Introduction
Nowadays, with the development of modern technologies, people actively watch TV shows and movies, read popular magazines and books and use the internet and social nets. All these activities and components form the so-called “popular culture,” based on information and entertainment. Sociologists give many definitions of popular culture, but “it always links the concepts of entertainment, media, technological developments, and diverse mass audiences across large geographical areas“ (Raine, intro).
Since popular culture is created by the consumption of certain products by a large audience, it is logical to suggest that it has a serious impact on people and high significance for society. Through the media products that create popular culture, the ideas of social and cultural issues are passed to society. A good example of the social relevance of popular culture can be an episode of the British series “Black Mirror” called “Be Right Back.” The story about a young couple reveals the theme of grief and the way how an individual can deal with that. Another idea of the episode that is topical for the society of the 21st century is people’s addiction to virtual lives which are created online. The episode shows that social media and technologies can fill soul emptiness of a man in grief, but it has just a temporary effect.
Summary of the Episode
The story narrates about a young couple, Martha and Ash, who moved to a new house outside the city. Soon Ash died in a car accident, and Martha, heartbroken, decided to use the technology that created artificial intelligence. She uploaded pictures and videos of Ash to the database and started talking to his virtual copy on the phone. Soon Martha forced herself to believe that she was talking to real Ash and shared the news that she was pregnant. Being in fear that she can lose touch with him, she decided to transfer virtual Ash to a synthetic body and transformed it into an android that looked like Ash. However, Martha felt unhappy about this artificial life-form because it did not have the same characteristic features as Ash did. It obeyed her in everything, even when it came to the expression of its emotions. In a few years, Martha still kept artificial Ash in the attic of her house. She allows her daughter seeing it every weekend.
Social Issues Raised in the Episode
As it was mentioned above, there are two main problems of the society that are shown in the episode. First of all, it is a problem of acceptance of a death of loved ones. Martha loved Ash so much and the news about his death shocked her. To relief the pain she felt when she lost him, she created his virtual version. Even at the end of the episode, when it has been more than seven years since Ash passed away, she kept coming back to an artificial android every weekend with her daughter. The episode shows, however, that it did not bring any relief to Martha. She felt unhappy with the android because it was not the person she used to know. In one of the scenes of the episodes, in her conversation with the copy of Ash, she says that the android does not have a history of its life; it is just an image without any feelings and emotions. Therefore, the episodes discusses the questions about dealing with grief and if people should form artificial copies of those who they lose.
The problem of grief is closely linked to the issue of people’s addiction to virtual lives. While some people find there those who passed away, others create something hard to achieve in real life. For example, there are some online games that allow people creating another life, successful and unchallenging, free of troubles and commitments, such as “Second Life” or “Sansar.” Playing these games, people create the best version of themselves. They get married, have kids, achieve success in their career, travel, become champions, and enjoy their lives. Feeling emptiness in their real life, they start playing online games and obtain everything they want. However, when it is time to return to reality, they realize that it is all fake, and feel even worse than before. The same situation happened with Martha, who first shared the news with the android and spent much time with it, but then felt worse realizing that it had nothing to do with her Ash.
Conclusion
Thus, the “Be Right Back” episode narrates a sorrowful story about a woman who wanted to get rid of her grief and emptiness in her soul. Using the latest technologies, she tried to recreate the image of her man but realized that it was impossible. Even though the android looked like Ash, it did not possess any personal traits of the real person. It makes Martha feel even unhappier than she did before because she realized that there are no ways to return Ash.
In general, the episode tries to pay people’s attention to the problem of people’s addiction to modern technologies and virtual life. It criticizes the idea of using it too often, showing that it does not bring happiness in people’s lives and affects mental health of society.
Work Cited
Raine, Susan. Scientology in Popular Culture: Influences and Struggles for Legitimacy. Edited by Stephen A. Kent and Susan Raine, ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2017.