Technology as an escape from reality - another profound episode by Black Mirror This is my second episode I watched this season, I believe that the best way to watch Black Mirror, is to see one episode every week; only then, you can really understand the message in each episode. Part of the fun, is to have a discussion about the implications of technology through the episode. I believe that, Black Mirror, is essential tool for the modern people, to look at themselves in the mirror - and what unsightly appearance it will be.
This season, it's feel, it's more 'close to earth', however, it's no less scary. This episode is about an goodness American traveler (Cooper), who travel all around the world. Very quickly, we understand, that he escape mostly from himself. He gets many calls from his mom, but he never answered or called her back. The technology give us the ability to connect with our loved ones, no matter where we are, but still Cooper didn't used it. In other words, technology give us an illusion of closeness, but it actually separates us from one another - it's much more easy to say no to your mom, if something come between you - like silver screen.
Like gambling, porn, drugs and alcohol - technology allows us to escape from reality, concern ourselves and repress our problems, but it's not help us to solve our problems, only increases it, and eventually, like with many addicts, the inevitable happen, it's explode - for Cooper, it's happens, in the end of new gaming system he participate. Through Cooper experience, we understand, there is no substitute for personal communication. We do not live forever, and in the end, we will regret about all the times we wasted on soulless devices, and not with the people who really love us.
Like with many Black Mirror episode, the end is brutal: in the game, Cooper come back home, only to see his mom suffer from Alzheimer's and didn't remember his face, it's drive him crazy and he dead, but unfortunately in real life. This's what the technology do to us, transforms us to zombies, physically we are still human, but inside, we are dead.