​Nosedive, Season 3/Episode 1 of Black Mirror on Netflix

The theme of ‘Nosedive’, the first episode of season 3, the first Netflix series ‘Black Mirror’, is social media.

  It appears that people only use one social media platform, but more importantly, each user is rated like a credit rating. People who each seem to be wearing special lenses can tell each other's ratings just by looking at each other. The main character, Lacey (Bryce Dallas Howard), who maintains a rating of 4.2 out of 5, lives with his younger brother (rating 3). He greets local residents while exercising in the morning, stops at a cafe to take out drinks, and heads to work. Lacey, who had been leading a stable and peaceful daily life, discovers the house of her dreams. Lacey dreams of living a wonderful life by purchasing this house, but her house is too expensive for her to make her dreams come true. However, I found out that people with a GPA of 4.5 or higher can receive a 20% discount on the moving-in fee.

But all problems start here. 'Lacey' is desperate to get good reviews from people, both in her neighborhood and at work, more than ever before - five stars. She visits a rating management manager and listens to her advice and lectures on how to make up for her insufficient ratings. Meanwhile, she receives a request from her old friend 'Naomi' (Alice Eve), who has been following her through social media accounts, to be her bridesmaid at her own wedding. 'Naomi' is a high-rated person with her GPA exceeding 4.8, and there will be many people with similar scores to her at her wedding. If she does a great job as a bridesmaid and impresses people with her congratulatory speech, Lacey's rating may be able to reach her goal of 4.5. However, if the film had a happy ending by successfully delivering Naomi's wedding speech and achieving its goal, the title of the film would not be Black Mirror. After watching the movie, we should ask ourselves questions about social media again. Personally, I think the title itself is a huge spoiler. A mirror lets you see your own face. But this mirror is black?

The first half of this episode, which lasts about an hour, is filled with images filled with eye-catching pastel tones, but the pastel tones gradually begin to weaken towards the end. This means returning to images with normal, natural colors. In today's terms, I think that pastel colors are one of the elements suitable for the so-called 'Insta-sensibility'. In other words, as the saturation of the movie goes down, we stand in front of the black mirror, watching the movie ourselves. And then I realize. What's the difference between Lacey's image and the image we have on social media? In our lives, we are also exposed to Instagram and other media. At the same time, pay attention to the number of likes, followers, and visitors. In some cases, these numbers become a direct symbol of wealth or an object of envy. A new term for our generation is influencer. In other words, they are star-like people who gain popularity on the Internet and media space and influence others. They seem to break the existing hierarchical ladder and jump alone, easily monopolizing wealth and fame. So, in this era, is there really a law that prevents us from falling like Lacey? However, if you pay attention to the words and attitude of the truck driver who drove Lacey to her wedding, you can see that the answer is already hidden in this movie. In other words, let go of your gaze on those around you and look inside yourself... At some point, I would like to ask myself whether we have been living too conscious of our surroundings. Isn’t this the answer this movie asks us?

​Nosedive, Season 3/Episode 1 of Black Mirror on Netflix