This document contains questions for analyzing the Black Mirror episode "Be Right Back". It asks how the episode is postmodern through its use of intertextuality, dystopian narrative, hybridization, and flattening of affect. It also asks how the theories of Baudrillard and Foucault can be applied. The document discusses how the episode differs from and is similar to other media forms. It examines the intended audience and impact, and explores the types of technology portrayed such as social media, cloning, and futuristic interfaces. In the end it discusses how the episode's narrative concept challenges conventions.

1. Black Mirror Analysis
Be Right Back

2. THE QUESTIONS
• How is this episode postmodern (pomo features)
• How can you apply/relate Baurillard theory
• How can you apply/relate Focault theory
• How does it differ or challenge other media (could compare to other current media or traditional
media)
• How is it similar to other media? (could be other platforms)
• What type of audience is this episode made for? What sort of impact does Charlie Brooker
want on this audience? Why?
• What types of technology and media are explored in black mirror?

3. How is this episode postmodern?
INTERTEXTUALITY
- Twitter; the robot of her husband uses tweets to find out more about him so that he seems as real as possible for her.
- Avatar; the robot/ new version of her husband could be seen as a avatar of the real him as he is just a replacement and he isn't real.
- Touch screen phones; they were made really thin and futuristic but are something that we have now, just not quite as thin.
- Touch screen in front of her eyes; she is able to create something right in front of her eyes, she used this to do her work.
- Tablets; touch screen technology.
- Cyborgs; similar to the matrix, someone being reborn.
DYSTOPIAN NARRATIVE
- Cyborgs are now reality, people can be replaced by artificial beings. References to the terminator concept of computer uprising, adding a sense of
horror and expectancy. They are able to create something that is exactly the same than what was there before, an imitation of the real thing.
HYBRIDISATION
- This could be seen as a futuristic romantic drama through the different aspects that have been brought up already.
FLATTENING OF AFFECT
- The clone has no recollection of empathy or emotion, he only knows the information that he has been given, he doesn't know how to be upset
or what really makes him happy or love. He doesn't truly love his wife the robot just acts as if he does. An example of where he doesn’t feel
emotion is when they are on the cliff and she is telling him to jump off and kill himself but he just goes to do it as he doesn’t understand.
ARTIFICIALNESS
- When she resurrects her husband her happiness is short term and artificial as the clone hasn’t retained the qualities that she missis the most.
Also it reflects on the reliance of the social media and how our portrayal of ourselves is artificial.

4. How can you apply Baurillard’s theory?
Hyper reality of their artificial world
- Grieving or mourning is taken to a new extreme by Martha as she is willing to buy something
that would recreate her husbands body so she is able to talk to him in person after being
obsessed with talking to the robot him through the phone.
- She recreates her husband through social media, by going through all of her husbands emails,
tweets and social media updates to get a grasp on how he talks and would react to situations.
This determines who this person is without even meeting them but the robots couldn't never
truly be the real person, only a version of who they were.
- The pregnancy stick could be an example of this, when she takes it and it comes up as positive
you see a flashing moving baby face, and it also comes out with music.
- When she first finds out that she is able to talk to her husband, it is all done through social
media, firstly on her laptop and then onto her phone. It becomes something that is an easy
everyday thing and it becomes her routine to talk to her dead husbands robot version of him
and starts to dethatch herself from the real world and gets trapped into social media. Something
that seemed completely impossible became possible through social media.

5. How can you apply Foucault’s theory?
- Being watched changes you; this could be seen true in terms of Martha feeling the need to have
her husband by her side again, as she has spent the past few days constantly talking to the robot
version of him. So she is willing to pay all of this money to have a fake version of him back after
he has told her too, so she was influenced.
- Internal audience; her husband was made through social media, his thoughts of come from the
tweets, emails and social updates he has made to create an impression of the old him making
him seem as real as possible, which makes Martha become obsessed with talking to him over the
phone as it feels to her like it is really him.
- Ash is always being watched by social media weather it is the real him or the robot version, in
real life he was constantly updating his twitter and status’ so he was connected to the internet
always through that way and when he has a robot of himself created that is constantly using
social media to react the way that ash would to something making him seem as believable as
possible.
- External audience; when they are tweeting and updating their social media points this is them
replying and responding with the external audience.
- Scopopphilia; this could be seen when they are looking at the picture of him, and he takes a
picture of it and she asks why and he says it will make some of his friends laugh.

6. How does it differ or challenge other media?
- You see all different types of technology throughout the episode starting with really thin phones
similar to the way an iPhone looks but as thin as paper. It also has a different layout but a similar
concept and could be something which an iPhone will finally look like.
- They also show new technology through how she works and creates the things she has to for
work. It is seen as something that looks like it is on a sheet of paper but she can move things
around and resize them as she pleases.
- In some tv programme's you wouldn't see something quite like this, it has quite a unique concept
as you think everything is normal when really its not.
- In a romance film, there is a happy ending but this ends in quite an odd way, as the robot doesn’t
age or get hurt he is kept in the loft and is only allowed to say anyone during the weekends and
isn't allowed to come out otherwise, while his child knows of his existence but don’t know why he
is where he is and that he would have actually be her farther.

7. How is it similar to other media?
- This could firstly be seen as similar to Frankenstein, through that fact that a body was created
which was already dead, from different matters and is made to look and seem like a real person
but ends up as something quite the opposite.
- It could also be seen similar to the movie her as this have the same concept, where a body is
created which is made to look like a certain person, sound and act like them. It also starts in the
same way with firstly talking to the robot through social media.
- Similar to this it could be seen similar to the movie avatar, but slightly different as they are able
to make a different version of themselves but have the same thoughts.

8. What type of audience is this episode made for?
What sort of impact does Charlie Brooker want on this
audience? Why?
This programme was made for the consumption of either, or both Effects theory who are passive
audiences who accept and take in messages in texts because they are easily influenced or a
reception theory who are an active audiences who challenge or question messages in texts. This
episode is quite odd most of the way through because of many aspects. At first you see a quite
natural and normal couple with futuristic qualities in the social media eye, but in a cute new house
everything goes abit odd and the episode turns into something that you thought it was the opposite
of so I think these audiences would understand this and take the time to think about it in more
depth. It was obviously made for a more niche audience who have some interest in technology or
impact of technology and more ‘challenging’ texts as they know Charlie Brooker himself likes to
challenge conventions however, like the main black character, in the end he gives into the system
which he hates (he gets his own channel) while in some ways is ‘empowering’ but it also ‘enslaves’
him as he is ‘part of the system’. While it could be argued we are watching a text that enables us to
question the impact of technology and make us ‘think’ we are also watching TV like any other
program

9. What types of technology and media are
explored in Be Right Back?
- Social media it being explored; the whole way through social media is used, they are using it up
update their twitter and other status both also when he is cloned they are using it every minute for
the robot to say the right reaction that the real ash would say to anything.
- The use of cloning; when his body is created using social media they are making a clone of
someone that is dead but already existed from that information they have gathered.
- Futuristic technology; this is shown through the phones and how she works/ creates her work.

10. Discuss the concept of narrative in Be Right
Back, does it challenge or reinforce?
The concept for be right back is very odd. From the start it seems very naturalistic, you see a
couple in a natural setting driving a van and moving into the new home/ ash’s old home. Everything
seems fine until ash leave the house and gets himself into an accident where he dies, still seeming
quite natural they have a funeral for ash and this is when it starts to get abit odd. She is told that
she is able to talk to him through the use of social media, with his emails and tweets she was able
to create a online voice that she could talk to whenever she felt like she needed too but this then
turned into something quite addictive to her and she spent every minute of everyday doing this, until
she found out that she could make a clone version of him which is what she did by spending lots of
money to do so. This definitely is something that you don’t see very often in the media and is
something that hasn’t even really been thought of. At the start it doesn’t challenge any conventions,
but as it goes on it could challenge quite a lot.