Television

• Black Mirror


  Science fiction anthology TV show, created by Charlie Brooker and Annabelle Jones
• Black Mirror


  • Unlike many contemporary TV dramas that follow a long-form 'novelistic' format, Black Mirror recalls vintage anthology shows like The Twilight Zone or Tales of the Unexpected, with each episode acting as a standalone TV movie
  • The first two seasons (three episodes each) aired in the UK on Channel 4 in December 2011 and February 2013; in 2016 it moved to streaming platform Netflix for seasons three, four and five (each containing six episodes and a special)
  • Black Mirror could be classified as 'speculative fiction' or 'dystopian' sci-fi, where specific elements of our contemporary world are exaggerated and distorted in a near-future setting
  • Each episode also uses conventions of other genres, e.g. police procedural (Smithereens), horror (The Black Museum) or political satire (The Waldo Effect)
  • The 'showrunner' for all five series is journalist and comedy writer Charlie Brooker. He has collaborated with a range of other writers including his wife, Konnie Huq, and Succession creator Jesse Armstrong
  • The main theme of Black Mirror is the (usually unpleasant) effect of technology on human bodies and consciousness
• San Junipero


  The focus episode, which could be classified as sci-fi romance
• Black Mirror was placed on many publications' 'Best TV of the 2010s' lists and won an Emmy in 2012 for 'Best TV Movie'. San Junipero won the Emmy for 'Outstanding TV Movie' and for 'Outstanding Writing' in 2016
• Genres


  Types of media product that present codes and conventions in a way that provides very specific audience pleasures. They are favoured by producers and institutions as they often represent a risk-free investment. Audiences (and creators) have a complex relationship with genres, involving a balance between familiar tropes and fresh elements that enable genres to evolve
• Black Mirror


  • An anthology show, where each episode has a different cast, setting and plot. This means the show can be watched in any order, with each episode a standalone narrative
• San Junipero


  • Could be classed as a sci-fi romance – but also as a 'period' piece as much of the action takes place in the 1980s and 90s, with appropriately detailed production design and music. It also has elements of 1980s teen movies like Pretty in Pink
  • Has a notably more emotional and optimistic tone compared to the previous two series of Black Mirror, a deliberate decision by Brooker to counter criticism that the show had become 'Americanised' after its move to Netflix
  • The focus on a same-sex couple could also put the episode in the LGBTQ+ 'coming-of-age' genre such as Moonlight or Blue is the Warmest Colour
• Black Mirror


  • The protagonists are ordinary people trying to negotiate the impact of technology on their lives in the near future. This differs from 'hard' sci-fi like the Star Wars or Star Trek franchises that feature traditional heroes, spaceships, aliens etc.
  • In most episodes there is no clear antagonist – usually it is the technology itself that produces conflict with the main characters
  • The majority of the episodes follow the conventions of dystopian fiction – principally, the extrapolation of something recognisable from our contemporary reality (like social media approval in Nosedive) and its pessimistic impact on the lives of the characters
  • The narrative in dystopian fiction usually has an unhappy ending – San Junipero is unusual for Black Mirror in that it shows the more hopeful (though nonetheless problematic) aspects to virtual reality technology and ends on an optimistic note
• Anthology format


  • Black Mirror has been applauded by critics for re-introducing the anthology format. Successful shows that have also adopted this structure are American Horror Story and Solos. You could consider how this format offers different audience pleasures (e.g. narrative resolution and closure) compared to other long form TV dramas
• The 1980s and 1990s settings for San Junipero


  Contains a wealth of intertextual references to American culture from the period
• Intertextual references in San Junipero

  • Kelly's costume in the 1987 segment was specifically inspired by 'Control'-era Janet Jackson
  • The music used in the nightclub Tuckers evokes the historical period, but also underscores the central romance (e.g. Heart and Soul by T'Pau) and the main concept of existing in a computer-generated virtual reality (e.g. Living In A Box)
  • The different movies that are playing at the San Junipero cinema are also period-specific but also link to the themes of the narrative, e.g. The Lost Boys whose tagline is 'Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow up. Never grow old'
  • Shots of other 'vintage' technology like Pac-Man and Top Speed arcade games and different models of TV sets also help to establish a sense of time and place but also offer suggestions that perhaps this environment is an escape from the 'real' world
• Todorov's five step narrative structure

  1. Equilibrium 2. Disruption 3. Recognition 4. Attempt to repair the disruption 5. New equilibrium
• How San Junipero fits into Todorov's narrative structure

  • The equilibrium: the first scene shows Yorkie going to the nightclub, yet the 'twist' is that this is an artificial virtual reality, and the 'normal life' of the character is lying in a hospital, paralysed after a car accident. The equilibrium can also be the 'reveal'
  • The disruption: for the characters, this is their meeting in the first scene followed by 'losing' each other in different time periods. However, for the audience, the disruption could be the revelation that San Junipero is not a real place at all
  • There are enigma codes associated with each of the episode's genre ingredients – e.g. the 'will-they-won't-they?' narrative of a conventional romance and the questions raised by the apparent time-travelling element from sci-fi and how it is possible
• Visual codes in San Junipero

  • Codes of clothing: compare the costumes worn by Yorkie and Kelly in the different time periods. How does Yorkie's costume convey her awkwardness and lack of confidence? How does Kelly's costume do the opposite? (Particularly in the way it references strong female pop stars like Whitney Houston and Janet Jackson)
  • Gesture and expression: despite being science fiction, the initial flirting and evolving relationship are played naturalistically, and with an authenticity that has been praised by LGBTQ+ audiences
  • Iconography and setting: consider how the use of sets, props, costumes, and music evoke the historical periods featured in the virtual environment. These challenge our expectations of a science fiction show. Compare to the scenes set in the real world: how does the mise-en-scene establish scenes as taking place in a near-future world of advanced technology
• Audio codes in San Junipero

  • Dialogue: There is an authentic and compelling tone to the dialogue between Yorkie and Kelly that is both flirtatious ("I'm regarding you") and wary. When the 'real world' is revealed, there is a notable absence of 'tech-heavy' terminology that would be usual for the science fiction genre – this keeps the emphasis on the emotional core of the narrative
  • Music: The music used in each time period has two functions: to establish the period setting (from 1987 to 2002), but also to underscore the emotional and thematic content. You may wish to look at the lyrics to Heaven Is a Place on Earth by Belinda Carlisle, Fake by Alexander O'Neal or Living in a Box by Living in a Box – consider how these songs contribute to our understanding of the characters' lives
• Genre conventions in San Junipero

  • The same-sex romance reflects the changes to social norms that have taken place in the late 20th and 21st centuries
  • Notably, the romance has a happy ending – a departure from films and TV featuring LGBTQ+ characters, where often the characters are 'punished' for their sexuality with a tragic finale
• Steve Neale's theory of genre

  Though genres may be seen as being limited by familiar tropes, they are also marked by difference, variation, and change. Science fiction and romance have a recognisable array of conventions that produce audience pleasures. However, they also need to display something original to set them apart from other examples. Evolution is essential to sustain a genre, and San Junipero does this by introducing elements that could be seen as nostalgic (associated with period dramas set in a recent history) and making the romance a same-sex love affair (distinguishing it from other, heteronormative sci-fi love stories like The Time Traveller's Wife)
• Brooker's decision to change the romance in San Junipero to a same-sex relationship

  As a comment on the acceptability of LGBTQ+ relationships in the 1980s and 1990s
• The episode was warmly received by the LGBTQ+ community, especially as the sexuality of the characters is not portrayed as problematic; the love between Yorkie and Kelly has numerous obstacles, but their sexuality is not one of them
• The revelation that, in actuality, the relationship is between two elderly women also challenges stereotypes of this age group
• Though both characters do physically die by the end, spiritually they remain together for eternity (driving into a literal sunset, in a reference to Thelma and Louise). This subverts the common portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships as doomed or tragic
• Brooker's decision to create more female and non-heteronormative characters in Black Mirror


  After realising the first season focused on straight male protagonists
• The social and cultural context of San Junipero


  The fact that same-sex relationships would have been condemned in 1987 and some of the other time periods, and the context of Donald Trump's election as US president, a right-wing politician who vocally condemns liberal and progressive ideas, especially ideas regarding gender and sexuality
• The fact that this is an inter-racial relationship between Yorkie and Kelly also challenges stereotypes
• Physically the characters die by the end, but spiritually they remain together for eternity (driving into a literal sunset, in a reference to Thelma and Louise)
• This subverts the common portrayal of LGBTQ+ relationships as doomed or tragic
• Brooker deliberately wanted to create more female and non-heteronormative characters in Black Mirror after realising the first season focused on straight male protagonists
• It is "powerfully resonant" that same-sex relationships would have been condemned in 1987 and some of the other time periods
• The context of Donald Trump winning the US presidential election, as Trump is a right-wing politician who vocally condemns liberal and progressive ideas, especially ideas regarding gender and sexuality
• The fact that this is an inter-racial relationship between two elderly women, one of whom is physically disabled, challenges more stereotypical representations of these social groups
• The episode's double Emmy and BAFTA wins were welcomed as a cultural shift towards more positive attitudes towards same-sex relationships
• The portrayal of more extreme alternative sexualities seen in the Quagmire fetish club are less positive, representing these characters as 'lost souls'
• Patriarchal power


  A major problem in society, forcing both women and men into stereotypical roles and punishing them if they do not conform
• San Junipero challenges patriarchal power by portraying a 'heaven on earth' where the female LGBTQ+ characters are free to interact, flirt, have sex and fall in love without the disapproval or persecution of patriarchal society
• Gender performativity


  Gender is not a fixed, biologically determined characteristic, but rather a fluid social construct. People 'perform' a gender role composed of clothes, hair/make-up, posture, and other behaviours
• Though 'anything is possible' in the virtual environment, both the main characters choose to remain female
• Striking Vipers explores the performance and fluidity of gender and sexual identities more explicitly
• Identity theory


  Audiences actively borrow from media texts to help construct their identity, which is fluid and depends on the media text and characters being consumed
• Long form multi-protagonist dramas offer audiences a range of different characters for audiences to identify with, but Black Mirror departs from this as each episode is self-contained, usually focusing on one or two main characters
• San Junipero has been widely acclaimed by critics and by the LGBTQ+ community for showing a healthy, optimistic portrayal of a same-sex relationship, which has had a very positive effect on queer viewers' sexual identity