THANATOPOLITICS THROUGH TECHNOPHOBIA: USING CHARLIE BROOKER’S BLACK MIRROR TO REFLECT UPON HUMANITY IN THE FACE OF ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
Abstract
Science fiction arguably has an effect upon society’s understanding of technology and, inevitably, its fear of technology. Exploring the technophobic landscape of Charlie Brooker’s anthology Black Mirror, the author draws upon a frame of cultural legal studies to analyse the role of humanity, law, and the biopolitical in the face of advancing technology. This paper takes a deep exploration of what it actually “means” to kill another and the role of technology in making is both physically and psychologically easier to kill. The text ultimately “makes strange” an audience’s expectations of the genre in order to critique the role of technology in an arguably dystopian future. This is a method designed to force an audience to actually analyse the role of technology in their lives and society, rather than simply clicking on the proverbial “accept terms and conditions” button.
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