Black Mirror is a show that was created all the way back in 2011, but it didn't become as popular as it is today until the end of 2016 when Netflix acquired the series rights and commissioned a third and fourth season. 'Nosedive' is the first episode of the third season and stars Bryce Dallas Howard. The themes presented in this episode in particular have the most relevance to life now in 2021, and the technology presented within the episode is not too far ahead of where society is currently, making this one of the scariest episodes in the series.
'Nosedive' takes a slightly comedic approach to telling a story about something that is actually pretty terrifying. Society is run by social media these days, and having a large following and like/comment ratio makes all the difference in how people perceive someone. Without popularity on social media, many people and their ideas are rejected or looked down upon. This episode is clearly satire, but it does shed light on the future. This episode was pretty close to home back in 2016 when it was released, but now five years later, it's more prevalent than ever. And that isn't an encouraging thought.
The episode follows Lacie Pound (Bryce Dallas Howard) and shows a society where everyone has a special contact lens surgically implanted within their eyes that allows them to view a social media platform at all times. It also allows them to immediately see how well 'liked' a person is in order to determine how they must interact with that person. People are rated on a scale from one to five, but it is not determined at what age people are added into the system as there are no children in the episode. Lacie is a 4.2 but she dreams of being a 4.5 or higher so she can have a better life.
When Lacie's childhood best friend reaches out to her to become a bridesmaid in her wedding, she jumps at the chance to be seen with the popular girl in order to raise her score and reconnect with her long-lost bff. But of course, things go wrong and she can't make it to the wedding in time. By the time Lacie actually does get to the wedding, her score has been lowered to less than a 3. Some of the people who 'disliked' Lacie did so because she was being less than perfect and was showing some genuine frustration. Other people 'disliked' her simply because her score was low.
This happens in social media today. If someone is being targeted negatively or positively on social media, the majority of people will do what everyone else is doing and either like or dislike them. This is usually out of fear of being on the receiving end of any negative attention for 'siding' with the one being targeted currently. At the beginning of the episode, there is another character who appears to be a target after a breakup. Anyone who interacts with this character is seen having their own score go down as well.
As it is revealed later in the episode, Lacie's friend Naomi (who is a 4.8) only invited Lacie to the wedding because she was a low 4, and Naomi thought it would make herself look better if she had a sympathetic 'childhood best friend' at her wedding whom she still acknowledge even though she was not a part of the elite. Lacie has a total meltdown and has to get her contact lenses removed. Once removed, the world is no longer a pastel pink fake filter where everything and everyone is perfect. Lacie can see dust flying around the room when the sun shines through a window. And it's a wonderful feeling for her to let go and be free of the social media popularity chain.
This episode is done very well. The sound of someone 'disliking' another person, making their score go down, has a ring to it that begins to make the audience feel a bit of despair for Lacie's sake as they witness her struggle to keep her head above water. This sound eventually becomes part of the soundtrack as we watch Lacie receive so many downvotes that it's not even worth counting at this point. The writers for the episode were Rashida Jones and Michael Schur (both of Parks and Recreation fame) so the comedic undertones are to be expected from these masters of comedy. This episode was filmed in South Africa and was said to be treated like a short film considering its large budget increase from episodes of the previous two seasons.
There are some subtle themes about the way women specifically are treated on social media. Lacie's last name is Pound, and she is seen trying to work out not for health, but to be more attractive and liked. Naomi assumes she is a size 4 when she gives her a bridesmaid dress that she cannot fit into. And the last name of Pound is a commentary on the way women are always assessed based on their weight and therefore are constantly thinking about their weight. Lacie idealizes Naomi and wants to be her. At the end of the episode, she proclaims her love for Naomi. But this is not real love, it is an obsession created from constantly watching Naomi on social media in order to be like her.
The Black Mirror episode 'Nosedive' is scary because it presents a world that we are heading towards without any brakes. It's a scathing look at how 'social capital' is sometimes determined by nothing more than what people post about themselves online. By the end of the story, Lacie is in jail, but she is finally free enough to let her innermost feelings be known.