The National Anthem – Media in Evolution
Black Mirror is a Netflix original series that has enjoyed critical acclaim, heading, now, into its 4th season. The first season, uploaded in 2011, follows 3 seperate narratives within its 3 episodes. The series uses these narratives to reflect on technology and the social ramifications of our growing dependence on the internet. Recently I was rewatching the first season and the first episode, The National Anthem took to me. I have found that the whole series is one of those things that, due to its questioning nature, will give you something different depending on your condition when you watch it.
The episode starts off with an ultimatum. The Prime Minister of Britain is sat down and shown a tape of princess Susanna being held captive for ransom. What were the demands? For the Prime Minister to appear on live British television, on all networks, terrestrial and satellite, and have sexual intercourse with a pig. As the episode follows the governments failing attempts to both apprehend the princesses captor and contain the spread of information, we get an intricate evaluation of not only our relationship with new media, but the evolution of media itself.
The Prime Ministers initial demand, to keep the video from circulation, was dead on arrival. The video had been uploaded to Youtube and, though they took it down within 6 minutes, it had already been downloaded and re-uploaded by anonymous servers. By morning it went viral, however the broadcast media delayed comment. Quick cutting back and forth from within the Prime Ministers house and multiple news networks expressed an undulating sense of credibility and a focus on profit that taints their validity.
Network media constantly focused on how the story should be spun, what parts could/should be left out and how they could refer to the ransom within their ethical guidelines. All the while the public was already informed about the matter over the internet. Much of the pressure that final pushed television networks to air the story were audiences demanding to know why they were not covering the story. This sense of manipulation brings traditional media into question. A short debate panel discussing how the pig shows a religious motivation for the act mocks the set of assumptions traditional media often takes to stories.
Traditional medias practicality comes into question as, whilst they are the ones to broadcast the act, they are no one source of information on it. This is an interesting look into how the internet is taking on the job on informing us and whether that will leave traditional network media obsolete. Like a blackhole the internet seems to be absorbing the role of network media, leaving it with nothing to offer its audience. This is especially true now as live-streaming is becoming such a popular method of broadcasting online. When we can experience all aspects of TV online, why turn to TV at all?
Another aspect of this episode looks at the evolution of the internet in and of itself and how that evolution is changing the way we can access information. The British government is laughably il-equipped to prevent the story from spreading and, when it comes to attempting to cheat the broadcast, they fail before the plan even comes into fruition. Even as they give up, the Prime Minister is assured that a law will be passed prohibiting ownership the footage. This is also undercut immediately by footage of a viewer hearing this news and pressing record anyway, the flickering red button scoffing at the governments attempt to kill the footage they are about to distribute. The whole scene seems like an homage to torrenting culture and worldwide authorities’ ever fruitless attempts to quell it.
Together the episode seems to explore an expanding internet that is engulfing not only other mediums but us as well. the internet is seemingly uncontrollable and, as 30 minutes before the broadcast the princess is let go, we get a poignant message, seeing her stumble across the Millennium Bridge. No one is there to see her, they are all watching the broadcast and so the act is taken out, and the entire country reacts. The innocent girl who was held captive leaves their minds for the embarrassing act of bestiality to take centre stage. The princess collapses alone and this is intercut by long panning slow motion shots of the reactions that express a culture indoctrinated by the internet to react, rather than to act.
The final leg of the episode turns the attention to the viewers as, after exploring the evolution of the internet and the degradation of traditional media, we are left asking: how does this change who we are? What will this culture mean for the lives that we lead and the priorities we hold?
The internet was able to grasp our attention on an unprecedented scale, but what exactly are we paying attention to?
And then we must act, individually and collectively, to make our attention our own again, and so reclaim ownership of the very experience of living. – Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants