Black Mirror is a British science-fiction television series that examines the consequences of technology on society. Usually, depicted in an alternative present or near future Black Mirror is a show that depicts futuristic technology that can be used for good, but humans end up corrupting it. In Black Mirror every episode is different allowing viewers to pick and choose what they watch. My favorite episode of Black Mirror is season 4 episode 6 “Black Museum.” I will be analyzing the stories in that episode and how they relate to current society. In order to do this, I will be spoiling the episode so I suggest watching the episode first then reading this. This episode was written by Charlie Brooker and a part of it was adapted from “The Pain Addict” written by Penn Jillette. The episode consists of three stories told by Rolo Haynes, owner of the “Black Museum”, as he told them to his only visitor Nish.
Nish visits this remote museum while waiting for her car to charge. The owner, Rolo Haynes, surprised by the business offers to show her “authentic criminological artifacts” told through flashbacks of his former life as a neurological research recruiter. The first story he chose was on how he persuaded Dr. Peter Dawson, an ER doctor struggling with high mortality rates, with an experimental implant that allowed him to feel the pain of whoever was wearing the hat in order to aid in medical diagnosis. When he felt the pain of death, his implant defected. Instead of pain, he experienced sexual arousal. Dawson became addicted to his patient’s pain and when he could no longer use their pain he begins to inflict pain on himself because it brought him pleasure, but it was never enough. He then was arrested for torturing and homeless man to feel the arousal he had been searching for. Once the homeless man died Dawson fell into a coma.
After Rolo told that story he began to get hot and Nish offered him her water bottle, all thought this seems insignificant now it will play a big role at the end of the story. Nish then begins to wander around and asked why there is a stuffed monkey in a museum of medicines greatest failures. Rolo then goes on to talk about how he convinced a man named Jack to transfer the consciousness of his wife Carrie who was in a coma into his own brain. She could sense everything he did and this began to take a toll on Jack. He felt bad because they had a kid together and all she wanted to do was see him so he expressed his concern to Rolo. He suggested deletion, but they then settled to putting her consciousness into a stuffed monkey so her son could always have her around and she could somewhat experience him growing up. In the monkey, she had two speaking options “Monkey loves you” and “Monkey needs a hug”. Frustrated with the fact that she was no longer able to effectively communicate with anyone and also the fact that she was never deleted out of the monkey, Carrie has been trapped in a stuffed monkey for years.
Now, in 2019 this may seem like a stuffed animal on Washington and Lee’s beautiful campus, but in fifty years a person could be uploaded to this stuffed animal like seen in the Black Museum.
Rolo then goes on to show Nish the museum’s greatest attraction, a holographic projection of Clayton Leigh’s consciousness, a convicted murder. Clayton was on death row and Rolo convinced him to sign the rights to his consciousness over in return for money to keep his family afloat. In his museum, Rolo allowed visitors to holographically recreate Clayton’s execution and witness his actual suffering. At that time Rolo began to really feel the heat in the museum and his having trouble breathing. Nish then reveals that she is Clayton’s daughter and that she hacked the museum’s air conditioning and poisoned the water he gave her. Nish then explained how her father was innocent and there was evidence behind it but the state never overturned the conviction and once he took his consciousness Rolo never kept his promise of giving money to their family. When Nish’s mother visited his museum to see her husband she committed suicide because she couldn’t believe that he was continuously being tortured and there was nothing they could do about it. Rolo then passes out and Nish transfers his consciousness into her father’s hologram. She then activated the execution, which will put her father to rest and will make Hayes suffer the same pain her father felt. Nish then grabs the stuffed monkey and removes something from the air conditioner causing it to catch fire along with the entire museum. She then drives off with the monkey and then reveals that her mom’s consciousness was in her head as they converse about how they avenged the life of their loved one.
Brief interview with Washington and Lee student involving ideas discussed in the Black Museum, which will further be elaborated on in the paragraphs to come.
Mirror-touch synesthesia is a rare condition in which individuals can feel sensations in the same part of their body as another person feels. Watching another person being touched activates a similar neural circuit to actual touch and can produce a sensation in their body. Studies have shown that the brain blends other people’s senses with those with synesthesia. Mirror-touch synesthesia is very rare, found in about 1.6% of the population. Like Dr. Dawson, there is a doctor that uses it for good, although proving to be very difficult to manage. Dr. Joel Salinas, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, describes it as a way he feels closer to his patients and uses it to better understand their pain and therefore treat them with the best care. Although he admits it can be challenging at times he has learned how to control the impulses for the sake of his patients. Dr. Salinas has found a way to use this trait for good and as the idea is depicted in Black Mirror if technology could allow us to mimic mirror-touch synesthesia it could change the way we viewed medicine and how.
Mind/consciousness uploading is the hypothetical futuristic process of scanning the mental state of a brain and copying it onto a computer or another device. The mind, memories, personality, and attributes of an individual will be transferred allowing computers to run a simulation model of how the brain processes information and cause it to respond in the same way. This idea has been brought to light in Black Mirror multiple times, exploring the good and the bad. In this episode, it explores the bad when a person’s consciousness gets neglected. While watching and hearing about the idea of uploading a person’s consciousness I often question how realistic the idea is and where it could take us in the future. Futurists believe that by 2045 humans will be able to upload their minds to computers.
Although, most concepts seen in Black Mirror seem far off in the future a lot of the technological ideas are seen now or in the works. Black Museum, in particular, focuses on the development of these technological creations and shows some possible extreme consequences of technology being misused. Being able to relate these far-fetched scenarios brings into view how lots of the ideas are not too far off in the future and technology is evolving every day. December 14, 2019 @ 02:51:22
References:
Booker, Charlie, director. Black Mirror. Black Museum, Zeppotron, 29 Dec. 2017.
Black Museum." Black Mirror. Fox. WXIA, Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998. Television.
Brooker, Charlie, et al. Inside Black Mirror. Ebury Press, 2018.Brooker, Charlie, et al. Inside Black Mirror. Ebury Press, 2018.
Banissy, Michael J., and Jamie Ward. “Mechanisms of Self-Other Representations and Vicarious Experiences of Touch in Mirror-Touch Synesthesia.” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, vol. 7, 2013, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00112.
Hauskeller, Michael. “My Brain, My Mind, And I: Some Philosophical Assumptions Of Mind-Uploading.” International Journal of Machine Consciousness, vol. 04, no. 01, 2012, pp. 187–200., doi:10.1142/s1793843012400100.
“Mind Uploading.” Mind Uploading FAQs Comments, http://www.minduploading.org/faqs/.
