594
national anthem (quokk.au)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/lemmyshitpost@lemmy.world
104 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 89 points 4 months ago (28 children)

I’ve only seen one episode, the San Junipero one. I can’t wait to watch the rest. I do love some cozy, optimistic sci-fi.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • hideshow 28 child comments
    •
  • [–] 19 points 4 months ago* (11 children)

    I do love some cozy, optimistic sci-fi.

    Well, as others have said, Black Mirror is definitely not cozy/optimistic. In my opinion, it's easy to miss the final point of San Junipero. You have to have watched the episode White Christmas. If you've seen that episode, you know what cookies are and you know that there is an implication in the last seconds of San Junipero that, in my opinion, is pretty dark.

    Still the best fucking episode though.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 11 child comments
    •
  • [–] 5 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    I've watched both White Christmas and St Junipero and I do not see what the implication should be. Care to elaborate?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

    In White Christmas, the cookie is extracted from the host's brain and is depicted as a little round silver object that is then placed in the... smart-speaker-style container, and we see that it is an exact copy of the host and even (briefly) thinks it is the host.

    It is swiftly (in the real world lol) disabused of that notion with such a horrific kick in the ass that it gladly, willingly, lovingly accepts a life of slavery over the alternative which was only barely demonstrated to it.

    The other cookie in the episode, the murderer they are trying to elicit a confession from, experiences much more horrific circumstances than the first cookie (with the infinite unbreakable radio) and the humans in the real world who casually inflict this on them are depicted as being completely cavalier about it.

    San Junipero did not need that last shot. It could have ended with them dancing. We all knew it was virtual reality. We all knew what was happening. If they just wanted a happy ending, then pointing us directly at the hardware that looks suspiciously like a cookie sitting in a warehouse full of cookies is to me a pretty direct statement (a nice touch is "ooh heaven is a place on Earth.." playing in the background), given that cookies are basically given truly hellish experiences in the only other episode they are referenced.

    Edit: I should say, this is just my opinion. There is no direct line from cookies in White Christmas to the silver button server farm in San Junipero other than a visual resemblance and the fact that we're dealing with copies of people in a digital realm.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 7 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    cookies are basically given hellish experiences in the only other episode they are referenced

    Cookies are featured in several episodes. Not only is the technology slightly different most of the time, it is not always used for torture. In addition to San Junipero, Hang the DJ, Eulogy, and Ashley Too (arguable) are not hellish.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago

    I do not think there is any implication in showing the buttons, at the end of St Junipero. I really believe the authors wanted to make a truly wholesome episode but, as you say, this is just my opinion.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] [S] 5 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    What is so dark? I feel like I must be missing something. Their consciousnesses are being maintained by a server farm. But what is dark about that? It just seems optimistic and such how they get to pretend to live in their 20s forever. Nothing like living in a torturous snow globe or whatever.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (3 children)

    forever

    What server farm is forever?

    The series Upload is like taking the idea and giving it its own universe. It's good, but I'll ruin the black mirror episode.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] [S] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    From their perspective, it's forever.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •
  • [–] 4 points 4 months ago (1 child)

    Right, but to me, that's why it's a romance with a horror ending. It's not forever. Nothing is real other than their love, and even their experience is questionable in tens of is the silicon version of them really them?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
    •
  • [–] 11 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

    Cozy and optimistic is an interesting way to describe that show...

    (Edit: I looked up which episode that was, and now your comment makes more sense. Its been a while since I watched black mirror and I kind of forgot any of them had happy endings.)

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 7 points 4 months ago (6 children)

    That's one of the best episodes by far. Honestly, stop while you're ahead.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 6 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago (5 children)

    Honestly don't get why that one was so popular. Cookies find a relationship after death, yay? Not anywhere near as philosophically interesting as lots of other episodes.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 5 child comments
    •
  • [–] 3 points 4 months ago (4 children)

    I think it's because it has a happy ending, relatively speaking.

    Personally, I saw it as far more dystopian, people killing themselves so that an AI version of then runs cycles to fulfill patterns established while alive? Ugh. Sounds like hell in a bottle to me.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 4 child comments
    •
  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago (3 children)

    I'd do this, knowing full well that my AI version would do horrific things to the Epstein class.

    As a matter of fact, I did research, and found out our hardware is still far behind.

    But what is one more loan you know you won't have to pay back?

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
    •
  • [–] 2 points 4 months ago* (2 children)

    our hardware is still far behind.

    My friend. "Our"? What part did you help with? Are you self-hosting it?

    Your AI Afterlife version of you will be trapped in a Google/Grok/Microsoft Heaven365 box. It's not you. It's whatever the default the Epstein Class decide to give you, plus the minimal legally required amount of personality to justify an "afterlife subscription." When your children call you to show you their first Grandbaby, you'll spend most of the call telling them about the refreshing taste of Pepsi and how glad you are to now have unlimited access to other name brand items in Heaven365.

    If it's not dystopian to you, then you're just not thinking about it hard enough.

  • permalink
  • fedilink
  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
    •