Review on Arkangel, Black Mirror

Review on Arkangel, Black Mirror

As a young child, Sara has grown up with a child monitoring system implanted in her head. With a tablet, Sara's mother can find the geolocation of child, see what Sara is seeing, and blur out disturbing images. This difference in growing up caused Sara to be emotionally immature and socially outcast in school. Another problem is that Sara learns violence, illness, and sex only at a late age. While it is natural for her to be curious of obscenities, she harms herself because she did not have the awareness that she should have achieved through early exposure (not pleasant but necessary). For instance, Sara cuts herself because she does not know pain or violence. She only knows the concept, and she harms herself because she never had the chance to fully realize what violence is, and why she should avoid it. When Sara has a sexual relationship with Trick, she mimics the actor she saw on internet pornography, because that was the first way she encountered sex. Sara’s life is directed by the choices that Marie makes, and it is obvious that Sara should be damaged by such an abnormal, privacy-deprived life.

However, although unanticipated consequences of new technological is a crucial theme in the story, the fundamental cause of the problem in whole is Marie. Unlike many other science fiction stories, the technological advancement in this story does not immediately harm anyone. Here, advanced technology is not the active antagonist. There are no hackers that take Sara’s personal information, and nobody enforces advanced technology in their lives. The fall of the characters comes from no other than the relationship between Marie and Sara, especially Marie. This episode focuses more on Marie than Sara. This article will focus on how Marie acts toward Sara.

Throughout the plot, Marie grows to think of Sara as her possession. We can see this development as Sara grows up with Marie constantly watching her through Arkangel. There is a scene where baby Sara, coloring her drawing, asks her mother what color she should use. Marie offhandedly tells her to do whatever she wants, but ends up telling Sara what she prefers. This example shows how both Marie and Sara got accustomed to Marie’s control. In the end, Marie loses respect for her daughter as an individual entity, while Sara struggles to break free from the pressure.

Sara is grown up to follow the instructions of her mother, and she has no choice but to think it is a natural way of life, that is, until her schoolmate tells her it isn’t. By this point, Sara’s anger and loss of personal rights would have accumulated to form a bitter resentment toward her mother. This is even shown when Sara slaps her mother, who tried to stop Sara from hurting herself to observe blood.

Marie thinks of Sara as her possession, something that she can take care of and cure. Marie does not confront her daughter when she sees Sara doing all those things. Instead of talking to Sara, she tracks down Sara’s boyfriend, Trick. Marie mixes emergency contraceptive pill in Sara’s drink, without her knowledge. If Marie had more respect for Sara, she would have talked to her, telling her that she shouldn’t lie, have sex, or try cocaine. Why Marie does not speak to Sara about what she saw is not clearly shown in the video. However, the audience can infer that Marie did not consider this because she thought she should handle the matter herself. As a helicopter parent, Marie probably would never have tried to solve problems through conversations with her daughter.   

In conclusion, parents must acknowledge their children as separate individuals, and grant them privacy, trust, and the right to make personal decisions. For this, technology should not encourage parent surveillance. Like the advice of Marie’s father, parents must let children grow on their own, not interfering too much with their life. Children must learn through trial and error. Parents should not protect their children from the world, but rather help them prepare for the world.

Rating:💧💧💧 (three out of five)

- The story plot did not fully explain the development of the characters. There were holes that should have explained the actions of the characters, especially how Sara’s life was after they stopped using Arkangel (and before Marie took it out again).

Favorite If-I-could-get-anything-for-Christmas-wishlist present on the date of posting:

Dumbledore’s Deluminator; 

"The Deluminator, also referred to as a "Put-Outer", is a small magical device that looks like a cigarette lighter. It captures and stores a light source, like a streetlight, and can later be used to restore the light to its original place."

I often need to study after the lights are out in our dorm, and my lamp is currently at bad shape.

Also, I would like to have a time-version of the Deluminator. While the Deluminator saves light, I would like to have a small device that I could use to save time. Whenever I get small bits of spare time, I keep on wishing that somehow I could store it. I’d use it when I am busy or spend it with the people I love.