Chosen Responsibility

In the Black Mirror episode White Bear, we are given this slanted story where we cheer for a disoriented woman named Victoria as she maneuvers her way through a society of irresponsible onlookers. We later find out that it is a justice park where the general population are there to help set up this reality for the woman and take part in her tailored punishment that creates revenue by charging for the experience and creates a very hell like existence for Victoria.

Many things could be touched on in this film because it certainly wasn’t light in what it was getting at but I saw the whole ordeal and business that was shown in a different more mundane light. We have responsibilities that we avoid or choose not to see everyday and I am sure the writers set up this idea within the story since it is a topic of today. We may think there is a general population that is altruistic when the time comes but as I can see it, we are all a bit busy to be kind when it really counts.

 It may sound funny but as we found out what was really going on, how this reality was revealed as an entertainment, I automatically applied it to everyday occurrences that we all see. We always see someone who needs help on the side of the road. I certainly know that if you break down far from home you are on your own, more than likely no one will offer any form of help.  But we have so many modes of communication, yet even with that, a person is most likely going to have to walk. But now, we are all thinking of the horrific possibilities of who that strange person could be and also if they would take advantage of our kindness in some way, if we were to stop.  Victoria certainly had the same fate, a society of potential help; help from this horrific torture that wasn’t going to end until people lose interest in her story.  

I can see where the writers certainly steered the viewer into thinking of how we are dependent on our technology to the point we think of that as our main way of connecting with others.  I found that commentary on life how there doesn’t seem to be much hope in humanity as we get  different situations, we have the choice to ignore it with a lens of media.  We live in our own bubble and accept what we want to take or leave in the grand scheme of things even when it is up to us individually as a collective to fix it. We all see problems in media but when it is in our own reality it takes it a few times to recognize it in person. We have responsibilities presented to us everyday and we must decide to change current problems.