Black Mirror
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Master Thesis in Public Service Audiovisual Communication Reality approach on Social Media through fictional series Black Mirror Author: Helena Rigabert Duque Tutor: Dr. Manuel Castro Gil Faculty of Philology UNED Academic Year 2019/2020 – June call To my students, who have encouraged me to pursue this research and whose participation made the study possible. 3 INDEX 0. Index of Tables and Figures………………………………………………..…………..5 1. Abstract and keywords…………………………………………………...…………….9 2. Introduction……………………………………………………..................................10 3. Goals and Hypothesis…………………………………………………………….…..12 4. Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………….…13 4.1. Audiovisual fiction as a learning resource……………………………...…….13 4.2. Influence of fiction on the perception of reality………………………………15 4.3. A brief approach on Social Media…………………………………………….16 5. Methodology…………………………………………………………………………18 5.1. Mixed research……………………………………………..………………...20 5.2. Designing questionnaires………………………………………………….….21 6. Case study: Black Mirror……………………………………………………………..24 6.1. Episode 1 Season 3 – Nosedive……………………………………………….25 6.2. Episode 2 Season 5 – Smithereens………………………………………..…..38 6.3. Episode 6 Season 3 – Hated in the Nation…………………………………….49 7. Results analysis……………………………………………………………….………58 7.1. Episode 1 Season 3 – Nosedive………………………………………….……59 7.2. Episode 2 Season 5 – Smithereens……………………………………...…….69 7.3. Episode 6 Season 3 – Hated in the Nation…………………………………….77 8. Conclusions and further research……………………………………………………..83 9. References……………………………………………………………...…………….85 10. Annexes……………………………………………………………………………...90 11. About the author………………………………………………………………..…..115 4 INDEX OF TABLES Table 1. Examples of data for which quantitative or qualitative assessment was used………..20 Table 2. Examples of each type of question and their methodological approach………….…..23 Table 3. Existing social media identified in Nosedive………………………………………...59 Table 4. Breakdown of votes belonging to social media and participants who selected more than one option………………………………………………………………………………..60 Table 5. Qualitative results grouped into reasons for using Instagram………………………..62 Table 6. Qualitative results grouped into reasons for giving bad rating…………………….....63 Table 7. Results of question 9 in Nosedive……………………………………………………64 Table 8. Results of question 4 in Nosedive……………………………...…………………….65 Table 9. Percentage of participants who selected each number of options about identification of behaviours seen in the episode and what happens in reality………………………………..66 Table 10. Percentage of participants who selected each number of options about behaviours encouraged by social media…………………………………………………………………..67 Table 11. Results of question 15 in Nosedive………………………………………...……….68 Table 12. Percentage of participants who selected each number of options about the reasons for seeking online popularity…………………………………………………………………68 Table 13. Results of question 2 in Smithereens……………………………………………….69 Table 14. Breakdown of votes regarding the identification of the social network depicted in Smithereens…………………………………………………………………………………..70 Table 15. Results of question 7 in Smithereens…………………………………………..…..71 Table 16. Results of question 8 in Smithereens.………………………………………………72 Table 17. Results of question 5 in Smithereens……………………………………...………..73 Table 18. Qualitative results grouped into categories for the reasons of using the phone when it felt inappropriate…………………………………………………………………………....75 Table 19. Results of question 2 in Hated in the Nation………………………..………….…...77 Table 20. Qualitative results about reasons for using Twitter………………………………..79 Table 21. Qualitative results about real life cases of online slandering…………………….…81 5 INDEX OF FIGURES Figure 1. Example of visual input seen with eye implants in Nosedive………………………..25 Figure 2. Depiction of social media in the phone-adapted version in Nosedive……………....26 Figure 3. Comparison of Instagram, Tinder and the fictional social media in Nosedive............27 Figure 4. common graphic elements between Nosedive’s social media and Instagram…….....27 Figure 5. Interface for Instagram’s computer version with common graphic elements……….28 Figure 6. Notification message in Nosedive and Instagram…………………………………..28 Figure 7. Comparison of indicators of having rated/liked an upload………………………….29 Figure 8. Similarities about rating between fictional social media and real applications.......…29 Figure 9. Call feature in Nosedive and WhatsApp Voice Call for iOS and Android…………..30 Figure 10. Image of penalty and double damage punishments in Nosedive’s social media…...30 Figure 11. Example of behaviour pattern regarding social media shown in Nosedive………...31 Figure 12. Example of social media usage in a wedding ceremony in Nosedive……………....31 Figure 13. Lacie checks her popularity and takes a photograph to get Naomi’s attention……..32 Figure 14. Entry restrictions and express lane as examples of Nosedive’s society…………....33 Figure 15. Lacie taking a carefully planned picture of her coffee and writing a comment….....34 Figure 16. Lacie consults a social media specialist who analyses her interactions………...….35 Figure 17. Prejudice over Lacie hitchhiking and the truck driver Susan due to her ranking.….36 Figure 18. Naomi and her fiancé running simulations on their social media in Nosedive……..37 Figure 19. Comparison between Smithereen’s icon and loading screen and Twitter………….38 Figure 20. Similarities between Smithereen and Twitter profiles………………………….…39 Figure 21. Comparison between Smithereen and Twitter posts thread………………………..39 Figure 22. Depiction of corporatism in Smithereen company and Twitter……………………40 Figure 23. Home Page of Persona and Facebook……………………………………………..40 Figure 24. A grieving mother trying to access her daughter’s Persona account……………….41 Figure 25. Depictions of Hitcher App and Uber………………………………………………41 Figure 26. Examples of behaviour patterns in Smithereens………………………………...…42 6 Figure 27. Teenagers take pictures of the ongoing police operation……………………….….42 Figure 28. Chris Gillhaney reads about the gun replica in Smithereen…………………….….43 Figure 29. Depiction of Smithereen account analytics………………………………………..44 Figure 30. Local police realise that Smithereen has more information on the suspect………...44 Figure 31. Billy Bauer uses his laptop when invoking “God-mode”………………………….45 Figure 32. Chris Gillhaney assumes his addiction and confesses the accident was his fault.…46 Figure 33. Billy Bauer acknowledges he cannot control what he had created………………...47 Figure 34. Chris referring to phone addiction……………………………………………...….47 Figure 35. People looking at their phones at the end of Smithereens………………………….48 Figure 36. Comparison between social media in Hated in the Nation and Twitter…………....50 Figure 37. Comparison (2) between social media in Hated in the Nation and Twitter………...50 Figure 38. Comparison between a video platform in Hated in the Nation and Youtube………51 Figure 39. Fictional comments shown in Hated in the Nation vs. real comment…………...…52 Figure 40. Woman who used the hashtag appealing to her freedom of speech…………….….52 Figure 41. Explanation of the woman who suffered cyberbullying in Hated in the Nation…...53 Figure 42. Instructions for the “Game of Consequences” portrayed in Hated in the Nation…..53 Figure 43. Examples of media and users’ reactions when the lethal hashtag is made public….54 Figure 44. Pages of the hacker’s manifesto in Hated in the Nation…………………………....54 Figure 45. Depiction of a drone bee observing its target on top of a CCTV………………...…55 Figure 46. Scene where characters find out the real purpose of the deadly hashtag…….……..56 Figure 47. The explicit moral lesson stated in Hated in the Nation………………………….56 Figure 48. The explicit moral lesson stated in Hated in the Nation……………………………57 Figure 49. Age range of participants in the questionnaire for Nosedive……………………….59 Figure 50. Results of question 3 in Nosedive………………………………………………….60 Figure 51. Qualitative results grouped into six main areas to define the moral of the story.…..60 Figure 52. Results of question 12 in Nosedive……………………………………………..….62 Figure 53. Results of question 10 in Nosedive………………………………………………...63 7 Figure 54. Results of question 7 in Nosedive……………………………………………….....64 Figure 55. Results of question 8 in Nosedive………………………………………………….64 Figure 56. Results of question 5 in Nosedive………………………………………………….66 Figure 57. Results of question 6 in Nosedive……………………………………………….…66 Figure 58. Results of question 16 in Nosedive………………………………………………...68 Figure 59. Age range of participants in the questionnaire for Smithereens………………...….69 Figure 60. Results of question 3 in Smithereens………………………………………………70 Figure 61. Results of question 14 in Smithereens……………………………………………..70 Figure 62. Results of question 16 in Smithereens……………………………………………..71 Figure 63. Ratio of participants who use between 1-2 or 3-4 social networks………………...71 Figure 64. Percentage of votes identifying different number of scenes with reality……….….73 Figure 65. Results of question 9 in Smithereens…………………………………………..…..74 Figure 66. Results of question 10 in Smithereens……………………………………………..74 Figure 67. Results of question 11 in Smithereens……………………………………………..75 Figure 68. Results of question 12 in Smithereens…………………………………………..…75 Figure 69. Results of question 15 in Smithereens………………………………………….….76 Figure 70. Age range of participants in the questionnaire for Hated in the Nation…………....77 Figure 71. Results of question 5 in Hated in the Nation……………………………………….78 Figure 72. Results of question 3 in Hated in