For this final Interdisciplinary Forum of the semester, we’ll be considering possible technological futures as depicted in Charlie Brooker’s often dystopian sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror. More specifically, we’ll discuss two episodes that are quite different in tone and approach: “15 Million Merits” (season 1, episode 2, 2011) and “San Junipero” (season 3, episode 4, 2016).

How do the anxieties and possibilities of technology in these episodes connect to themes we’ve been considering recently, such as those present in WALL-E, Harari’s chapter “The End of Homo Sapiens,” or Laura Mulvey’s essay on “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”? What do the episodes show about the 21st c. Digital Revolution, the final tipping point of the semester? How close is Brooker’s “mirror” to our world?

In the comments below, please pose a question for us to discuss in our forum on Friday. We look forward to the conversation.