Charlie Brooker
Black Mirror

I am generally an ardent admirer and supporter of the so-called European culture, but, as much as it pains me, I have to admit that at least from the point of view of television series, our crude (just joking, eh! At least a little bit...) cousins across the Atlantic beat us by a long shot. We Europeans, in general, are not exactly skilled in this area, often settling for poorly made copies of successful American series, shot with less money and worse plots, leading especially to cheap police dramas like RIS (which, okay, isn't even that great of a show, to be honest; in fact, with all the great stuff we could "draw inspiration" from, they even go for the most banal things) or even worse productions that I don't even want to name.

But thankfully there are commendable exceptions, and in this case, it is up to the English (let's remember they also produced "The Office", another little cult for me, which was, in this case, the Americans' turn to copy and trivialize) to defy the stereotype with this interesting mini-series, of only three episodes, released in December 2011. The title "Black Mirror" refers, according to creator Charlie Brooker, to the surface of electronic screens, now omnipresent in our lives. With such a title, it is obvious that the themes dealt with concern the relationship between man/media/technology/communication; everything is set in an undefined but near future, using the typical dystopian scenarios of the noblest science fiction (we are basically circling around territories related to Orwell, Huxley, Dick, and Vonnegut, authors that probably all of you know, but if not, I recommend exploring, especially the last one who might be a bit less well-known compared to the others). Brooker himself described the series as "a cross between The Twilight Zone and Tales of the Unexpected", to which is added a strong "technological paranoia"; in short, brief episodes with surreal, grotesque, and haunting tones, in which a strong component of social criticism is obviously not lacking.

The three episodes are disconnected from each other, and the futures described are different, although the tones and underlying context remain obviously similar. I won't describe the plots of the three episodes, but in an attempt to pique your curiosity, I will at least hint at something regarding the first one, "The National Anthem" (which is the least sci-fi of the three; in the following two, the futuristic-Huxleyan element is much more present). In the opening episode, probably the most grotesque of the trio, the British Prime Minister is awakened due to a sudden emergency: the princess, a member of the beloved Royal Family, has been kidnapped, and her captor claims he will release her only if the Premier has sexual intercourse with a pig on live national television. At first, everyone is ready to stand behind the Premier in his categorical refusal, but as the hours pass, the situation increasingly risks degenerating and getting out of hand...

Well, it seems I've now written pretty much everything, so I'll part from you with one last reflection: consider that this series debuted in England on Channel 4, a public channel; compared to what usually airs on Rai, it's quite depressing (although with Rai Storia and Rai Movies, the situation has improved just a tad)...