Hello everyone! It’s been too long since we discussed a really interesting show on Finding my Film, so today seems to be the day. We’re going to delve into one of my personal favorites this morning, which is Black Mirror. If you haven’t heard of Black Mirror, you’re in for a treat. But if you have, you may still end up learning something new about the show due to its non-repetitive, single-episode-long storylines. Overall, Black Mirror is an extremely bizarre and disturbing show which employs shock factor, intense characterization, and deep themes. 

image source

Black Mirror is a Channel 4 turned Netflix Original that currently has 5 seasons available on the streaming site. Most seasons have 3-5 episodes, and each episode covers a completely different storyline unrelated to the rest of the season. These episodes are like mini movies, lasting around an hour each. Today we will discuss one of my favorite episodes in detail, Black Museum. While the word is informal, trippy is the best way to describe all of Black Mirror, but specifically this episode. Typically, the truth behind the perplexing plot in a Black Mirror episode is not revealed until its final minutes, which is how the show employs such a strong shock factor every time. Additionally, what occurs before a viewer finds out the truth is almost always bizarre, disturbing, and even distressing. 

the Black Museum; image source

Black Museum covers the story of a young black woman traveling alone on a road trip out West, likely 100 years in the future. In the middle of nowhere she stumbles upon a museum filled with high-tech crime artifacts. The episode flashes back many times to describe the stories behind certain artifacts, which are all relatively disturbing. The main attraction at the museum, however, is a hologram of Clayton Leigh, a man who was wrongfully convicted of first degree murder. The hologram displays Leigh, in vivid detail, experiencing the death penalty by the electric chair at the press of a guest’s button. Suddenly, the owner of the museum begins to asphyxiate, and it becomes apparent that Nish, the female visitor, poisoned him because Leigh was actually her father and she wanted revenge for his embarrassment and suffering. She then transfers the owner of the museum into the hologram for him to experience the electric chair for the rest of eternity. 

Clayton Leigh’s hologram suffering in the Black Museum; image source

In terms of characterization, Nish is portrayed as strong, independent, and unwavering. These character traits absolutely foreshadow her devious but somewhat justified plan to get revenge on the cruel owner of the Black Museum. While the episode may simply seem macabre and gruesome, the crux of the museum itself is the racist society which wrongfully convicted Leigh, a black man, of murder. The theme here is important, because it relates to a real problem faced by many societies today.  None of the disturbing events following Leigh’s wrongful conviction and forced torture after his death would have ever happened if he had not been convicted of a crime he did not commit. In my opinion, each episode of Black Mirror is similar in this way; the show challenges societal norms and issues through a dramatic and disturbing storyline, but regardless, it makes a viewer ponder the issues themselves and potentially even motivates them to think about possible solutions.