Interview “somewhere, in a room, someone is already experiencing this.” How do the creators of the SF series “Black Mirror” see the probability that their stories will come true

Season 7 of the SF series “Black Mirror” entered Netflix on April 10 and brings to the spectators the scenarios and stories that, in 2025, do not seem impossible. In an episode, for example, a woman's life is saved with the technology developed by a private company. But, as in any exclusively private relationship, there are always unexpected costs.

• Hotnews conducted an interview with the creator and screenwriter of the series, Charlie Broker, and the producer Jessica Rhoades, about the impact that technology can have in our lives, but also about how we can protect ourselves and use it for our advantage.

The SF series “Black Mirror”, since its launch in 2011, has aimed to answer a series of questions that people have about the impact of technology on our lives.

Season 7, as his creator, said, Charlie Broker, approaches the “original roots” of the series. The six episodes are detached like horror and, rather, contrary, fascinate or excite. But, most, they want to put their viewers in their thoughts and ask: What are the chances of living this in the near future?

Awwafina, Paul Giamatti, Rashida Jones, Issa Rae, Paul G. Raymond and Tracee Ellis Ross are just a few of the actors who are part of the show distribution.

The new season also brings a premiere, namely the first episode of the series, which returns to the “USS Callister” Universe, one of the most popular episodes of season fourth, which tells the story of an executive that closes its colleagues, for a video game.

Less horror, more technology

Charlie Broker recognizes, in a Netflix interview, that “last season had a 100%horror theme, and that was intended. For me, as a screenwriter, it was like a kind of palette cleaning, especially since many of those episodes were written during the pandemic, and I was at the end of the panda to my children as Roblox plays.

So this season (no- season 7) seems, in a way, a return to what we could call the original Black Mirror- with themes related to the technology of the near future, a satirical note and social comment sprinkled over all. But it is also an evolution – the series always intends to be ambitious. We usually combine accessible, realistic stories that look like personal nightmares, with more epic episodes. ”

Each episode of the new series introduces spectators into a dystopian universe, while underlining important topics of today's society, from capitalism, to the effects of bullying. Interestingly, it seems to me that the stories created by Booker do not only show us the negative impact of technology, but more emphasize how people get to use it.

An episode that wakes us up

For example, in the “Common People” episode, we know a couple of absolutely normal people whose life changes fundamentally after their wife, Amanda, gets to have a medical emergency. To save her, Mike, her husband, she signs a contract with a technology company, which promises to do it well, but not without consequences.

Slowly and surely, the welfare of Amanda depends on the money that the family has to give to the corporation. The dystopian background becomes very familiar and we are facing the effects of mercantilism, in the most cruel way. We can think of pharma companies that have treatments for certain diseases, costs that ordinary people cannot afford to save themselves.

Another remarkable episode is “Hotel Revere”, in which Issa Rae and Emma Corrin perform a couple in a story that explores the use of artificial intelligence in the film industry. Basically, we follow a universe where real actors, with the help of technology, can be introduced into the world of vintage films and can interact with the characters there.

The episode “Playting”, on the other hand, proposes an exercise in familiar imagination, namely if someone takes care of an artificial life form, as we play in childhood with Tamagotchi.

Broker used to write video games for PC Zone magazines. As Netflix says, at one point, he had to write about a game entitled “Creature”, where the user had to take care of an artificial life form.

“For me, this episode is partially a comment about artificial intelligence and artificial life, but also about what you project, as a man, on these things. I remember I had a Tamagotchi and it is amazing how quickly you get to attach to it.

I forgot him in a pocket from a pair of jeans and arrived in the washing machine, was boiled and died, and I even felt sincere remorse, I felt awful, as if I had boiled a living hamster.

I also read an article about someone who had a game, either Civilization or Simcity, on an old computer from the 1990s, but started for two decades, without interruption, and practically began to go crazy, “he says. The episode raises important questions about the influence of technology on human behavior.

Charlie Broker worked with producer Jessica Rhoades for the new season. “In Black Mirror there is a lot of variety – with all the different things that happen, it can become quite chaotic. It is a huge task to gather all these different tones, to keep them under control and to remember them all. Jessica can” see through the matrix “and manages to browse all the moving parts without drowning. Nothing takes it by surprise. It's the kind of person who says “well, how we do this,” it sounds complicated. ”

I think we have different skills sets in that sense. My brain jumps from one subject to another, from one story to another – which is almost a disadvantage. But not only does she manage to manage this perfectly, but even makes chaos the strength of the series. There is a maximum point, somewhere in the middle of the process, when all the episodes are alive in their own way – it's like working at six series simultaneously, “said the creator of the series for Netflix about collaborating with her.

In the interview with Hotnews, Broker and Rhoades, they talked about the new season, their expectations, but also about the likelihood that some episodes will become a reality in the future.

“We look at the present and come up with a story based on it”

-I felt differently the new season, compared to the past. We can see the negative impact of technology, but also how people get to use it. However, there is a lot of emotion. What did you want to demonstrate with the new episodes and how would you like to reach the public?
– Charlie Broker: Exactly as you said. I think, obviously, we have a few episodes in this season, in fact, all six stories are very focused on technology – in the classic sense “Black Mirror.”

Each episode is about a technology that appears and seems amazing, but then overturns one's life, sometimes for good, sometimes bad. And I think you are right when you say that sometimes we have episodes that hit you directly in the plex and which, we hope, disturb you.

But sometimes we try to get another type of emotional reactions. We have a few melancholy episodes, some with romantic tint, and quite a lot in which sadness or kind of bitterness feels. “Reflective” is a good term and suitable for Black Mirror. “

– Even now, the technology seems quite frightening. Do you think there is a chance to live a scenario in the new season?
– Charlie Broker: Well, I think this happens because, most of the time, what we do is look at the present and come up with a story based on it. The story comes first, I do not necessarily try to predict the future, but to tell a captivating story. But, yes, there are probably a few things in this season that seem only three weeks away from reality.

Jessica Rhoades: Look, for example, at 23andme (no genetic test site)-when I launched “USS Callister”, people wondered: “Who would give its DNA?” And then everyone, including my mother, was in a hurry to send samples to 23ands. And now everyone is trying to delete their data as soon as possible.

Charlie Broker: But it's too late. We will wake up in a digital prison. With all. (laughs) How much of which episode is most likely to become a reality? I don't know if I mean, honestly. But maybe “Common People.” It would not surprise me if such a technology would become available. Or maybe “Hotel Reverie”, who knows? There is a lot of happening there. Or “playing” – maybe it's already real, but we don't know yet. Maybe somewhere, in a room, someone is already experiencing that. So yes, I can't say with certainty. We will find out in the near future.

“The problem usually arises because of human fragility, weaknesses or human errors”

– How do you think we should refer to technology? Should we be afraid of it or can we still be optimistic?
– Charlie Broker: A cautious optimism? I mean, when people say the series is about how technology is bad, I think it's not right. Because, honestly, I am very pro-technology. You couldn't do this job if you didn't, it would drive you crazy. And, in fact, in stories, technology is usually a useful tool, which fulfills an incredible, miraculous purpose, and the problem occurs, as a rule, because of human fragility, weaknesses or human errors. This is what we need to consider: our own vulnerabilities. But at the same time, we can congratulate ourselves – we, the people, have invented these things, so we are quite good at it.

– What do you think we can learn from the new “Black Mirror” season?
– Jessica Rhoades: Give up the phone from time to time.

Charlie Broker: Don't put hot liquids next to computers – that's one. Read the terms and conditions when you register on a platform. Be cute with the characters in the video games. Maybe you take care of your DNA. What other lessons would be? Hold more pictures in shoe boxes. Yes.