Presentation on Science Fiction and Black Mirror. This is a presentation that I made in the first semester of my undergraduate degree, under English Ability Enhancement.

1. SCIENCE FICTION
AND BLACK MIRROR
Why I like it and How is it relevant?
By Ananya Srivastava

2. WHAT IS
SCIENCE
FICTION?
SCIENCE FICTION
Science-Fiction is a form of fiction
that deals with the impact of both real
and imaginative science. It talks about
futuristic notions such as time
traveling and artificial intelligence.
In his book Modern Science Fiction
(1953), Isaac Asimov has defined
Science Fiction as that branch of
literature concerned with the impact of
scientific advances upon human beings,
but Science Fiction has evolved a lot
since then.
It now not only deals with what science
is but also with what its implications
are.

3. I am fascinated by science-
fiction because of the
implausibility that it has.
Whenever I watch or
read something related to
science-fiction, it is
challenging for me to convince
my mind that there might even
exist a future like this. It
always renders me in
wonder and an aura of
surrealism. Acknowledging that
the writer took a notion
that we were already well-known
to and made it into something
so fantastical, I
am often astounded to great
lengths.
WHY DO I LIKE SCIENCE FICTION?

4. AS A CHILD,
Watched cartoons like The
Jetsons, Dexter Laboratory etc.
LATER,
Switched to shows like Rick and
Morty, Black Mirror, The Flash,
etc.
CURRENT
I watch Black Mirror,
Westworld, DARK etc.
AS A TEEN,
Shifted to shows like Stranger
Things.
Where it all began...

5. IS IT RELEVANT?

6. The Elements of Science Fiction
- paranormal abilities like telepathy, mind control, and
telekinesis,
- New and different political and social arrangements and
situations, including Utopian, dystopian, post-apocalyptic, or
post-scarcity,
- Undiscovered scientific possibilities such as teleportation, time
travel, and faster-than-light travel or communication.

7. A b o u t
B l a c k
M i r r o r

8. Black Mirror is a British dystopian science-fiction anthology television
series created by Charlie Brooker. He and Annabel Jones are the
program's showrunners.
This show aims to examine contemporary society and the implications
that technological progressions can have on it.
Episodes are standalone and rarely have references from each other.
Black Mirror makes the same impression on our psychology as do the
nightmares. It makes us live our apprehensions, helps us undergo the
worst of all, and then wakes us up to assure that nothing
unfortunate has yet happened.
The reality that Black Mirror shows may be quite disheartening and
dismal, but it is worth bearing in mind that what Black Mirror portrays
might be a probable future if we do not mend our ways right now.
WHAT IS BLACK MIRROR?

9. I'll start with one of my favourite
episodes of Black Mirror - San Junipero. This particular episode features two
lesbians, and one of them is a woman of colour. As Wikipedia suggests, the
original drafts were based on nostalgia therapy and designed as a 1980s period
piece, featuring a heterosexual couple and an unhappy ending, but this changes
in the actual episode. The actual episode has a homosexual couple, and it ends
on a happy note compared to the initial draft. This feature of the episode is
something that I particularly liked, taking into account the fact that many
films starring homosexual couples end with the cliché unhappy ending of
separation.
While one character's story tells us
how society didn't accept her and her sexuality, the other woman is much
fearless about herself and her sexual preferences. The episode is a beautiful
depiction of how both the women fall in love with each other and defeat the
various hindrances they face in their relationship.
Representation of LGBTQ+

10. The representation of various races
and cultures is also evident in the episodes. Episodes like Men against Fire
and Black Museum feature people of races and cultures. The woman who plays the
protagonist in Black Museum is herself a Guyanese-British actress. Nish, the
protagonist, is a strong woman who isn't afraid to fight back the character of
Rolo, the owner of the museum, who is also a racist white supremacist.
Men against Fire episode deals with a
complex but essential topic.
When it came out in 2016, the show proved to be
very relevant in the time of rising xenophobia in Europe and America. It hence
brings the issue of racism and xenophobia and draws attention to that aspect.
However, what dismayed me here was the lack of representation of Asian culture.
So, I could not find even a single episode where I remember an Asian being the
protagonist.
Representation of various Cultures
and Races

11. Lastly, let's talk about the role of
women in this anthology.
Episodes like Fifteen Million Merits
brought out the bitter truth of women's fame sometimes, unfortunately, leading
them to be reduced to objects of sexual gratification these days. Episodes like
Hated in the Nation feature powerful female leads. Hated in the Nation requires
the characters of two detectives to solve a case. Now, mostly, roles such as
that of a detective, spy, criminologist are given to males, but Black Mirror
beautifully portrays women as being capable of being in the same profession
with much ease. These two women brilliantly work together to solve the case and
work with men rather than working under them.
An episode like Be Right Back features
a woman fighting her fate when she loses her lover to death. She, with many
hardships, finally learns to move on and become an independent woman even
though she still reminisces about her late boyfriend from time to time with the
same love and respect.
Representation of Women

12. THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
By Ananya Srivastava