Holy crap guys I could only dream of producing a video that's this successful, 100k views is an unimaginable quantity of people clicking on this video, I couldn't have done it without all your continued support thank you so much!
What I really liked about this episode is how you can feel that Lacie really means well and is a nice person underneath, even though she's so fake almost the whole episode. You don't really hate her, but she does make you really really sad. Such a good actress
Exactly, she is indeed a nice person tho. And it would make it so much easier for herself and at least for a person like me, if someone like her, who is actually nice but constricted with social norms, would just let go.
She's truly a nice person specially when the 2.8 guy offered her a drink. She just has to conform to how the world works since she admits to the old lady that she's feel empty inside and the only thing going for is her rating and her longing to her bestfriend Naomi, who she genuinely love despite all the fakery.
What makes the episode not feel too unsettling is that its not tragic for black mirror standards. She gets more likable the more she shows her true feelings and she ends up discovering herself, even if she lost a lot. And i don think it is a prison, more like a forced therapy or something. It reminded me of the anime psychopass too. If you dont know it, great dystopia. Season 1.
I would say that she is likable because we can all empathize with her for searching for self acceptance, in her case desperately, and in a very misguided way. But she can hardly be blamed based on being constantly bombarded with the perfectly crafted social media profile lives, and knowing that a shallow opinion of your appearance and personally crafted profile effects the opportunities available to you in society, where you work, where you live! Not to mention people judging you based on your rating. You can't tell me that in that situation, you wouldn't be similarly driven. Most people would. It's an insane scenario that reflects a lot of current societal truth. We shouldn't judge people. Period. And realize that social media profiles are not a measure of personal worth.
One Note: there is also Paul, Naomi's husband, who is clearly gay and has a thing with his best man. And I think Naomi knows based on her facial expression on Paul and Anthony's over the top complementary hugging and ass kissary.
I definitely got that vibe too. It was weird, though, because Chester was allowed to work at the workplace before he and his boyfriend broke up, and judging by how she treats the situation ("3.1? What happened") he was probably around a 4 before the breakup, which isn't the cream of the crop like Paul's 4.8, but certainly isn't terrible. My guess is homophobia is a downvote for most people in this society, but people still find a way to profile, like if a gay man did something wrong he would receive a lower vote than a straight man would have.
Wow I didn't catch that. I guess I should watch the episode a 3rd time. I think Lacey is bisexual too. What surprised me the most was her reaction at the end of the episode : she reproachs Naomi for the fact she had sex with Greg in the past but, just then, says "I love you" to Naomi. It's like she's not jealous of Naomi and angry because she loved Greg but because she loved Naomi and still does. Even though, in all the episode, she seems to want to go to the wedding only for the votes, I feel like it's not her only obsession, even if it's the first. But maybe I'm wrong and their relationship is just a toxic frendship, where it doesn't matter how hurtful the powerful one might be, the other will still crawl to this person.
When she saw the man in the hologram, she realized she wanted the condo. However, I don't think she realized that what she really wanted was someone to love. And then she says she just wants to be content, and she thinks that getting her rating up so that she can get the condo will make her content, but really she just needs someone.
I feel like it would be hard for her to have a relationship in a world like that, like he said they didn’t know the full details of the man’s break up but they chose to side with his ex partner and in return they ruined his life as well as his job
I love the Ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃｓof the episode. That weird blend of light pallets with a future 50's look to it. The episode probably has one of the best concepts of the entire show. However, Shut Up and Dance is the most unsettling episode to me.
The colour pallet is insane! I love how bland yet vibrant it is, thats the one thing i wished I'd touched on more. Chester's shirt colour when we first see him is the stark opposite of everything else in the workplace. Phenomenal art direction throughout.
To me the colours, light and 'modern/vintage-look' of the world make it seem like they are living in social-media itself. It looks like it's taken right from a tublr, pinterest or instagram account.
I also loved how even in the video chats with Lacie, Naomi goes out of her way to "frame herself" in aesthetically pleasing ways. Every body pose she does is done because it looks good, not because it's natural. Unfortunately it reminds me a lot of some people I used to know who got way too into instagram...
That’s a great point, I think you could even argue that it goes deeper than that, that the whole episode frames every scene like an Instagram post and the lighting makes it look like it’s under a filter.
Also the man in the jail cell at the end is the only person in the episode seen wearing black. The black imo represented truth and reality. Also lacie is seen with black mascara which could represent her realization.
@@thee_morpheus theres literally a black security guard and a black hologram of her future husband and a black airport receptionist, and a black man who works in the office and sells smoothies, the guy in jail is black but so is lacy and shes white. so seriously what do you mean OF COURSE HES BLACK WAH WAH HES IN JAIL. boohoo. ue being offended by nothing.
The color pallets of most episodes is very dark, or earthy, but in Nosedive we see mostly pastels, until of course she's in prison. Then it's dark like usual. Something I noticed.
Nah, the one that gives me the chills is the one with the dude's implant being left in the cabin on for thousands of years listening to one very loud song on a loop. That's terrifying.
I do think that dude had the worst fate out of all endings in Black Mirror (besides the one that actually died because of mom, you know which one, though I think I'd rather be dead than go through that, there wasn't even a way he could kill himself)
Was it 1,000 years a minute? I suppose it would be an interesting experiment. What does something that acts like a human do after living for thousands of years when subjected to non-stop torture? When you think about it, his whole life is just that one song. I reckon he wouldn't even remember being himself. He'd probably just be sitting in a corner in the fetal position, laying on his side, singing the song over and over.
I'm no neuroscientist but I bet a lot of, if not all, connections that should function normally inside the brain would shut off so he'd be a vegetable.
Yeah. Even without torture, the one girl was broken only after a few months sitting in a bland room. I just did the math. If they left him on for 12 hours he would experience 720,000 years of torture.
This is one of the best and nost terrifying hours of television I've ever seen. Like... I could never imagine living in a world like this. I'd be in jail for sure.
Doesn't have to be. I'm 24 and my sister is 28, she found it highly disturbing, while for me it was just something i realised (the fakness and people glorifying social status) existed when i was like 13?
Death The Reaper yeah, it all comes down to values. If you have or even question your own values, these things seem and are idiotic. I mean that's how it is for me.
The fact that she would always gave 5⭐'s no matter who they were or their rating it was always in the hope that she would get a 5 back but she rarely did. She was always putting in so much effort being as nice as possible😭💔
I like to argue that this episode is one of the only episodes that have a happy ending (the other episode being San Junipero) because of the ending in how she finally finds freedom in imprisonment. For some reason, no one else gets that when I say it but that's what I get out of the episode. As for what episode is the most unsettling, I think White Christmas has to take the cake for that, although I think Men Against Fire should also have an honorable mention.
Almighty Roadkill San Junipero was really unsettling at the end tbh. The contrast of the happy music with the stone cold emotionless machinery gave me chills. Still technically a happy ending but left a lot to think about. Nosedive was the most wholesome ending imo though, glad to finally see someone who agrees
Can I also add that "most hated in the nation" has sort of a happy-ish ending? The one with the drone bees. Most of the episodes, the main characters are left distraught, life is messed up or even die. In this episode of the killer bees, both the main characters Karin and Blue survive and actually cracked the case and get the guy. I would also put it in "happy(ish) moments" of black mirror.
Almighty Roadkill yes, that's why I isolated the "happy-ish moment" to just the main characters. Although they had to see someone die in a horrific way, they were, at the end, and as far as we know, ok with Blue actually catching the guy that killed everyone. Have you also noticed this is sort of a connected universe? Blue was the one that cracked the case on "white bear" where they found the man who kidnapped and killed the little girl with Victoria being the one who recorded everything. I wonder if the man gets caught (the one from the killer bee episode), he may undergo the same treatment.
Oh yeah totally. The show is very creative with that aspect, I appreciate all that goes into making the connected universe. That's interesting fo sure, I never thought about what would happen to him after he got caught,
Susan (1.4) had a significant impact on my takeaway of this episode. The moral that I concluded was that trying to please everybody leads to self-sabotage. You can't please everyone. Susan (even though she had a 1.4) was a good person. She gave Lacie a lift, she gave her a drink, she shared her story. She cared only to please herself. Ultimately that's what matters, right? Everyone else trying to reach that 4.8-5 was FAKE. And it was obvious
Exactly, I thought about how it is a good way of spotting whose good and whose a nasty,selfish, fake person, the higher the score the worse they are probably.
She was my favorite character in an episode I otherwise didn't care about but even her presence within the story was incredibly cliche, you know the usually old character who pops up for a scene to give a character a pep talk so the character was was down is inspired again
And then there was the fact that she had not always been at that rating. She was once a 4.6 (which >4.5 appears to be the "elite" threshold in this world)! Yet, she was much happier as a 1.4 even *despite* having lost her husband to cancer! 😭😭😭 And the fact that that was true was not even a moment that made me happy, but quite sad! Somehow, some way, the politics of this world were so depressing that not even the person she loved more than anyone in the world could save her from that depression (her depression only went away when she rejected the politics altogether and refused to play the "game" at all - even without her husband there to help her out of her depression, her depression went away simply due to her rejecting the system! That's heartbreaking and tells you how terrible the system is)!
I'm sure ppl have already pointed this out but the reason ppl with a score 4.5 or higher get a 20% discount is coz their sphere of influence is bigger so the plan is they'll entice more ppl to buy a place from the same company as well. Also small side not but Naomi's husband is definitely gay with his best friend (you can see Naomi's disapproving glances) and their marriage is clearly more of a numbers game (which just shows how fake Naomi is)
Tiffany Thomas ohh i didn't clock that, i just thought it was because she didnt actually like her husband and his loud behaviour lol. yeah it definitely could be bc he's actually with his best friend
crossfires Yeah, it’s a theory. I could be reading into it too much and they could just be loud, and she fears that her rating will go down. This seems like a society that doesn’t like anyone who is loud and disruptive.
W/ regard to the real estate bit: The reason you get a discount with a higher rating is because of the value you'd bring to the neighbourhood as a 4.5+. Basically it's a PR move. They want to fill the neighbourhood with 4.5ers to make it an attractive place to live, justifying the high price in general, and especially justifying the higher price point for people aspiring to be 4.5+. Also, one can assume that other people are looking at 4.5ers feeds a lot and look up to them, so it's a form of free advertising. That's what I think anyway! Think it makes sense in this particular universe. Great video!
At the end of the episode, the two people find it happy, to tell the truth about each other and even though offense but it true and that makes it funny. For example, how dirty she was from the mud look like she came out some strange cow lab
For me, Bryce Dallas Howard's finest performance. You feel uncomfortable by Lacie from her obsession and determination, but feel tragically sympathetic for her at the end. At the wedding scene, it's incredibly painful to watch. She ends up being more human at the end in the prison cell. Very chilling.
The Cinematic Mind That's how I felt watching it. I didn't want it to stop and I wanted a part two in how Lacie is and how the rest of the scenario played out. One of my favorite episodes
I remember feeling quite constipated (odd way to describe how I feel) throughout the entire episode, but then felt extreme relief during Laci's chat with Susan, as well as the ending. This episode was really great.
One note: Idk if she was actually disgusted by the cookie. I feel like that scene where she spits out the cookie is more a nod at the fact that she's struggled with an eating disorder (many people with eating disorders chew and spit their food).
Lacie didn't just psychotically pursue a high rating. She had to give it so much attention because she wasn't very good at it. In a society where the availability of things and the cost of things is so heavily influenced by charisma and social success, the consequences of being not quite awesome are dire. This is the part I found most disturbing. As a high-funcitoning autistic person, I see this kinda happening all the time, even without an explicit rating system. Our society has rewards for charisma that are positively disgusting and unfair if you are on the losing end of them, and real-world social media like Facebook are coded to enforce the charisma rules, so it's no respite for the not-so-awesome, and in fact it's a source of isolation and depression. "Tripbook" just moves the bar higher so that more people experience the agony.
Anna Gulaev I agree. I have experienced this myself, as I naturally have a straight forward and honest personality, and despise fake interactions. I was scolded for it severely in my workplace, and had to learn to treat people with that fake small-talk BS. Getting better at it though.
What did people make over her argument with the fellow prisoner at the end? Great ending. In my opinion when she was finally free to express herself and not care about ratings she seemed to finally connect with someone. Defiantly felt the sexual tension. And maybe that is ultimately what she was looking for all along (remember the hologram in the house and the advert she runs past). Loving the videos. Keep it up.
I'd say you're totally right. I was hoping the video would discuss the guy at the end because I was dying to know his backstory. How did someone as impeccably dressed and good-looking as him wind up there? He probably realized the ridiculousness of the ratings system and had an outburst like Lacie, but unlike her, he seemed completely calm about being there.
She got what she was finally looking for. To be human. It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, by when they start telling each other "fuck off!" in rapid succession, you can see their real smiles shining through. Also, they're totally going to bang.
It reminds me of streaks on snapchat and how meaningless they become and they are also defined by a number and that number determines your amount of interaction with that person.
When I first watched this, I had severe social anxiety, so of course, sitting through it was almost impossible. I had to stop the episode three times, and even then I could not finish it. A few years later, I've left my teenage years behind, and I'm a healthier person. I just rewatched it as someone who has recovered from deep anxiety, and boy did bryce dallas howard knock that performance out of the park. Nosedive illustrates everything wrong with our social media system, and it shows us where it could take us. The superficiality of it is so unsettling it becomes toxic, and that's why I've given up on meeting a standard. I have my group of friends, I'm in college, and I'm having the time of my life. Social media need not apply to my life, and it shouldn't to yours too. Cheers guys!
Unfortunately this is happening for real in China and will probably happen in the U.S. and Europe as well. What's scary about it is if you have a low social rating in China you can't buy property or travel abroad
The scariest part about Nosedive isn't that this social game could become a reality in the future, it's that this social game is already a reality now. The specifics of it aren't as clear-cut as in the episode, with all its points systems and whatnot, but it's a pretty good analogy for life as it is. People want to be popular, and not just that high school definition of "popular"; I'm talking about the kind of popularity that gets you at the top of this hierarchical system we've set ourselves up in. I don't think Lacy is ignorant of how problematic the social media system in her world is, just as we aren't completely ignorant to this kind of stuff in our own lives. When talking to the truck driver, she goes on a tirade about how being able to live the way she wants sounds nice, but isn't realistically achievable whilst retaining happiness. This is "just how the world is," and her frustration is so relatable because in some ways she's right. As much as everyone wishes that life wasn't built on this metagame that places social standing so high on our priorities, there's really nothing we can do about it. It is what it is. The ending to me seems to say that we shouldn't worry so much about whether or not we're playing the game of life correctly, and instead focus more on what we want to do in it. Do we want to "win," or do we want to have fun? What does that mean for us personally?
I do not agree with your comment unfortunately. To me her speech at that point was too delusional and self absorbed. Happiness is not valued with how high you reach at your social status , is more about acknowledging the things that give you joy and the things you love and be grateful for them and of course keep working on getting better as a person constantly
it is (becoming) a reality..... tripbook = instagram... on acid....... how people comment "lb" "like4like".... following people then unfollowing to get that followers to following ratio... its insane and im guilty of it too sometimes
There are more people leaving social media than people think, so I guess the only thing "we" can do about it is to really moderate or completely leave social media completely. That will never happen unless a different medium takes it's place (maybe virtual reality)? I only use youtube and facebook (more youtube) and facebook for family/events a few times a month. where before I was on it every day. I've run into more and more similar people too, social media has already peaked in my opinion.
It's amusing when she's in the home she wants with the estate agent, she's shown her fictional "lover" intimately kissing her in the kitchen, or dining with her on the billboard. It's a play on how adverts try to sell a certain lifestyle with the product, whether they're saying a certain razor or aftershave will make you irresistible to women, a certain car will give you more freedom and adventure in your life, or even a certain dog treat will make your pet love you more. It's all selling the product based on an unguaranteeable promise. The worst and most disgusting offenders in my opinion are the adverts that claim that having a certain mortgage from a certain bank is necessary for raising a family.
I remember when people could get negative comments for being assholes and wasn't automatically readable unless you really want to read it. Now hate comments just stay on top.
error2k2 yeah, back back then bad comment actually gets deleted or hidden. Now, you cant even tell if the downvote button even works and the bad comments are not hidden nor have any negative ratings.
It's interesting to really analyze the speech patterns of the characters in the show. They speak almost like they're texting or commenting on a picture. It's incredibly unnatural and unsettling. You can even dive deeper (no pun intended) and notice how certain hand motions and smiles are sustained, almost like emojis. I thought this episode was very well done, and you're analysis of it was entertaining and insightful :)
I actually believe that we already live in this system but not because of ratings from social networks but we already divide ourselves in social classes. Has anybody felt this frustration in college when you couldn't be part of a certain group and you could never achieve that? have you ever thought why would you be happy with that? It's an illusion, the happiness of being in that class is an illusion, they are not better than you, it's just like the illusion that Lacie lived on, she would never be satisfied cause she doesn't really know why that would make her happy (as shown in the truck scene). this is my favorite episode, thank you for the analysis
When I was in high school I definitely would lurk over people's profiles that I thought I wanted to be. It was even worse in college because I would be miserable studying and other people would be abroad in France.
For me I think Nosedive was a bit heavy handed in terms of social commentary, it's a bit more blatant than other episodes but it still is one of the best of the season for me. I think this video made me appreciate the episode a bit.
Movies In General I thought it was better than say the one with that guy bing and the game show. I actually don't even remember what that one was called, but I thought it played more like a shitty metaphor than a scary depiction of a possible future. I remember in fact reading about something like in nosedive IRL where they wanted to create a website to rate people individually I forgot what it was called and it failed almost as soon as it was suggested but the idea it has already been suggested shows the future of nosedive is a very real future.
It did seem a bit obvious. Thing I liked most about that was the Mad Men/ Stepford Wives world it showed. We seem to be sliding towards it if we're not already there.
I was hitchhiking in Egypt once, long ago, and tried to sleep on the roof of a hotel (that used to be an option for backpackers.) The three young men who ran the hotel (which was mostly empty) said no way they will allow a lady to sleep like that, so they gave me, for the same price of almost nothing, their best room and asked to be given a 5 star review. It is VERY difficult for me to lie, always has been. That hotel was so bad, so poor, so dirty, the room was nothing I would ever recommend to anybody. I five-starred it on-line, because they were kind to me. It was a truly unusual sense of being pressured into indecency by a good deed. Weird, isn't it? How oddly pliable we are.
When I was travelling in Ghana, Africa some of my uber drivers actually would say please rate me a 5, look miss, I am rating you a 5. It was just like this episode
This episode was an excellent example of how it's not the technology itself that destroyed society, but the way people used it. It also brought a sort of "missing link" stage to what I call the Eye Implant Saga that seems to be going on in the background of Black Mirror. It seems to be the same implant, or different versions of the same, but used in different ways and it wasn't until Nosedive that we saw how it could go from The Entire History of You to Be Right Back.
What's really interesting is that in such a society, it seems like your social media rating actually has more power and influence than money. Like at the car rental place, not even Bill Gates would've been able to get into the express line or get a nicer car if he had a bad rating despite all his money. This system already very much exists today in certain online communities like Reddit or Stack Exchange websites. Like you said, you say something that not everyone completely agrees with or likes, or if someone just simply doesn't like you, you'll get down voted, often times for no reason. This society is honestly Reddit in a real life. Some people post the most superfluous things on Reddit just to get upvotes.
Maybe you can buy a 5 star rating?! As mentioned any politician would get high and very low ratings due to their opinions. So maybe rich or important people can buy a 5star rating.
The fuck, no, you're not banned from any activity on Reddit from getting upvotes; it strictly affects your visibility *on the tread* You're banned for breaking the publicly accessed, finite & written rules of the thread, and it's done by human mods Pardon me, if I'm not getting ahead of myself here, but stop trying to spontaneously turn yourself into a victim
@@nicholasleclerc1583 Ok wow, first off all, this was a 3+ year old comment so I probably don't remember the full context anymore or what you're mad about exactly. I'm not sure if you've watched that episode of Black Mirror or not but that whole episode was based on people having to play roles just to get better ratings from other people which is what upvote farmers do on sites that have upvote systems. Anyways, I don't think I said anything about getting banned on reddit. All I said was it's a trend for people to just downvote people they disagree with whether there's a legitimate reason or not, which is pretty much what happens in this episode of black mirror. The main character of that episode literally couldn't disagree or criticize anyone without her getting a low rating. I have absolutely no idea where you're getting rule breaking, banning, victims, etc from unless you're replying to someone else's comment that I can't see here. This was all in the context of that episode from what I can remember.
@@nicholasleclerc1583 Out of curiosity though, since I did enjoy this episode a lot and have been trying to remember the context of all this from 3 years ago. I did just look into the two sites I referenced. Stack Exchange websites, which is probably what I was talking about the most, do give a lot more privileges to high reputation people whereas low reputation people are restricted from a lot of actions. As for reddit, I never said anything about a ban but it seems having a low reputation can restrict how often you're allowed to post, but I'm guessing that's up to individual subreddits. Come to think of it, I do believe the reason why I referenced reddit as well. Back when Call of Duty Infinite Warfare was first announced, it was very much hated by the community because they didn't like futuristic games anymore. The hate for that game before release kind of formed an angry mob. On reddit, anyone that expressed interested or said something positive about the game often got down voted to oblivion. Meanwhile people that posted memes or anything that hated on Infinite Warfare would get thousands of upvotes. So I'd say those are all fair comparisons to this episode of Black Mirror.
Does anyone remember that woman on Dr.Phil who was trying to sell an app like this? It was to rate you as a person. I remember thinking it was so creepy and weird.
Whoa o.o me and a friend joked about that once if you have a yelp for restaurants how funny it would be if you had a yelp but for people, we just kept laughing cuz of how ridiculous it sounded . Now I realized it's like this episode x_x creepy for sure
@Scott Peterson yes. It was. This was one of the very few instances where conservatives and liberals 100% agreed on. This was a creepy app. Now, China is doing this in real life.
I think the ending ultimately shows the freedom of being an honest geniune person. The main thing I think the episode was trying to get at was how when ppl interact, they're so obsessed with how they're perceived. So much so that they're willing to put on a whole facade for the sake of acceptance, likes, a high rating etc. But it's all bs, that's not really them, it's just what they've scalped and presented to the world. The ending ultimately shows that people are more than a number, those two were put there because of who they actually were: Real People. The world might look down on them but it doesn't matter, because you can achieve everything you want in life by just being your self. The girls wedding, as pretty as it was, it was all based on fakeness. The two in the jail was way more beautiful and impactful because even though the setting(jail) is bad, their interaction was based on a geniue connection. They didn't look at each other as just numbers, but as human beings.
I remember when Instagram first came out, I was obsessed with it. Back when not many celebrities if any at all joined it yet cause everybody was still on Twitter. Way before the term Instagram celebrity even existed. I used to post at least 10 photos a day and for some weird reason, I was approaching 2k followers, which back then was monumental. Then one day I woke up and for no reason at all, I deleted it. I ended spending almost two years off social medias, and those were the best and most adventurous years of my life. Finally in 2015 I came back on it, and it was like watching this episode but in real life. And by the time this season was posted on Netflix, it was like a deja vu...except this one has an ending and real life social medias are still going on. Now my social medias are simply for professional purposes and comedy. Haven't posted anything remotely personal on them since! This episode also reminded me of the whole concept with credit scores. Which is something that has actually been around waaaayyy longer than social medias.
Uber now allows the driver to rate the passengers and vice versa. It's completely optional but when I rated a driver and then she gave me a low rating, one I did not deserve as I did not do or say anything. That made me feel some type of way. I didn't like it at all and it made me want to give future drivers a good rating (even if they didn't deserve it). Rather than do that, I've decided to not rate any Uber driver at all. Anyway, I can totally see our society going the way of this episode and that is just scary.
One of the most interesting things to me is how this "tripbook" would work with children. What would happen if a bully 1 starred you everytime he saw you? What if a 40 year old pedophile gave a 15 year old a 5 star rating everytime he seen her? What if someone gave a parent and their child a 1 star rating for crying or acting out in a store or restaurant? Very thought provoking and very "loophole-ish" of the limitations and/or requirements of using the technology.
I feel like similar to "In Time", where people's clock starts ticking when they get to 25, kids wouldn't have access to it until a certain age, maybe 18 or 21.
Yes, exactly because, essentially, the society is powered by the (subjective) feelings of everyone (willing to partake in the system). It includes those ones, and, again, after reading a a summary of Freudian psychology, you can say that it's as if the society has turned the human Id inside out; completely liberated, with a (Freudian, not Nietzschean : p) Ego/Super-Ego Death, since I clearly see the contradictory forces of the Id's feelings clashing against each other in self-destructive, self-contradictory or un-constructive ways, just like in your examples and the entire episode's plot
K. Kelly According to you, but what if he was one of those people who make money by playing video games online? Because in that case, he did what he was happy with and that was enough for him. He seemed to be the happy medium really, a pretty decent rating, but grounded enough personality to not get lost into Lacie’s completely fake world. He also lived in a virtual reality, but to him it at least begins and ends with the VR glasses, while Lacie and Naomi carried their fake reality around in their everyday lives. I think it’s a bit of commentary for how influencers look down on gamers, despite both functioning in a fake environment, and at least most gamers know the boundaries.
This is the scariest episode of the bunch, because it is already so true. It's funny... I'm the only person I know who doesn't own a smartphone, and everyone always says how cool it is that I don't own one, and yet, I am sure I have never influenced anyone to use their phone any less. Fantastic and fascinating analysis, my friend. I love this show and your commentary adds to my enjoyment.
I don't have one either. I still use a flip phone with no data, but most people I know make fun of me for it. I don't care though. I'm hanging on to it as long as I can. The phone zombies haven't gotten to me yet!
This episode has become sort of a litmus test for me. Such a cautionary tale regarding our social media interactions. Such an ugly untone to a beautiful world. This has just really stuck with me.
Very interesting. Now that I think about it, Naomi being 'popular' is kind of like Instagram celebrities, how people are famous just for posting pictures.
Interesting the rush hour commute, I noticed someone reading a book, another playing music, another playing candy crush, another texting, and another filling out a crossword puzzle form the news paper and me who was just people watching. How we take for granted individuality, as it is the differences that assures human kind's survival and not conformity.
"Shut up and Dance" has to be the most disturbing episode of this new season of Black Mirror. It takes digital blackmail to a whole new extreme by shining a light on the dark secrets people harbor on the internet. I like the fact that it posits each character as being naive enough to believe that there is no way people can catch their inappropriate activity online, but it also makes you sympathize with each character by showing their humanity through their background and the things they are willing to do to keep their private life private. Now, this is no way means that I feel terribly sorry for the main character of the episode or the man he confronts at the end of it but it does make you think... because they felt like their dirty secrets would never get out, they felt free to indulge in such disgusting activities. Yes, every episode of Black Mirror shadows our real world, especially when it comes to technology and human behavior, but it does seem extremely unique as well as dark in this episode. Most people think that because they are behind a locked door and can delete their browser history that no one will ever know what they've done. The thing is "the all seeing eye" that is the internet will always know and your digital footprint can never be erased. Fantastic review of this episode by the way! I hope that "Shut up and Dance" can be next!
I feel like the taxi rating thing is actually progress. It was a service you paid for, of course the company should be checking to see its customers are getting good service. That's how bad companies go out of business! It's completely different from being rated over banal or personal aspects of your life. That's why I don't use social media. (Except youtube, clearly..)
Lauren Bennett I took an uber for the first time a few weeks ago and I gave the driver a 5 star rating because he was chill and there wasn't any problems, so why not right? And later that night when I checked the Uber app I realized I had a passenger rating of 4.6! I was like how the hell am I being rated when I'm the consumer?? I didn't even do anything just sat there, minimal light conversation and was nice I was so confused lol
@@ThePokestopPapi Uber drivers rating the customer never made much sense to me. I think there should be a time limit on rating. Some uber drivers only rate you 5 stars if you tip. However, I'm not going to generally tip for a 10 minute ride that already cost me $10-15. Maybe $1 at the most, but even then, they would still rate you a 4. If there is a time limit, then they can't see if you tipped and it would really be based on how the customer really was instead of how big a tip they gave you.
The ending of this episode is an nice inspired use of the quote from Tyler Durden "Only after you've lost everything that you're free to do whatever you want."
Pretty sure the Prime Minster and most of the incumbent Front bench of the government are verified, and they're literally called "the Conservative party"...
I think maybe this episode is a little wacky compared to the others, and people can't fully appreciate it if they haven't seen the rest of Black Mirror...
And you know what's the kicker? Everyone watching this episode will say "Oh, I wouldn't care about my rating, I'd be like the woman driving the truck." when in actuality they would be some of the earliest adopters of this tech.
Two things stood out to me in this episode: 1- Bryce Dallas Howard does an excellent job playing a really fake bitch. She makes it easy to almost despise her character. 2- That ending was funny, satisfying, and equally disturbing. I actually liked the ending quite a bit. You can't help but feel extremely relieved for her character (and the black dude).
The most ironic thing is Joe Wright, the director of this episode and famously Atonement, Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Hanna did this episode because of how he felt after he got hugely criticised for the critically "panned" Pan.
Wonderful analysis! This is definitely one of my favourite episodes of Black Mirror. While often neglected, I think this topic is very apt and very relevant. Behaviour like this is apparent in everyday life for most of us, and it makes me think of how nowadays it's become so that someone can be deemed abnormal, or even suspicious, if they lack an online presence (I.e Facebook, Instagram) when pursuing jobs and even relationships- much like Lacey's not wanting to associate with lower rated individuals.& I read an article on how lots of company's aren't up to hire someone without Facebook. Idk, narrative in Nosedive is slowly becoming true
This episode is probably the best made in the series. The aesthetics, as other people mentioned are fantastic, the technology design and interface is convincing and the performance within a performance given by Bryce Dallas Howard is phenomenal; as expected, since Netflix had to convince the audience that the show is still as powerful after the change in medium right off the first episode. But the episode that was most unsettling for me has to be White Bear.
This is Scarily true all ready, as a high school student (I'm 15) everyone is obsessed with instagram and Facebook, the more 'popular' kids have much higher followers and like rates on their photos than some who isn't as 'popular'. Another scary note is that people want to be your 'friend' the followers you have. Say you move to a new school kids instantly find your social media and depending on how many followers you have they judge wether or not they want to be your friend.
I’m assuming that in your high school, people who are popular also happen to have lots of followers and they’re not popular because they have so many followers. Make the distinction.
I think that the act of spitting out the biscuit speaks more to her eating disorder than the disgust of the coffee. If you look, a lot of the episode centers around food and size, there's the look she has about the size 4 dress and the very conservative way that she dresses. it also does seem as though Bryce Dallas Howard gained weight for the role (I am just guessing that I don't know this). It's a small part of the episode but I think it's important because it means she has spent decades trying to conform to who Naomi is, not just months or years, making her breakdown even more impactful.
Yeah, she is on a perpetual diet, like MANY women in the world today, but acted, by posting the cookie as in the process of being eated, like she's chill and doesn't worry about it, it reminded me of Amy's rant from Gone Girl: "Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl. PS: Also, I think BDH had just had a baby.
What I would like to know, did they kill every hacker in this world? Just because a system like that would be cracked in a matter of days. And some hackers would just adjust their social ranking to pretty high numbers most likely nearing the 5 but never fully becoming the 5 star rating, some would just try to take it down immediatly. Others would wait 5 years or so until it's fully integrated into society, following every update and crack it until they fully understand the execution of the source code and will take it down, when the society is the least ready for it. Just to see the pretentious world burn.
Thank you!!! Black hatters might weaponize it and use dummy/slave accounts to plummet a target's rating. White hatters might bring everyone down to a 0 to invalidate the whole system. The most chaotic would erase all history of legitimate reviews and issue commands so that everyone is constantly giving everyone else random reviews as often as possible to make it impossible to tell which reviews were legitimately issued by a human and which were illegitimately issued by a bot impersonating a human making the entire system useless thankfully. It'd be pretty funny though to see everyone's ratings constantly fluctuating from barrage of random reviews.
I don't know about anyone else, but I loved the song that came on with the 1-star sound effect on loop behind it. The way it repeated again and again, it really put you in her place in that moment. I felt like that stopped when she let go of caring about the ratings.
Been waiting for this video! Did you notice how race plays into the ratings? (Ex: clerks at the car rental place, the "express lane" guy was white and the one Lacie was in was a person of color, and at Naomi's wedding everyone that wasn't white was pushed to the edge by the building under the roof instead of out in the tables like everyone else?)
that also irritated me, i wasn't sure if that is on purpose, or by accident, through not casting enough black actors? There was a black women with a ranking of 4.8, the one that Lacey hit by accident, when she went out of her house (after the discussion with her brother). The women on the wedding were all blonde and dressed in white, the men had dark hair. It seemed weird to me, everyone was the same, cause that's the look they need to be above 4.5. I had to think about "Yoga-Instagram-Beauty-Girls" the whole time. Show me one beauty-blogger without a room in the color palette of Laceys apartment :D
Maybe the Black people with lower ratings is reflective of society....maybe this episode was meant to mock the omnipresence of racism for what it is. ?
Nice commentary, very insightful. It's a shame you didn't note the last interaction as to me it gave the entire episode a happy ending. The two of them finally speaking as they wanted was an utterly thrilling and freeing experience.
While I understood the more obvious parts of the commentary and felt heartbroken for Lacie, I'm also relieved to know that this kind of ratings-based class structure could never work in real life. Despite how significant social media has become in our society, people generally understand that it can be empty and shallow, and that the the number of Likes we get isn't indicative of our true worth at all. We're often advised to take periodic breaks from social media to manage FOMO, envy, and the feeling that we're not good enough, to understand that it's only a highlight reel to showcase our best moments and hide our struggles, and to stop seeing it as a representation of real life. If we as a population understand that, we would never accept a system in which our quality of life is directly determined by how people rate us online. We wouldn't allow it, because we know social media is fake and ultimately meaningless.
Well, to an extent. If your social network is public, employers can look at what you post and will take it into account when considering you for a position. I personally disagree with this on a number of levels but I think you make a good point that the general population probably doesn't take social networking too seriously. Good comment.
hollywoodshopaholic I feel like the rating could have been a stand in for any type of score based document that doesn't hold much merit in the real world (standardized test scores, grades, GPA's) even though they do matter, they don't fully represent how people are actually equipped to function in the real world
I don't know. Who could have imagined the current world we live in 20 or 30 years ago? Perhaps it could happen very gradually. Hope you're right though.
The reviewer did a great job in this vid....but the last scene, where Laci and the other inmate began tossing angry insults back and forth, should have been included in his analysis. In that scene, she begins sincerely offended by the other prisoner's initial barb, and tries to down-rate him with her now-non-existent cellphone...but they both become more amused and liberated as the barbs fly between them continue and get even nastier. The final scene where they are both joyously screaming "F*&^% YOU!!!" to each other with huge grins on their faces was priceless, and perhaps the best scene of the entire movie. The sweet freedom to disagree, to berate, to insult, to microaggress, to be truly, profanely, brutally offensive after a life spent in sterile conformity, was shown to be heady stuff indeed. You wind up really liking her as she comes into her own power as a person in that last scene. And you know that once they release her, she will never go back. Good show, and a good review.
Gosh, that scene at te airport; that *nosedive* ; I felt a heatwave from my heart reaching progressively to my forehead, and I *genuinely* felt sooooo bad for her in that moment. That heatwave is exactly what I actually feel when I was scolded, *yelled at* by my dad for having done a terrible mistake, too. I guess I just felt terribly embarrassed for her, and empathised like that
An average of their parent's rating makes sense. Until they are 18 imagine they are an average of both parents, and ratings of the children directly effect the parental ratings, not the child. When they come of age their rating isn't tethered anymore.
I know this comment is a year old, so sorry for the necro here. I believe it would be very similar to how it is now, especially on Facebook. Parents take pictures and post all kinds of shit about their kids on their own Facebooks, you basically watch them grow up even if you're half the world away. Then, when the kid is old enough, they make their own account and probably get a shit ton of 5 stars from friends and family members, like how kids making new Facebook accounts today get a lot of friend requests and "welcome to Facebook!!!!" messages.
This is my favorite episode by far simply because of the entirety of humanity being obsessed with attention drawing a direct correlation to narcissism in the real world. It's sad, but we already do this in real life. No need for an app when every conversation you have at work is a mini trial for acceptance, and possible promotion..or the reverse. Those who recognize this game and reject it are outcasts, but really free to do as they please.
I think this is the Black Mirror episode that's always hit home the most with me, due to how scarily close to reality it is & how it's not absolutely out of the realms of possibility for this to happen and people already do think like this.
This episode teaches us the truth that only non-conformity is truly beautiful. Free yourself from the industries and the pressure that teach us all otherwise.
Great music choice for this analysis. It was perfectly in keeping with the mood of the episode, and I honestly got just as teary throughout the video as I did from actually watching Nosedive. It's the little things...!
"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture." -Neil Postman - Amusing Ourselves To Death
I feel like it's worth mentioning the interaction Lacie has at the very end with the guy across from her, starting with anger(?) but turning into a fun moment between the two, given the slight change in tone and little smiles that they both crack during the camera changes
As a person who uses social media, this episode is my favorite because its describing the world we live in today. The person with the most views and likes becomes popular and gets access to things that others can not. You feel happy if a person with millions of views or followers comment or likes a post on your account. This isn't just the direction we are heading, but we are already living in it.
While you make some good points, there are a few I disagree with. Like, the thing about the airport security officers being so "pathetic" because they couldn't deal with her without the ratings hit. That wasn't that bad- and as someone who's worked service positions, having someone yell at you because of something you can't actually control, as the situation appeared there, and having to smile but still not helping them isn't not doing your job. A similar situation would be if a customer's credit card is declined at a shop. Not just giving the customer the item that they want that you have no power to give them without getting in trouble yourself isn't not doing your job- quite the opposite, in fact. In addition, and this is more of an issue with the heavy-handed moral of the episode, criticizing characters for worrying about their rating when their rating determines pretty much every aspect of their daily life doesn't sit right with me. Like, there's an overwhelming "oh wow who CARES what people on social media think of you" message, but in the world they've set up, what people on social media think of you determines your job, what transit you have access to, what medical care you get, what apartments you can find, and who knows what else. It's similar to a "money isn't everything!" message being slapped over a show about people going bankrupt and becoming homeless.
That airport lady could have helped her by giving her a 5 star rating herself. Instead she was being a jerk and gave her a low rating. It's pretty obvious that she just did not WANT to help her.
Imagine if the hackers from *Shut Up And Dance* got a hold of your account and use your stars for themselves, people who get lost in technology are the ones who get taken advantage of the most by the people who create it and manipulate it
I actually thought this one was one of the most obvious and superficial episodes. It is really just a one step logical realization in our current trend of social media where most of the others take multiple steps into distopia to show our current failings as well as where they can lead. It was a nice episode and well done of course, this show is quite amazing, and merges art and entertainment better than I've seen before. No "but" just praise :-) I am not one to jump into the social networking game and try for good rating, but not in the anti-group either. I think her brother was just as trapped as her but in the accepted anti-group; He doesn't do the RL interactions that can make you rise up in the "higher class" world but his rating is fine and he has his life with the other people like him. The way it is portrayed gives you our common two group system (everything is a team sport of this side verses that side) and BOTH are a part of the system. He says things that are just as shallow as she does but are just the counter to hers. No matter what he says he won't change her and she won't change him because they are two sides of the same coin but don't realize it. That is why their would never have been a change until she met someone truly outside the system of control.
man, your narration of the episode, is sooo... sooo fking touching, i could almost feel myself getting lost in the world painted in this episode just because of the way you were describing each little detail, it's almost like a work of art.
Holy crap guys I could only dream of producing a video that's this successful, 100k views is an unimaginable quantity of people clicking on this video, I couldn't have done it without all your continued support thank you so much!
Harry's Moving Castle you should do an analysis for Howl's Moving Castle!!
and congratulations on the 100k+ views!!
Harry's Moving Castle excuse me but do you have a degree in the arts 🎓
The videos are great chap... only found them today but watched through 6 or 7.. I look forward to seeing the next one. All the best :)
Harry's Moving Castle videos are great ... you actually deserve more cheers mate texan here, love the brits
What I really liked about this episode is how you can feel that Lacie really means well and is a nice person underneath, even though she's so fake almost the whole episode. You don't really hate her, but she does make you really really sad. Such a good actress
Exactly, she is indeed a nice person tho. And it would make it so much easier for herself and at least for a person like me, if someone like her, who is actually nice but constricted with social norms, would just let go.
Ellis I fucking hated her at Most times.
She's truly a nice person specially when the 2.8 guy offered her a drink. She just has to conform to how the world works since she admits to the old lady that she's feel empty inside and the only thing going for is her rating and her longing to her bestfriend Naomi, who she genuinely love despite all the fakery.
What makes the episode not feel too unsettling is that its not tragic for black mirror standards. She gets more likable the more she shows her true feelings and she ends up discovering herself, even if she lost a lot. And i don think it is a prison, more like a forced therapy or something. It reminded me of the anime psychopass too. If you dont know it, great dystopia. Season 1.
I would say that she is likable because we can all empathize with her for searching for self acceptance, in her case desperately, and in a very misguided way. But she can hardly be blamed based on being constantly bombarded with the perfectly crafted social media profile lives, and knowing that a shallow opinion of your appearance and personally crafted profile effects the opportunities available to you in society, where you work, where you live! Not to mention people judging you based on your rating. You can't tell me that in that situation, you wouldn't be similarly driven. Most people would. It's an insane scenario that reflects a lot of current societal truth. We shouldn't judge people. Period. And realize that social media profiles are not a measure of personal worth.
The biggest winner of this episode is Lacie's brother, who gets to keep the house for himself for a long while.
His American accent was horrible lol
Stevan Gonzalez I believed it
Tired 24/7 Idk man just something about how he pronounciated his words sounded too tried lol. That's just my opinion
I thought he said he was moving into a friends apartment (and lots of his things were packed up).
@@stevangonzalez5908 ya he was tired of his sister shit
I loved how the eye filter was a metaphor looking at the world through 'rose tinted glasses'
Yeah, I took her delight at seeing the dust to mean she wouldn't have otherwise seen it wearing her contacts.
Rose coloured glasses: where all the red flags just look like flags
mia mackenzie nice Bojack Horseman reference
haha..bojack
wow great point
One Note: there is also Paul, Naomi's husband, who is clearly gay and has a thing with his best man. And I think Naomi knows based on her facial expression on Paul and Anthony's over the top complementary hugging and ass kissary.
I definitely got that vibe too. It was weird, though, because Chester was allowed to work at the workplace before he and his boyfriend broke up, and judging by how she treats the situation ("3.1? What happened") he was probably around a 4 before the breakup, which isn't the cream of the crop like Paul's 4.8, but certainly isn't terrible. My guess is homophobia is a downvote for most people in this society, but people still find a way to profile, like if a gay man did something wrong he would receive a lower vote than a straight man would have.
Their kiss at the wedding is weird af dude
Wow I didn't catch that. I guess I should watch the episode a 3rd time.
I think Lacey is bisexual too. What surprised me the most was her reaction at the end of the episode : she reproachs Naomi for the fact she had sex with Greg in the past but, just then, says "I love you" to Naomi. It's like she's not jealous of Naomi and angry because she loved Greg but because she loved Naomi and still does.
Even though, in all the episode, she seems to want to go to the wedding only for the votes, I feel like it's not her only obsession, even if it's the first.
But maybe I'm wrong and their relationship is just a toxic frendship, where it doesn't matter how hurtful the powerful one might be, the other will still crawl to this person.
@@benjaminwambeke9458 "homophobia" doesn't exist
@@creedbratton1545 im crying this reply is the funniest shit to me
When she saw the man in the hologram, she realized she wanted the condo. However, I don't think she realized that what she really wanted was someone to love. And then she says she just wants to be content, and she thinks that getting her rating up so that she can get the condo will make her content, but really she just needs someone.
And she got her freedom and the man in the end.
I feel like it would be hard for her to have a relationship in a world like that, like he said they didn’t know the full details of the man’s break up but they chose to side with his ex partner and in return they ruined his life as well as his job
And in the end of her speech she says she loves Naomi
A man will not make you content what she needs to do is fine herself
@@lolagonvieve7388 yes find herself then find a good man that will lead her through life.
I love the Ａｅｓｔｈｅｔｉｃｓof the episode. That weird blend of light pallets with a future 50's look to it. The episode probably has one of the best concepts of the entire show. However, Shut Up and Dance is the most unsettling episode to me.
The colour pallet is insane! I love how bland yet vibrant it is, thats the one thing i wished I'd touched on more. Chester's shirt colour when we first see him is the stark opposite of everything else in the workplace. Phenomenal art direction throughout.
Especially since no other episode *_looks this good_* in the entire series. It's a character of its own here.
To me the colours, light and 'modern/vintage-look' of the world make it seem like they are living in social-media itself. It looks like it's taken right from a tublr, pinterest or instagram account.
Yames Maximilien ?
the colours remind me of Edward Scissor Hands and the neighbourhood.
"Everyone is both performer and audience now and it's terrible."
- Bo Burnham, Make Happy
You’re everything you hated, are you happy?
-Bo Burnham, Make Happy
It doesn’t really go with this but I like the quote.
"Finding a good quote was too much of a hassle."
- Bidmartinlo
I also loved how even in the video chats with Lacie, Naomi goes out of her way to "frame herself" in aesthetically pleasing ways. Every body pose she does is done because it looks good, not because it's natural. Unfortunately it reminds me a lot of some people I used to know who got way too into instagram...
bluepinata uu
That’s a great point, I think you could even argue that it goes deeper than that, that the whole episode frames every scene like an Instagram post and the lighting makes it look like it’s under a filter.
Also the man in the jail cell at the end is the only person in the episode seen wearing black. The black imo represented truth and reality. Also lacie is seen with black mascara which could represent her realization.
@@thee_morpheus stfu lmao
@@thee_morpheus theres literally a black security guard and a black hologram of her future husband and a black airport receptionist, and a black man who works in the office and sells smoothies, the guy in jail is black but so is lacy and shes white. so seriously what do you mean OF COURSE HES BLACK WAH WAH HES IN JAIL. boohoo. ue being offended by nothing.
Emii Kristin Moore he said wearing black
Emii Kristin Moore not black people
The color pallets of most episodes is very dark, or earthy, but in Nosedive we see mostly pastels, until of course she's in prison. Then it's dark like usual. Something I noticed.
if this future plays out, im fuckin becoming susan the trucker
Sam Aspden nice comment ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
FrostBug it will be mandatory for every Chinese citizen in 2020
Credit scores have been advertising themselves as a judge of character
Nah, the one that gives me the chills is the one with the dude's implant being left in the cabin on for thousands of years listening to one very loud song on a loop. That's terrifying.
It was a cookie, but even a.i. computers must have some level of perception
I do think that dude had the worst fate out of all endings in Black Mirror (besides the one that actually died because of mom, you know which one, though I think I'd rather be dead than go through that, there wasn't even a way he could kill himself)
Was it 1,000 years a minute? I suppose it would be an interesting experiment. What does something that acts like a human do after living for thousands of years when subjected to non-stop torture? When you think about it, his whole life is just that one song. I reckon he wouldn't even remember being himself. He'd probably just be sitting in a corner in the fetal position, laying on his side, singing the song over and over.
I'm no neuroscientist but I bet a lot of, if not all, connections that should function normally inside the brain would shut off so he'd be a vegetable.
Yeah. Even without torture, the one girl was broken only after a few months sitting in a bland room. I just did the math. If they left him on for 12 hours he would experience 720,000 years of torture.
This is one of the best and nost terrifying hours of television I've ever seen. Like... I could never imagine living in a world like this. I'd be in jail for sure.
most*
I was about ready to have a mental breakdown at the end. Luckily I'm not in that world or else I would have.
We already live in a world like this we just don’t realize it :/
Mate we live in that world already
@@Darth_Insidious see "china credit system"
I think the younger you are, the more relevant and unsettling the episode the episode is to you.
Angela Solomon completely agree
Doesn't have to be. I'm 24 and my sister is 28, she found it highly disturbing, while for me it was just something i realised (the fakness and people glorifying social status) existed when i was like 13?
I happen to be thirteen, and I can totally see all this going on around me. It wasn’t very “unsettling” for me, more realistic.
Death The Reaper yeah, it all comes down to values. If you have or even question your own values, these things seem and are idiotic.
I mean that's how it is for me.
And I'm 14 and honestly I don't think the problems of social media are as bad as they are painted to be, so I guess it doesn't depend on the age.
The fact that she would always gave 5⭐'s no matter who they were or their rating it was always in the hope that she would get a 5 back but she rarely did. She was always putting in so much effort being as nice as possible😭💔
She wasn't nice, she was desperate.
I like to argue that this episode is one of the only episodes that have a happy ending (the other episode being San Junipero) because of the ending in how she finally finds freedom in imprisonment. For some reason, no one else gets that when I say it but that's what I get out of the episode.
As for what episode is the most unsettling, I think White Christmas has to take the cake for that, although I think Men Against Fire should also have an honorable mention.
Almighty Roadkill San Junipero was really unsettling at the end tbh. The contrast of the happy music with the stone cold emotionless machinery gave me chills. Still technically a happy ending but left a lot to think about. Nosedive was the most wholesome ending imo though, glad to finally see someone who agrees
Can I also add that "most hated in the nation" has sort of a happy-ish ending? The one with the drone bees. Most of the episodes, the main characters are left distraught, life is messed up or even die. In this episode of the killer bees, both the main characters Karin and Blue survive and actually cracked the case and get the guy. I would also put it in "happy(ish) moments" of black mirror.
Maritza G Although it's definitely not the saddest or creepiest ending, I would also like point out that roughly millions of people died
Almighty Roadkill yes, that's why I isolated the "happy-ish moment" to just the main characters. Although they had to see someone die in a horrific way, they were, at the end, and as far as we know, ok with Blue actually catching the guy that killed everyone.
Have you also noticed this is sort of a connected universe? Blue was the one that cracked the case on "white bear" where they found the man who kidnapped and killed the little girl with Victoria being the one who recorded everything. I wonder if the man gets caught (the one from the killer bee episode), he may undergo the same treatment.
Oh yeah totally. The show is very creative with that aspect, I appreciate all that goes into making the connected universe. That's interesting fo sure, I never thought about what would happen to him after he got caught,
*You sir, are an excellent writer.*
TIN MAN HOANG you, sir, are*
Cecilia Piccolo sado
TIN MAN HOANG ⛦⛦⛦⛦⛦
Cecilia Piccolo You, sir, are
Nosedive was my first Black Mirror episode
Svvet Lana Same here
is it not the first episode?
Cheeky Bum It's the first episode of season 3, but the 8th of the whole series.
Svvet Lana me too
Svvet Lana same!
Susan (1.4) had a significant impact on my takeaway of this episode. The moral that I concluded was that trying to please everybody leads to self-sabotage. You can't please everyone. Susan (even though she had a 1.4) was a good person. She gave Lacie a lift, she gave her a drink, she shared her story. She cared only to please herself. Ultimately that's what matters, right? Everyone else trying to reach that 4.8-5 was FAKE. And it was obvious
Exactly, I thought about how it is a good way of spotting whose good and whose a nasty,selfish, fake person, the higher the score the worse they are probably.
She was my favorite character in an episode I otherwise didn't care about but even her presence within the story was incredibly cliche, you know the usually old character who pops up for a scene to give a character a pep talk so the character was was down is inspired again
And then there was the fact that she had not always been at that rating. She was once a 4.6 (which >4.5 appears to be the "elite" threshold in this world)!
Yet, she was much happier as a 1.4 even *despite* having lost her husband to cancer! 😭😭😭 And the fact that that was true was not even a moment that made me happy, but quite sad! Somehow, some way, the politics of this world were so depressing that not even the person she loved more than anyone in the world could save her from that depression (her depression only went away when she rejected the politics altogether and refused to play the "game" at all - even without her husband there to help her out of her depression, her depression went away simply due to her rejecting the system! That's heartbreaking and tells you how terrible the system is)!
I'm sure ppl have already pointed this out but the reason ppl with a score 4.5 or higher get a 20% discount is coz their sphere of influence is bigger so the plan is they'll entice more ppl to buy a place from the same company as well. Also small side not but Naomi's husband is definitely gay with his best friend (you can see Naomi's disapproving glances) and their marriage is clearly more of a numbers game (which just shows how fake Naomi is)
Yeah, you can tell when he hugs his friend and Naomi gives them a weird look.
Tiffany Thomas ohh i didn't clock that, i just thought it was because she didnt actually like her husband and his loud behaviour lol. yeah it definitely could be bc he's actually with his best friend
crossfires Yeah, it’s a theory. I could be reading into it too much and they could just be loud, and she fears that her rating will go down. This seems like a society that doesn’t like anyone who is loud and disruptive.
This episode made me delete my Instagram. Lol
Claire W samee
@@taha42223 same
The shit is so very fake nobody is as happy as they portray themselves as best as they can.
Same
Nerd
W/ regard to the real estate bit: The reason you get a discount with a higher rating is because of the value you'd bring to the neighbourhood as a 4.5+. Basically it's a PR move. They want to fill the neighbourhood with 4.5ers to make it an attractive place to live, justifying the high price in general, and especially justifying the higher price point for people aspiring to be 4.5+. Also, one can assume that other people are looking at 4.5ers feeds a lot and look up to them, so it's a form of free advertising. That's what I think anyway! Think it makes sense in this particular universe. Great video!
is it kind of like a credit score? Your financial status determines what you get in life, which is pretty sad.
@@kerriannsalmon9952 it is not. Be responsible.
Kevin Valencia IT IS.
@@kerriannsalmon9952 not
@@EricMtuhuru ...what?
I cant believe you left out the closing exchange of the episode, it so immensely cathartic.
i was expecting that
FUCK YOU!!!
At the end of the episode, the two people find it happy, to tell the truth about each other and even though offense but it true and that makes it funny. For example, how dirty she was from the mud look like she came out some strange cow lab
@Josie Lee same here! Bittersweet tears of joy. The ending was so liberating and emotional, it really knocked me over
It may be the most likable episode based off that ending, no one dead, and i dont think its a usual prison, more like a holding cell. The laugher.
For me, Bryce Dallas Howard's finest performance. You feel uncomfortable by Lacie from her obsession and determination, but feel tragically sympathetic for her at the end. At the wedding scene, it's incredibly painful to watch. She ends up being more human at the end in the prison cell. Very chilling.
I agree, I haven't seen much of her work but she gave a perfect performance in this.
The Cinematic Mind That's how I felt watching it. I didn't want it to stop and I wanted a part two in how Lacie is and how the rest of the scenario played out. One of my favorite episodes
just a vegan One of my all time favourite TV episodes.
I remember feeling quite constipated (odd way to describe how I feel) throughout the entire episode, but then felt extreme relief during Laci's chat with Susan, as well as the ending. This episode was really great.
Is it bad i skipped the wedding scene? I couldn't get myself to watch it lol
One note: Idk if she was actually disgusted by the cookie. I feel like that scene where she spits out the cookie is more a nod at the fact that she's struggled with an eating disorder (many people with eating disorders chew and spit their food).
You're spot on. She actually makes a reference to having an eating disorder at the wedding.
She did that because she hated the food and drinks and only put on a fake smile to get ratings.
heyyyyythere I thought she maybe didn’t like the cookie but leaned towards her making the cookie perfect for a pic
Good point, especially since she winces and makes it apparent that she dislikes the coffee, unlike with the cookie
@@kitty_visionary_meow I mean, Naomi and her actually talk about her eating disorder even before the wedding. It was already stated.
I hope this doesn't apply in the future, i would be a 0.5 😂😢
I'd rather go live in the caves/farm, whatever faraway from them if that ever happens in the future.
it's been kinda happening in china tho
@@anasimron
More than kinda, reports are they banned 23 millions people from buying plane tickets because of their social credit standing
@@jasoncranford6349 holy shit. that's scary.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Lacie didn't just psychotically pursue a high rating. She had to give it so much attention because she wasn't very good at it. In a society where the availability of things and the cost of things is so heavily influenced by charisma and social success, the consequences of being not quite awesome are dire. This is the part I found most disturbing. As a high-funcitoning autistic person, I see this kinda happening all the time, even without an explicit rating system. Our society has rewards for charisma that are positively disgusting and unfair if you are on the losing end of them, and real-world social media like Facebook are coded to enforce the charisma rules, so it's no respite for the not-so-awesome, and in fact it's a source of isolation and depression. "Tripbook" just moves the bar higher so that more people experience the agony.
You go random person, please continue to speak up like this bc there's more people who identify with your thinking
Thanks for this
Anna Gulaev I agree. I have experienced this myself, as I naturally have a straight forward and honest personality, and despise fake interactions.
I was scolded for it severely in my workplace, and had to learn to treat people with that fake small-talk BS. Getting better at it though.
What a phenomenal analysis!
Anna Gulaev I COMPLETELY AGREE
What did people make over her argument with the fellow prisoner at the end? Great ending. In my opinion when she was finally free to express herself and not care about ratings she seemed to finally connect with someone. Defiantly felt the sexual tension. And maybe that is ultimately what she was looking for all along (remember the hologram in the house and the advert she runs past).
Loving the videos. Keep it up.
I'd say you're totally right. I was hoping the video would discuss the guy at the end because I was dying to know his backstory. How did someone as impeccably dressed and good-looking as him wind up there? He probably realized the ridiculousness of the ratings system and had an outburst like Lacie, but unlike her, he seemed completely calm about being there.
Jack McCaughan Sexual tension? Not everything has to do with sex
It's such an uplifting ending. See how they slowly started smiling as they yelled at each other at the end.
She got what she was finally looking for. To be human. It's a blink and you'll miss it moment, by when they start telling each other "fuck off!" in rapid succession, you can see their real smiles shining through. Also, they're totally going to bang.
I know right??
There was 0 sexual tension.
The only part of that scene was her finally freely expressing herself.
This is a very SCARY show....yet not one jump scare or monster or super human abilities.....
Mood Music Well, Playtest
Playtest
It reminds me of streaks on snapchat and how meaningless they become and they are also defined by a number and that number determines your amount of interaction with that person.
When I first watched this, I had severe social anxiety, so of course, sitting through it was almost impossible. I had to stop the episode three times, and even then I could not finish it. A few years later, I've left my teenage years behind, and I'm a healthier person. I just rewatched it as someone who has recovered from deep anxiety, and boy did bryce dallas howard knock that performance out of the park. Nosedive illustrates everything wrong with our social media system, and it shows us where it could take us. The superficiality of it is so unsettling it becomes toxic, and that's why I've given up on meeting a standard. I have my group of friends, I'm in college, and I'm having the time of my life. Social media need not apply to my life, and it shouldn't to yours too. Cheers guys!
Unfortunately this is happening for real in China and will probably happen in the U.S. and Europe as well. What's scary about it is if you have a low social rating in China you can't buy property or travel abroad
The scariest part about Nosedive isn't that this social game could become a reality in the future, it's that this social game is already a reality now. The specifics of it aren't as clear-cut as in the episode, with all its points systems and whatnot, but it's a pretty good analogy for life as it is. People want to be popular, and not just that high school definition of "popular"; I'm talking about the kind of popularity that gets you at the top of this hierarchical system we've set ourselves up in.
I don't think Lacy is ignorant of how problematic the social media system in her world is, just as we aren't completely ignorant to this kind of stuff in our own lives. When talking to the truck driver, she goes on a tirade about how being able to live the way she wants sounds nice, but isn't realistically achievable whilst retaining happiness. This is "just how the world is," and her frustration is so relatable because in some ways she's right. As much as everyone wishes that life wasn't built on this metagame that places social standing so high on our priorities, there's really nothing we can do about it. It is what it is.
The ending to me seems to say that we shouldn't worry so much about whether or not we're playing the game of life correctly, and instead focus more on what we want to do in it. Do we want to "win," or do we want to have fun? What does that mean for us personally?
Uber has this too where drivers and passengers can rate each other and you can see those ratings when paired off.
I do not agree with your comment unfortunately. To me her speech at that point was too delusional and self absorbed. Happiness is not valued with how high you reach at your social status , is more about acknowledging the things that give you joy and the things you love and be grateful for them and of course keep working on getting better as a person constantly
It is becoming a reality. Look up "social credit system in China".
it is (becoming) a reality..... tripbook = instagram... on acid....... how people comment "lb" "like4like".... following people then unfollowing to get that followers to following ratio... its insane and im guilty of it too sometimes
There are more people leaving social media than people think, so I guess the only thing "we" can do about it is to really moderate or completely leave social media completely. That will never happen unless a different medium takes it's place (maybe virtual reality)? I only use youtube and facebook (more youtube) and facebook for family/events a few times a month. where before I was on it every day. I've run into more and more similar people too, social media has already peaked in my opinion.
It's amusing when she's in the home she wants with the estate agent, she's shown her fictional "lover" intimately kissing her in the kitchen, or dining with her on the billboard. It's a play on how adverts try to sell a certain lifestyle with the product, whether they're saying a certain razor or aftershave will make you irresistible to women, a certain car will give you more freedom and adventure in your life, or even a certain dog treat will make your pet love you more. It's all selling the product based on an unguaranteeable promise. The worst and most disgusting offenders in my opinion are the adverts that claim that having a certain mortgage from a certain bank is necessary for raising a family.
Who else here is old enough to remember when youtube had stars instead of likes and dislikes? Seems like an eternity ago.
Jake Stirling Damn son I remember those days. not sure which I prefer, not that it makes much difference
Man i remember those days.
I remember when people could get negative comments for being assholes and wasn't automatically readable unless you really want to read it.
Now hate comments just stay on top.
error2k2 yeah, back back then bad comment actually gets deleted or hidden. Now, you cant even tell if the downvote button even works and the bad comments are not hidden nor have any negative ratings.
That's a long time ago
It's interesting to really analyze the speech patterns of the characters in the show. They speak almost like they're texting or commenting on a picture. It's incredibly unnatural and unsettling. You can even dive deeper (no pun intended) and notice how certain hand motions and smiles are sustained, almost like emojis. I thought this episode was very well done, and you're analysis of it was entertaining and insightful :)
This is happening in reality. It's awful to behold...
I actually believe that we already live in this system but not because of ratings from social networks but we already divide ourselves in social classes. Has anybody felt this frustration in college when you couldn't be part of a certain group and you could never achieve that? have you ever thought why would you be happy with that? It's an illusion, the happiness of being in that class is an illusion, they are not better than you, it's just like the illusion that Lacie lived on, she would never be satisfied cause she doesn't really know why that would make her happy (as shown in the truck scene). this is my favorite episode, thank you for the analysis
Bernardo Freitas absolutely. And when you do become a part of that “cool” group, it just doesn’t feel right.
I always felt that groups are very reluctant to new people which I guess makes them more "special"
I agree that class differences and gate keeping by the upper class is a huge thing..
Is it normal to want people who hate you to like you cuz I don't if the cool kids hate me then fuck them
The people who give a shit about social classes are pretty fake anyways. 😒
When I was in high school I definitely would lurk over people's profiles that I thought I wanted to be. It was even worse in college because I would be miserable studying and other people would be abroad in France.
meikoblock To love oneself is a powerful tool.
meikoblock I use social media to produce comedy
meikoblock wait there are actual people who think it's cool to study here in France lmao
Lorenende super cool, it’s my dream
Exactly why I deleted my Facebook account. Just makes you depressed
For me I think Nosedive was a bit heavy handed in terms of social commentary, it's a bit more blatant than other episodes but it still is one of the best of the season for me. I think this video made me appreciate the episode a bit.
Movies In General I thought it was better than say the one with that guy bing and the game show. I actually don't even remember what that one was called, but I thought it played more like a shitty metaphor than a scary depiction of a possible future. I remember in fact reading about something like in nosedive IRL where they wanted to create a website to rate people individually I forgot what it was called and it failed almost as soon as it was suggested but the idea it has already been suggested shows the future of nosedive is a very real future.
It has a fairly simple concept and plot in comparison with other Black Mirror episodes,but it's so well done that I have to call it one of the best.
I actually love if that universe became true. You know I could really reached at least 4.5
Autumn Shag For one, braggers aren't generally appreciated
It did seem a bit obvious. Thing I liked most about that was the Mad Men/ Stepford Wives world it showed. We seem to be sliding towards it if we're not already there.
I was hitchhiking in Egypt once, long ago, and tried to sleep on the roof of a hotel (that used to be an option for backpackers.) The three young men who ran the hotel (which was mostly empty) said no way they will allow a lady to sleep like that, so they gave me, for the same price of almost nothing, their best room and asked to be given a 5 star review. It is VERY difficult for me to lie, always has been. That hotel was so bad, so poor, so dirty, the room was nothing I would ever recommend to anybody. I five-starred it on-line, because they were kind to me. It was a truly unusual sense of being pressured into indecency by a good deed. Weird, isn't it? How oddly pliable we are.
It's called "reciprocity".
@@brotheredgar7671 Its not a kind act if you expect anything out of it- its a trade.
When I was travelling in Ghana, Africa some of my uber drivers actually would say please rate me a 5, look miss, I am rating you a 5. It was just like this episode
This episode was an excellent example of how it's not the technology itself that destroyed society, but the way people used it. It also brought a sort of "missing link" stage to what I call the Eye Implant Saga that seems to be going on in the background of Black Mirror. It seems to be the same implant, or different versions of the same, but used in different ways and it wasn't until Nosedive that we saw how it could go from The Entire History of You to Be Right Back.
What's really interesting is that in such a society, it seems like your social media rating actually has more power and influence than money. Like at the car rental place, not even Bill Gates would've been able to get into the express line or get a nicer car if he had a bad rating despite all his money. This system already very much exists today in certain online communities like Reddit or Stack Exchange websites. Like you said, you say something that not everyone completely agrees with or likes, or if someone just simply doesn't like you, you'll get down voted, often times for no reason. This society is honestly Reddit in a real life. Some people post the most superfluous things on Reddit just to get upvotes.
Maybe you can buy a 5 star rating?! As mentioned any politician would get high and very low ratings due to their opinions. So maybe rich or important people can buy a 5star rating.
The fuck, no, you're not banned from any activity on Reddit from getting upvotes; it strictly affects your visibility *on the tread*
You're banned for breaking the publicly accessed, finite & written rules of the thread, and it's done by human mods
Pardon me, if I'm not getting ahead of myself here, but stop trying to spontaneously turn yourself into a victim
@@nicholasleclerc1583 Ok wow, first off all, this was a 3+ year old comment so I probably don't remember the full context anymore or what you're mad about exactly. I'm not sure if you've watched that episode of Black Mirror or not but that whole episode was based on people having to play roles just to get better ratings from other people which is what upvote farmers do on sites that have upvote systems. Anyways, I don't think I said anything about getting banned on reddit. All I said was it's a trend for people to just downvote people they disagree with whether there's a legitimate reason or not, which is pretty much what happens in this episode of black mirror. The main character of that episode literally couldn't disagree or criticize anyone without her getting a low rating. I have absolutely no idea where you're getting rule breaking, banning, victims, etc from unless you're replying to someone else's comment that I can't see here. This was all in the context of that episode from what I can remember.
@@nicholasleclerc1583 Out of curiosity though, since I did enjoy this episode a lot and have been trying to remember the context of all this from 3 years ago. I did just look into the two sites I referenced. Stack Exchange websites, which is probably what I was talking about the most, do give a lot more privileges to high reputation people whereas low reputation people are restricted from a lot of actions. As for reddit, I never said anything about a ban but it seems having a low reputation can restrict how often you're allowed to post, but I'm guessing that's up to individual subreddits. Come to think of it, I do believe the reason why I referenced reddit as well. Back when Call of Duty Infinite Warfare was first announced, it was very much hated by the community because they didn't like futuristic games anymore. The hate for that game before release kind of formed an angry mob. On reddit, anyone that expressed interested or said something positive about the game often got down voted to oblivion. Meanwhile people that posted memes or anything that hated on Infinite Warfare would get thousands of upvotes. So I'd say those are all fair comparisons to this episode of Black Mirror.
Funny seeing you here lol Halo Reach guy
Can't wait for Shut Up and Dance and San Junipero analysis. These videos are excellent. Keep it up Harry!
Does anyone remember that woman on Dr.Phil who was trying to sell an app like this? It was to rate you as a person. I remember thinking it was so creepy and weird.
Holy shit you're right!
Whoa o.o me and a friend joked about that once if you have a yelp for restaurants how funny it would be if you had a yelp but for people, we just kept laughing cuz of how ridiculous it sounded .
Now I realized it's like this episode x_x creepy for sure
What was it called?
China is actually in the process of implementing a system like this.
@Scott Peterson yes. It was.
This was one of the very few instances where conservatives and liberals 100% agreed on. This was a creepy app.
Now, China is doing this in real life.
6:34 has aged like a fine wine that suddenly turned into vinegar over literally the past month or so. Ah, comments from a better time...
I think the ending ultimately shows the freedom of being an honest geniune person. The main thing I think the episode was trying to get at was how when ppl interact, they're so obsessed with how they're perceived. So much so that they're willing to put on a whole facade for the sake of acceptance, likes, a high rating etc. But it's all bs, that's not really them, it's just what they've scalped and presented to the world. The ending ultimately shows that people are more than a number, those two were put there because of who they actually were: Real People. The world might look down on them but it doesn't matter, because you can achieve everything you want in life by just being your self. The girls wedding, as pretty as it was, it was all based on fakeness. The two in the jail was way more beautiful and impactful because even though the setting(jail) is bad, their interaction was based on a geniue connection. They didn't look at each other as just numbers, but as human beings.
★★★★★
What a beast
can I get my free house now I have five stars plz like me
Ryan Patridge
★☆☆☆☆
;)
Fuck all of you!
Your entire head is just ridiculous to me!
I remember when Instagram first came out, I was obsessed with it. Back when not many celebrities if any at all joined it yet cause everybody was still on Twitter. Way before the term Instagram celebrity even existed. I used to post at least 10 photos a day and for some weird reason, I was approaching 2k followers, which back then was monumental.
Then one day I woke up and for no reason at all, I deleted it. I ended spending almost two years off social medias, and those were the best and most adventurous years of my life.
Finally in 2015 I came back on it, and it was like watching this episode but in real life.
And by the time this season was posted on Netflix, it was like a deja vu...except this one has an ending and real life social medias are still going on. Now my social medias are simply for professional purposes and comedy. Haven't posted anything remotely personal on them since!
This episode also reminded me of the whole concept with credit scores. Which is something that has actually been around waaaayyy longer than social medias.
Uber now allows the driver to rate the passengers and vice versa. It's completely optional but when I rated a driver and then she gave me a low rating, one I did not deserve as I did not do or say anything. That made me feel some type of way. I didn't like it at all and it made me want to give future drivers a good rating (even if they didn't deserve it). Rather than do that, I've decided to not rate any Uber driver at all. Anyway, I can totally see our society going the way of this episode and that is just scary.
One of the most interesting things to me is how this "tripbook" would work with children. What would happen if a bully 1 starred you everytime he saw you? What if a 40 year old pedophile gave a 15 year old a 5 star rating everytime he seen her? What if someone gave a parent and their child a 1 star rating for crying or acting out in a store or restaurant? Very thought provoking and very "loophole-ish" of the limitations and/or requirements of using the technology.
I suppose children under a certain age wouldn't have access to it and older kids would use it like adults.
I feel like similar to "In Time", where people's clock starts ticking when they get to 25, kids wouldn't have access to it until a certain age, maybe 18 or 21.
Yes, exactly because, essentially, the society is powered by the (subjective) feelings of everyone (willing to partake in the system). It includes those ones, and, again, after reading a a summary of Freudian psychology, you can say that it's as if the society has turned the human Id inside out; completely liberated, with a (Freudian, not Nietzschean : p) Ego/Super-Ego Death, since I clearly see the contradictory forces of the Id's feelings clashing against each other in self-destructive, self-contradictory or un-constructive ways, just like in your examples and the entire episode's plot
The only real person here is her brother
more like susan the truck driver but ok
I kept wishing she would call her brother.
He wasn't as invested as her he was happy at his rating it seemed but he did tell her the truth though but the truck driver lady was the realest
Yes, but he didn't really seem to have much of a life.
K. Kelly According to you, but what if he was one of those people who make money by playing video games online? Because in that case, he did what he was happy with and that was enough for him. He seemed to be the happy medium really, a pretty decent rating, but grounded enough personality to not get lost into Lacie’s completely fake world. He also lived in a virtual reality, but to him it at least begins and ends with the VR glasses, while Lacie and Naomi carried their fake reality around in their everyday lives. I think it’s a bit of commentary for how influencers look down on gamers, despite both functioning in a fake environment, and at least most gamers know the boundaries.
This is the scariest episode of the bunch, because it is already so true. It's funny... I'm the only person I know who doesn't own a smartphone, and everyone always says how cool it is that I don't own one, and yet, I am sure I have never influenced anyone to use their phone any less. Fantastic and fascinating analysis, my friend. I love this show and your commentary adds to my enjoyment.
karnubawax Do you consider yourself a happy person?
I don't have one either. I still use a flip phone with no data, but most people I know make fun of me for it. I don't care though. I'm hanging on to it as long as I can. The phone zombies haven't gotten to me yet!
REALY? Dude u don't listen to music? Watch creativity? Funny stuff? Cmon
I am thinking of quitting technology for a year this year (phones, TV, Xbox, etc). In about 2 weeks is when my challenge will start.
jonh johnson why..... dude it's a benefit..... take it.
My god are u one of those I was born in the wrong generation kids.....
This episode has become sort of a litmus test for me. Such a cautionary tale regarding our social media interactions. Such an ugly untone to a beautiful world. This has just really stuck with me.
Very interesting. Now that I think about it, Naomi being 'popular' is kind of like Instagram celebrities, how people are famous just for posting pictures.
exactly what i thought
I’d also like to mention that her laugh shows a lot more freedom in the last scene as compared to her robotic laugh at the start.
It's chilling how lacie found imprisonment in the free world but freedom in prison
Interesting the rush hour commute, I noticed someone reading a book, another playing music, another playing candy crush, another texting, and another filling out a crossword puzzle form the news paper and me who was just people watching. How we take for granted individuality, as it is the differences that assures human kind's survival and not conformity.
"Shut up and Dance" has to be the most disturbing episode of this new season of Black Mirror. It takes digital blackmail to a whole new extreme by shining a light on the dark secrets people harbor on the internet. I like the fact that it posits each character as being naive enough to believe that there is no way people can catch their inappropriate activity online, but it also makes you sympathize with each character by showing their humanity through their background and the things they are willing to do to keep their private life private. Now, this is no way means that I feel terribly sorry for the main character of the episode or the man he confronts at the end of it but it does make you think... because they felt like their dirty secrets would never get out, they felt free to indulge in such disgusting activities. Yes, every episode of Black Mirror shadows our real world, especially when it comes to technology and human behavior, but it does seem extremely unique as well as dark in this episode. Most people think that because they are behind a locked door and can delete their browser history that no one will ever know what they've done. The thing is "the all seeing eye" that is the internet will always know and your digital footprint can never be erased. Fantastic review of this episode by the way! I hope that "Shut up and Dance" can be next!
6:20 Man, imagine needing to pay for that verification tick!! Oh..
I feel like the taxi rating thing is actually progress. It was a service you paid for, of course the company should be checking to see its customers are getting good service. That's how bad companies go out of business! It's completely different from being rated over banal or personal aspects of your life.
That's why I don't use social media. (Except youtube, clearly..)
Lauren Bennett I took an uber for the first time a few weeks ago and I gave the driver a 5 star rating because he was chill and there wasn't any problems, so why not right? And later that night when I checked the Uber app I realized I had a passenger rating of 4.6! I was like how the hell am I being rated when I'm the consumer?? I didn't even do anything just sat there, minimal light conversation and was nice I was so confused lol
@@ThePokestopPapi Uber drivers rating the customer never made much sense to me. I think there should be a time limit on rating. Some uber drivers only rate you 5 stars if you tip. However, I'm not going to generally tip for a 10 minute ride that already cost me $10-15. Maybe $1 at the most, but even then, they would still rate you a 4. If there is a time limit, then they can't see if you tipped and it would really be based on how the customer really was instead of how big a tip they gave you.
The ending of this episode is an nice inspired use of the quote from Tyler Durden "Only after you've lost everything that you're free to do whatever you want."
Twitter itself determines if someone is of high enough interest and they give the verification tick
and they don't give it to conservatives
Pretty sure the Prime Minster and most of the incumbent Front bench of the government are verified, and they're literally called "the Conservative party"...
Asanas M that's not good dimwit
Asanas M, haha it's so good that people who don't share my factual opinion don't have their identity verified.
Ah yes because 'libtard' and other such phrases will prove that your political views are more intellectual and correct. Fucking idiot.
they should totally make a series based on this one episode! as Lacie being the main character! this episode can actually hold its on!
They showed this episode in my School and somehow everyone hated it. I ended up being the only one to like it.
Then you must be surrounded by invalids!
I think maybe this episode is a little wacky compared to the others, and people can't fully appreciate it if they haven't seen the rest of Black Mirror...
***** that is a possibility, and we had to watch a crappie dub because dumb people can't "read fast enough".
Your school? Do you mean college or highschool?
Angela Solomon Highschool
And you know what's the kicker? Everyone watching this episode will say "Oh, I wouldn't care about my rating, I'd be like the woman driving the truck." when in actuality they would be some of the earliest adopters of this tech.
Two things stood out to me in this episode:
1- Bryce Dallas Howard does an excellent job playing a really fake bitch. She makes it easy to almost despise her character.
2- That ending was funny, satisfying, and equally disturbing. I actually liked the ending quite a bit. You can't help but feel extremely relieved for her character (and the black dude).
The most ironic thing is Joe Wright, the director of this episode and famously Atonement, Pride and Prejudice (2005) and Hanna did this episode because of how he felt after he got hugely criticised for the critically "panned" Pan.
To be fair Pan wasn't a very good movie, while Atonement was arguably a masterpiece.
Wonderful analysis! This is definitely one of my favourite episodes of Black Mirror. While often neglected, I think this topic is very apt and very relevant. Behaviour like this is apparent in everyday life for most of us, and it makes me think of how nowadays it's become so that someone can be deemed abnormal, or even suspicious, if they lack an online presence (I.e Facebook, Instagram) when pursuing jobs and even relationships- much like Lacey's not wanting to associate with lower rated individuals.& I read an article on how lots of company's aren't up to hire someone without Facebook. Idk, narrative in Nosedive is slowly becoming true
This episode is probably the best made in the series. The aesthetics, as other people mentioned are fantastic, the technology design and interface is convincing and the performance within a performance given by Bryce Dallas Howard is phenomenal; as expected, since Netflix had to convince the audience that the show is still as powerful after the change in medium right off the first episode. But the episode that was most unsettling for me has to be White Bear.
Liri Ronen Holy shit, I thought she's Jessica Chastain.
This is Scarily true all ready, as a high school student (I'm 15) everyone is obsessed with instagram and Facebook, the more 'popular' kids have much higher followers and like rates on their photos than some who isn't as 'popular'. Another scary note is that people want to be your 'friend' the followers you have. Say you move to a new school kids instantly find your social media and depending on how many followers you have they judge wether or not they want to be your friend.
I’m assuming that in your high school, people who are popular also happen to have lots of followers and they’re not popular because they have so many followers. Make the distinction.
This episode made me feel primal rage. Faking kindness is probably my biggest pet peeve. Good ol' Black Mirror
I think that the act of spitting out the biscuit speaks more to her eating disorder than the disgust of the coffee. If you look, a lot of the episode centers around food and size, there's the look she has about the size 4 dress and the very conservative way that she dresses. it also does seem as though Bryce Dallas Howard gained weight for the role (I am just guessing that I don't know this). It's a small part of the episode but I think it's important because it means she has spent decades trying to conform to who Naomi is, not just months or years, making her breakdown even more impactful.
Yeah, she is on a perpetual diet, like MANY women in the world today, but acted, by posting the cookie as in the process of being eated, like she's chill and doesn't worry about it, it reminded me of Amy's rant from Gone Girl: "Being the Cool Girl means I am a hot, brilliant, funny woman who adores football, poker, dirty jokes, and burping, who plays video games, drinks cheap beer, loves threesomes and anal sex, and jams hot dogs and hamburgers into her mouth like she’s hosting the world’s biggest culinary gang bang while somehow maintaining a size 2, because Cool Girls are above all hot. Hot and understanding. Cool Girls never get angry; they only smile in a chagrined, loving manner and let their men do whatever they want. Go ahead, shit on me, I don’t mind, I’m the Cool Girl. PS: Also, I think BDH had just had a baby.
hence the jogging.. all that jogging
Theres also the subtle but not so subtle fact that her last name is pound.
I love how this show criticizes our society and our dependence to technology and media.
What I would like to know, did they kill every hacker in this world?
Just because a system like that would be cracked in a matter of days.
And some hackers would just adjust their social ranking to pretty high numbers most likely nearing the 5 but never fully becoming the 5 star rating, some would just try to take it down immediatly. Others would wait 5 years or so until it's fully integrated into society, following every update and crack it until they fully understand the execution of the source code and will take it down, when the society is the least ready for it. Just to see the pretentious world burn.
Thank you!!! Black hatters might weaponize it and use dummy/slave accounts to plummet a target's rating. White hatters might bring everyone down to a 0 to invalidate the whole system. The most chaotic would erase all history of legitimate reviews and issue commands so that everyone is constantly giving everyone else random reviews as often as possible to make it impossible to tell which reviews were legitimately issued by a human and which were illegitimately issued by a bot impersonating a human making the entire system useless thankfully. It'd be pretty funny though to see everyone's ratings constantly fluctuating from barrage of random reviews.
Nosedive infuriated me. This is the world we live in.
I know I'm late watching this, but you were so right I thought it was me.
I disagree. At least we can step out of the prison cell and live a great life and speak our mind.
I think it’s more of this is the world we will/could live in.
I don't know about anyone else, but I loved the song that came on with the 1-star sound effect on loop behind it. The way it repeated again and again, it really put you in her place in that moment. I felt like that stopped when she let go of caring about the ratings.
Been waiting for this video! Did you notice how race plays into the ratings? (Ex: clerks at the car rental place, the "express lane" guy was white and the one Lacie was in was a person of color, and at Naomi's wedding everyone that wasn't white was pushed to the edge by the building under the roof instead of out in the tables like everyone else?)
yes, the nwo agenda
that also irritated me, i wasn't sure if that is on purpose, or by accident, through not casting enough black actors? There was a black women with a ranking of 4.8, the one that Lacey hit by accident, when she went out of her house (after the discussion with her brother).
The women on the wedding were all blonde and dressed in white, the men had dark hair. It seemed weird to me, everyone was the same, cause that's the look they need to be above 4.5.
I had to think about "Yoga-Instagram-Beauty-Girls" the whole time. Show me one beauty-blogger without a room in the color palette of Laceys apartment :D
The 3 lowest rated people in the show, maybe more, were white though.
Maybe the Black people with lower ratings is reflective of society....maybe this episode was meant to mock the omnipresence of racism for what it is. ?
Esteban Q Urkel the VXIIth There is no omnipresence of racism.
Nice commentary, very insightful. It's a shame you didn't note the last interaction as to me it gave the entire episode a happy ending. The two of them finally speaking as they wanted was an utterly thrilling and freeing experience.
While I understood the more obvious parts of the commentary and felt heartbroken for Lacie, I'm also relieved to know that this kind of ratings-based class structure could never work in real life. Despite how significant social media has become in our society, people generally understand that it can be empty and shallow, and that the the number of Likes we get isn't indicative of our true worth at all. We're often advised to take periodic breaks from social media to manage FOMO, envy, and the feeling that we're not good enough, to understand that it's only a highlight reel to showcase our best moments and hide our struggles, and to stop seeing it as a representation of real life. If we as a population understand that, we would never accept a system in which our quality of life is directly determined by how people rate us online. We wouldn't allow it, because we know social media is fake and ultimately meaningless.
Well, to an extent. If your social network is public, employers can look at what you post and will take it into account when considering you for a position. I personally disagree with this on a number of levels but I think you make a good point that the general population probably doesn't take social networking too seriously. Good comment.
hollywoodshopaholic I feel like the rating could have been a stand in for any type of score based document that doesn't hold much merit in the real world (standardized test scores, grades, GPA's) even though they do matter, they don't fully represent how people are actually equipped to function in the real world
I don't know. Who could have imagined the current world we live in 20 or 30 years ago? Perhaps it could happen very gradually. Hope you're right though.
It is happening in China. The Social Credit System is horrifically disturbing.
The reviewer did a great job in this vid....but the last scene, where Laci and the other inmate began tossing angry insults back and forth, should have been included in his analysis. In that scene, she begins sincerely offended by the other prisoner's initial barb, and tries to down-rate him with her now-non-existent cellphone...but they both become more amused and liberated as the barbs fly between them continue and get even nastier. The final scene where they are both joyously screaming "F*&^% YOU!!!" to each other with huge grins on their faces was priceless, and perhaps the best scene of the entire movie. The sweet freedom to disagree, to berate, to insult, to microaggress, to be truly, profanely, brutally offensive after a life spent in sterile conformity, was shown to be heady stuff indeed. You wind up really liking her as she comes into her own power as a person in that last scene. And you know that once they release her, she will never go back.
Good show, and a good review.
freddfish yep, the irony they’re free, but in prison makes this episode awesome
Gosh, that scene at te airport; that *nosedive* ; I felt a heatwave from my heart reaching progressively to my forehead, and I *genuinely* felt sooooo bad for her in that moment.
That heatwave is exactly what I actually feel when I was scolded, *yelled at* by my dad for having done a terrible mistake, too. I guess I just felt terribly embarrassed for her, and empathised like that
what confused me about this episode was, what happens to children? do children get rated right when theyre born? if so, thats insane
Basically Josie I'm assuming they get a default rating (like 3.0) or their rating would be an average of their parents' rating.
An average of their parent's rating makes sense.
Until they are 18 imagine they are an average of both parents, and ratings of the children directly effect the parental ratings, not the child. When they come of age their rating isn't tethered anymore.
We have child beauty pageants so I can certainly see it being a thing in Laccis world
I would love to see someone rate a baby like "2 out of 5 meh, I have seen better"
I know this comment is a year old, so sorry for the necro here. I believe it would be very similar to how it is now, especially on Facebook. Parents take pictures and post all kinds of shit about their kids on their own Facebooks, you basically watch them grow up even if you're half the world away. Then, when the kid is old enough, they make their own account and probably get a shit ton of 5 stars from friends and family members, like how kids making new Facebook accounts today get a lot of friend requests and "welcome to Facebook!!!!" messages.
This is my favorite episode by far simply because of the entirety of humanity being obsessed with attention drawing a direct correlation to narcissism in the real world. It's sad, but we already do this in real life. No need for an app when every conversation you have at work is a mini trial for acceptance, and possible promotion..or the reverse. Those who recognize this game and reject it are outcasts, but really free to do as they please.
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I heard the five-star rating noise in my head when I saw this, lol.
Hahahahahha
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Laura Duarte oof
💩💩💩💩💩
I think this is the Black Mirror episode that's always hit home the most with me, due to how scarily close to reality it is & how it's not absolutely out of the realms of possibility for this to happen and people already do think like this.
Anybody else realize that the lady from the airport is the same girl from uss callister
Andreka Rose yessss
Wow just realized that! thanks for pointing it out!
This episode teaches us the truth that only non-conformity is truly beautiful. Free yourself from the industries and the pressure that teach us all otherwise.
Like I commented on another video on Black Mirror, the first moment a person is rated, I'm becomming a 5-star mass murderer.
All I could think about during this episode was how it was like the Meowmeowbeenz episode of Community from a few years back.
Great music choice for this analysis. It was perfectly in keeping with the mood of the episode, and I honestly got just as teary throughout the video as I did from actually watching Nosedive. It's the little things...!
i feel like this is one of the most unsettling for me because it feels like an actual possibility, and one that isn't that distant
Hooked on Black Mirror and now hooked on these, fantastic work sir!
Sadly you didn't analyze how thicc lacy is such a missed opportunity lol
VezzNEDO In an interview she said she gained weight for the role too!
I noticed right away lbvs!!😍 she is thick has a nice ass body. Her stomach is still flat. Some people would consider her chunky but she really isnt.
I'm straight and I noticed it. I was like "damn ok Lace"
Lovie Love right exactly what I said 😂
So i wasnt trippin ok
"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.
Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism.
Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance.
Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture."
-Neil Postman - Amusing Ourselves To Death
yawn get laid mate
And you're a sexist pig. Get fucked.
way a HEAD of you my man, when do you have advice? Thanks bro
I feel like it's worth mentioning the interaction Lacie has at the very end with the guy across from her, starting with anger(?) but turning into a fun moment between the two, given the slight change in tone and little smiles that they both crack during the camera changes
As a person who uses social media, this episode is my favorite because its describing the world we live in today. The person with the most views and likes becomes popular and gets access to things that others can not. You feel happy if a person with millions of views or followers comment or likes a post on your account. This isn't just the direction we are heading, but we are already living in it.
While you make some good points, there are a few I disagree with. Like, the thing about the airport security officers being so "pathetic" because they couldn't deal with her without the ratings hit. That wasn't that bad- and as someone who's worked service positions, having someone yell at you because of something you can't actually control, as the situation appeared there, and having to smile but still not helping them isn't not doing your job. A similar situation would be if a customer's credit card is declined at a shop. Not just giving the customer the item that they want that you have no power to give them without getting in trouble yourself isn't not doing your job- quite the opposite, in fact.
In addition, and this is more of an issue with the heavy-handed moral of the episode, criticizing characters for worrying about their rating when their rating determines pretty much every aspect of their daily life doesn't sit right with me. Like, there's an overwhelming "oh wow who CARES what people on social media think of you" message, but in the world they've set up, what people on social media think of you determines your job, what transit you have access to, what medical care you get, what apartments you can find, and who knows what else. It's similar to a "money isn't everything!" message being slapped over a show about people going bankrupt and becoming homeless.
That airport lady could have helped her by giving her a 5 star rating herself. Instead she was being a jerk and gave her a low rating. It's pretty obvious that she just did not WANT to help her.
Imagine if the hackers from *Shut Up And Dance* got a hold of your account and use your stars for themselves, people who get lost in technology are the ones who get taken advantage of the most by the people who create it and manipulate it
I actually thought this one was one of the most obvious and superficial episodes. It is really just a one step logical realization in our current trend of social media where most of the others take multiple steps into distopia to show our current failings as well as where they can lead. It was a nice episode and well done of course, this show is quite amazing, and merges art and entertainment better than I've seen before. No "but" just praise :-) I am not one to jump into the social networking game and try for good rating, but not in the anti-group either. I think her brother was just as trapped as her but in the accepted anti-group; He doesn't do the RL interactions that can make you rise up in the "higher class" world but his rating is fine and he has his life with the other people like him. The way it is portrayed gives you our common two group system (everything is a team sport of this side verses that side) and BOTH are a part of the system. He says things that are just as shallow as she does but are just the counter to hers. No matter what he says he won't change her and she won't change him because they are two sides of the same coin but don't realize it. That is why their would never have been a change until she met someone truly outside the system of control.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose..."
man, your narration of the episode, is sooo... sooo fking touching, i could almost feel myself getting lost in the world painted in this episode just because of the way you were describing each little detail, it's almost like a work of art.