Essay Proposal
Charlie Brooker’s TV drama ‘Black Mirror’ aired on Sunday 4th December 2011 to 1.9 million viewers on British television’s Channel 4. ‘The Entire History of You’ is the third episode in the three part series, set in a future where memory can be stored into a tiny grain inserted behind the ear. Images can be replayed as if you were experiencing them in that current moment, details can be zoomed in upon that you never noticed and voices constructed for conversations that you didn’t hear. ‘The Entire History of You’ turns the unthinkable into a daily occurrence as dinner guests project old memories they have onto a television for all to watch.
The prospect of this technology is of course exciting and fascinating, but it also creates some very serious questions. As Brooker himself states: ‘this area – between delight and discomfort – is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set’. Although we could delight in this technology that allowed us to never lose a precious moment, we are also disconcerted by the potential to never forget moments, and for ourselves to obsess over once insignificant details. This sense of discomfort is explored to its fullest in ‘The Entire History of You’. Within five minutes of the opening of the show Liam Foxwell, the protagonist is already ‘re-doing’ parts of his interview to analyse the exact phrasing of the sentence ‘we hope to see you again’. Later on he begins repeating the interactions between his wife and an old friend who he suspects are romantically involved.
In my essay I am proposing the question of how damaging advances in technology can be and what is lost through humanities increasing dependence on technology? I will also analyse what it means to experience ‘change’ and whether what is lost is in fact the beneficial removal of that which is inefficient.
To achieve this I will conduct a close analytical reading of my proposed media, which represents the far end of the spectrum in presenting technological advancement as incredibly dangerous. My close reading will look at narrative techniques, characterisation, and what is suggested through the camera work, editing and mise-en-scene. To aid my close reading of the text I have gathered several articles and reviews, one written by Brooker himself to shed greater light on the show.
To expand my argument further I will put the theories of Jonathan Crary on how the camera affects how we see, Barry Sanders on how the typewriter affects the way we write and Fiedrich Kittler, again on how the typewriter has influenced our writing amongst other sources and theories. To further enlighten these ideas on how technology is evolving us and its potential detrimental or beneficial impacts I will reference other media viewed in class such as ‘The Matrix’ alongside the other two episodes of ‘Black Mirror’: ’Fifteen Million Merits’ and ‘The National Anthem’.
Lastly, I will look more deeply into fields of existing technology where memory storage is being developed and reflect upon how realistic the fears created by ‘The Entire History of You’ really are.
In my essay I am proposing the question of how damaging advances in technology can be and what is lost through humanities increasing dependence on technology? I will also analyse what it means to experience ‘change’ and whether what is lost is in fact the beneficial removal of that which is inefficient.
To achieve this I will conduct a close analytical reading of my proposed media, which represents the far end of the spectrum in presenting technological advancement as incredibly dangerous. My close reading will look at narrative techniques, characterisation, and what is suggested through the camera work, editing and mise-en-scene. To aid my close reading of the text I have gathered several articles and reviews, one written by Brooker himself to shed greater light on the show.
To expand my argument further I will put the theories of Jonathan Crary on how the camera affects how we see, Barry Sanders on how the typewriter affects the way we write and Fiedrich Kittler, again on how the typewriter has influenced our writing amongst other sources and theories. To further enlighten these ideas on how technology is evolving us and its potential detrimental or beneficial impacts I will reference other media viewed in class such as ‘The Matrix’ alongside the other two episodes of ‘Black Mirror’: ’Fifteen Million Merits’ and ‘The National Anthem’.
Lastly, I will look more deeply into fields of existing technology where memory storage is being developed and reflect upon how realistic the fears created by ‘The Entire History of You’ really are.
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