory politico being hit by the shoe. The Walystopia afterwards was ironic and funny, yes - but I think it cheapened the point as a whole. Agree with you on what the ending shot should have been, that was the moment that made my heart drop down into the pit of my stomach like a cold dead weight. And I think a whole lot of people probably missed the whole point of the thing and are just repeating "Vote Waldo", like the giggling human echo chambers Brooker is so obviously furious with. Also, interesting to see it was based on a concept for Nathan Barley, going by the end credits. It felt bleaker by far than Barley, and that's saying something.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:09
|
|
|
The start of it with all the TV people was very Nathan Barley.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:14
|
|
|
The producer struck me as a concept Charlie Brooker is clearly terrified of - a clever, malicious Nathan Barley with an actual understanding of what the public want and the will to pursue an agenda. The leering version of Waldo who instantly - instantly appears at the change over was brilliant. Even if it is not his own agenda - the scene with the guy from 'the agency' the producer is clearly shown as completely in thrall to this chap in the sharp suit. I think that scene was brilliant and made the post-credit scene a bit unnecessary. The chances of the world becoming a nightmarish dystopia are slim, but the idea that our society is close to a terrifying version of mob rule is uhh.. a bit more likely, and far more terrifying. atal fucked around with this message at 00:23 on Feb 26, 2013 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:20
|
|
|
atal posted:nightmarish dystopia What an unnecessary spoiler tag when talking about an episode of Black Mirror.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:28
|
|
|
You can see the similarity between Jamie and the Preacherman from Nathan Barley, that exasperated "oh god, don't follow me you pricks" thing. Another good episode, but all the way through it I was distracted by trying to work out if Jamie was the guy from the BT flatmate ads.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 00:31
|
|
|
I thought that was the weakest of this series to be honest. The first episode was the best. The credits scene at the end of the Waldo episode felt totally unnecessary, and as others say, kind of cheapened it a bit. Either way, I think the overall theme of the episode was pretty good (and more effectively delivered than last week's), but it did feel somewhat lacking overall. I'd like to see another series of 3 episodes, but maybe make them 90 minute (inc ad breaks) episodes, I kind of felt, particularly with Waldo, that things got a bit squashed or rushed. It was the same with the previous episode as well, I wanted to know a bit more about whether there were other justice centres like the one depicted in the episode or whether it was a one off, and stuff like that. I felt like the stories had potential to go further than they did really. The first episode didn't suffer these problems though, even though I found the ending where he's living in the attic and only comes out at weekends a bit odd. I don't know what's gonna fill the void that Utopia and Black Mirror have left. Channel 4 have had a great run recently. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it, but I ended up really liking My Mad Fat Diary as well.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 01:04
|
|
|
Finding out whether there are more justice centres is not that important because its disgusting enough that one exists. It doesn't really enhance or change the theme in that respect.. As for the ending of episode 1, I thought it was incredibly sad on so many levels. Despite the fact that she knows full well that this is only a shallow approximation of her dead husband, she still can't let go of him. And this robot won't even be able to feel any emotion relating to this dire existence..
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 03:06
|
|
|
I too thought Black Mirror was the weakest of the whole series. Of all the episodes the show's done, this one was most reliant on the assumption that people as a whole are absolute morons and thus required the greatest suspension of disbelief. At least the first series' 2nd episode (which was great) created the most fantastical setting, which allowed the message to get across with much less skepticism on my part. I didn't even really get the message of the episode. Was it something like, It's a slippery slope to support things ironically?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 04:34
|
|
|
nomapple posted:The first episode didn't suffer these problems though, even though I found the ending where he's living in the attic and only comes out at weekends a bit odd. It was just an extension of the story he told her at the start of the episode about what his mom did after his brother and father died. Just instead of pictures she threw a replica of him in the attic.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 09:07
|
|
|
I always thought his living in the attic, ignored but still very much vital was a metaphor for our 'second wave' use of social media. We dislike it, know that it is bad for us, but we keep using it 'just every once in a while' because its just easier, you know. It could also be a metaphor for the broken, half-formed semi relationships that should we would have stopped in a time before Facebook/whatever lets us keep in contact with so little effort. My quest to become the SuperMegaGodzilla of TVIV continues.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 09:53
|
|
|
I thought Waldo was the weakest of all the Black Mirrors, it didn't really seem to have a strong dark moral to it like the others. I did enjoy the story, but it didn't make me despair for humanity. In normal circumstances Waldo would have got maybe 1000 votes and I was really expecting that to happen (The moral being - "No, people aren't this dumb really - it's just a passing fad. How fickle we are, life goes on") but when it didn't it flew out of the realms of speculative fiction and into just a bit of fun especially with the epilogue which was clearly written with tongue firmly in cheek - I am surprised he didn't fall to his knees, shake his hands at the sky and shout "nooooooooooooooooooo!" as the camera looks down on him and pulls upwards. I mean come on, Waldo branded fighter jets? It didn't seem to really focus on any one theme either - there was stuff about idol worship, the disconnect between politicians private and public lives (exaggerated by Waldo and Jamie), the cheapening of political discourse, the dangers of a charismatic leadership, some prattling from the old punk rock "anarchist" boss guy who talked about real democracy and using the internet to decide everything and perhaps a few bits about the psychology of people who talk through "puppets".
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 10:52
|
|
|
Well it looks like Charlie Brooker votes Tory then. Labour are cynical careerists. Lib-dems are useless and not worth voting for. Any attempt to challenge the current political system is hijacked by the media and turns the whole world into Blade Runner. The only person shown to give a poo poo is the Tory MP who takes his job seriously, maintains his dignity in the face of screaming plebs and is the only character shown in any form of positive light. So, yay for the status quo! Vote Tory. gently caress you Brooker.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 14:25
|
|
|
Flatscan posted:Labour are cynical careerists. You didn't know this?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 14:30
|
|
|
Metrication posted:You didn't know this? Oh gently caress yes, but when you portray them as such and then portray their Tory opposition as dignified and well-meaning it does rather send a message.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 14:33
|
|
|
Yeah I didn't get that at all. He seemed to paint all the main parties as equally horrible archetypes, all responsible for public disengagement in their own way. But also having a go at the public for gimmick voting "for a laugh", and pointing out in the end how a country run by the direct control of the people on a per-issue basis without political process could go horribly wrong too with tyranny of the majority and so on. Basically taking a pop at every side of the issue.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 14:44
|
|
|
HauntedRobot posted:Yeah I didn't get that at all. He seemed to paint all the main parties as equally horrible archetypes, all responsible for public disengagement in their own way. But also having a go at the public for gimmick voting "for a laugh", and pointing out in the end how a country run by the direct control of the people on a per-issue basis without political process could go horribly wrong too with tyranny of the majority and so on. Basically taking a pop at every side of the issue. Honestly, point out to me where the Tory MP was portrayed negatively to the same extent as the others. poo poo, he even got a little wistful monologue about how the current system might not be great but "it built these roads".
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 14:51
|
|
|
Flatscan posted:Honestly, point out to me where the Tory MP was portrayed negatively to the same extent as the others. poo poo, he even got a little wistful monologue about how the current system might not be great but "it built these roads". If he didn't come across to you as a thoroughly unlikeable out-of-touch sneering cock all the way through that then I don't know what to tell you. And just because HE thinks that the system isn't perfect but "built these roads" doesn't mean that we're meant to agree with him.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 14:56
|
|
|
qbert posted:
I thought the moral was Satire that is anti-establishment without any actual meaning behind it is just nihilismwhich might be why the epilogue was so over the top. If Waldo is so stupid then why should Black Mirror be any different? Like 15 Million Merits I think it's autobiographical, and now I just want to give Brooker a hug and tell him everything's alright.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 15:07
|
|
|
HauntedRobot posted:If he didn't come across to you as a thoroughly unlikeable out-of-touch sneering cock all the way through that then I don't know what to tell you. And just because HE thinks that the system isn't perfect but "built these roads" doesn't mean that we're meant to agree with him. Look at the way that scene was shot. We absolutely are meant to sympathise and agree with him. They may have cast the most sneering, chinless actor they could find but I rather think that was the point. He looks like an inbred upper-class tosser, but throughout the story he does absolutely nothing wrong. Waldo attacks him for being a public schoolboy with a superiority complex but at no point are we actually shown him being such. The other candidates he attacks are explicitly shown to be exactly what he accuses them of being, but not the Tory. Everything the Tory accuses Jamie of, just before Waldo breaks into his tirade, is absolutely true. As such, when Waldo does lay into him it comes across as being completely unfair, based on class prejudice and self-loathing rather than truth. Seriously, go back and watch it again. Everything the Tory MP says throughout the story is presented as reasonable. There's no evidence of him being the snobby elitist Waldo accuses him of being beyond his face and accent, his actions just don't bear it out. Brooker is challenging the media narrative regarding the Tories, which in itself isn't a problem. It becomes a problem when instead of challenging the media narrative regarding other political stances, he actually reinforces it.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 15:25
|
|
|
I thought it was pretty average overall. Just pretty bland and boring. I do feel like they should make them 90 minutes so they don't feel so rushed. Overall this series was much worse than the first series I think.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 15:29
|
|
|
Flatscan posted:Honestly, point out to me where the Tory MP was portrayed negatively to the same extent as the others. poo poo, he even got a little wistful monologue about how the current system might not be great but "it built these roads". Did you even watch the episode? The tory was literally called out as "the same old poo poo with a new haircut" by the protagonist when he revealed his honest feelings. It genuinely couldn't have been any clearer. Flatscan posted:gently caress you Brooker.  Are you a literal child? Not all tories are one-dimensional evil beings and people -even tory politicians- are capable of believing what they're doing is right. If you want a poo poo satire with "tory guy = EVIL" then why are you watching Black Mirror? Both of the politicians came across as real people, and that's because their characters were nuanced. Not sure how you missed it, but the Labour candidate was shown to genuinely care about stopping the tories from getting power when she broke down at the end. On top of that, there's probably few people on the planet with more writing about their utmost loathing for the tories.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 15:37
|
|
|
The car scene seemed to be him retreating into his car and dropping the public-facing smiling veneer and showing his true self, plotting and looking out with distaste at the hoi-polloi. He talks about the system he runs in getting the roads built, but it's not the likes of him that actually built the roads - that'd be the people he's trying to con with a fake smile and rehearsed lines. So no, I don't think scene that paints him in a sympathetic light at all. In the head-to-head scene when he has a go at Jamie, he's spilling the dirt he asked his assistant to get him early on. Some of it's cherry picked facts to cast Jamie in a bad light (about his failed comedic career). The rest is criticising how he stands for nothing, has no arguments etc. But all of that is only true as far as it concerns Jamie "playing the game" and debating like a good little boy. Jamie's comeback is inarticulate and angry, but it's making the point that he's NOT playing the game, and the public is tired of politics because they can see that it's all game-playing. The Tory guy's got no answer, except to try and shout him down for "ad hominem nonsense" despite the fact that he's just tried to pull exactly the same ad hominem poo poo on Jamie. Again, I don't think that paints the Tory guy in a positive way at all. He might be the best of the traditional candidates at what he does up till now, and that's given him success. But success doesn't imply being right, and that's what Jamie's making everyone see, at least until the wheels come off about half way through and he loses control of the scheme to a bunch of equally unlikeable media twats.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 15:44
|
|
|
atal posted:My quest to become the SuperMegaGodzilla of TVIV continues.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 15:54
|
|
|
A reminder that a comedian who hosted "gently caress Off" rallies before forming his own party just won 25% of the vote in Italian elections. Now, his points seem eminently sensible in a political system way more hosed up than ours, and I don't think we're going to end up with GrilloPlanes, but surely we can, as usual, credit brooker with insane foresight.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 16:12
|
|
|
Flatscan posted:Well it looks like Charlie Brooker votes Tory then. Labour are cynical careerists. Lib-dems are useless and not worth voting for. Any attempt to challenge the current political system is hijacked by the media and turns the whole world into Blade Runner. The only person shown to give a poo poo is the Tory MP who takes his job seriously, maintains his dignity in the face of screaming plebs and is the only character shown in any form of positive light. So, yay for the status quo! Vote Tory. I don't buy this at all. The far more obvious point (which is a staple of Brooker's work as he loves the film Network) is that any attempted change in the status quo is almost always co-opted by the people who it is trying to out, in this case the media. They've realised the next level above career politicians, and piggyback onto it. The Tory is a vote for the status quo, and it's clear that he's towing the party line without really thinking what he's saying. He can't handle something that works outside the system that he is working in, which is why he can't handle Waldo. He still isn't a nice person and is in politics to win, as emphasised by his reaction when it's announced he won the by-election. Still, do you believe that there are no honourable or respectable Tories, or any respectable people who vote Tory?
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 16:18
|
|
|
Gorn Myson posted:Your conclusions are too on the nose and there isn't enough Zizek. Try harder! Yeah I should have to read your post 3 times and still not fully understand the concepts until a couple pages later when you have to correct other people's interpretations. On Black Mirror, if the plebs weren't so plebby the episode would be better, but would have to have a different ending. I still enjoyed watching it though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 16:38
|
|
|
I quite liked it, but mostly because the whole thing seems to have been shot in High Wycombe and seeing your town on TV is always weird as heck. Especially seeing it cast as a dystopian hellhole in the credit sequence. That bridge is actually quite nice. I had a very weird moment when he picked up the pub board from outside The Falcon and threw it at Waldo. It makes everything far too real.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 18:35
|
|
|
I lol'd at the ending. It's just so absurd. I do think it's the weakest of the whole series, though.
|
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 21:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 6, 2024 00:10 |
|
|
atal posted:
He's such a cliche of a film student he probably wears a loving beret. Lovely Joe Stalin fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Feb 26, 2013 |
|
#
?
Feb 26, 2013 22:02
|
|
