A spoiler-filled chat with Black Mirrors creators about this series Jodie Foster-directed parenting-themed episode, Arkangel…
The episode asks how far is too far when it comes to keeping children safe?
And what are the potential ramifications of filtering a childs reality, even if its for their own good.
Like allBlack Mirrorepisodes,Arkangelis smart, thought-provoking and doesnt shy away from nastiness.
Read our spoiler-filled review here.
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All parents at least consider hacking their childrens Facebook accounts.
In a very reductive way, would you say that this episode is about the follies of that?
Charlie Brooker:Kind of, yeah.
That time will come though.
CB:I know.
So you have to constantly reassess your position on things.
I think Id still install one.
AJ:Thats what were trying to have people ask themselves.
Maybe without the filter though?
CB:Thats the thing.
This was where the discussion came from.
Then youd think Im not going to use the other stuff.
Thats for the paranoid helicopter parents!
You would do it.
Hopefully, as you say, when youre watching it you empathise with both daughter and mother.
It could be seen as a story in the classic be careful what you wish for mode.
The daughter could have been in a very perilous position and again, that technology would have saved her.
So how does one know how to proceed responsibly?
CB:Trying to think.
Sometimes if you see something particularly frightening or grisly, you feel sort of changed in some way.
There wasnt 24-hour news, there wasnt the internet, I didnt see violent or pornographic images.
Whereas today, you dont know what kids might see.
It was just the trailer, but it was disturbing enough, and he wasnot happy at all.
I thought what the fuck have I done?
I dont know how you deal with that.
Theres a thread in the episode that its actually instructive to be exposed to upsetting images at some point.
You talked about there being an expectation thatBlack Mirrordoesnt wuss out with some of the nastiness.
Obviously there are many nastier things that one could imagine being forced to watch through a childs eyes.
Did you come up with those things and discard them?
Was there a more definite ending for Sarah?
CB:It was more that you dont want it to get too melodramatic or too neatly concluded.
We wanted to leave it fairly ambiguous.
We wanted some ambiguity to the ending, which felt more honest somehow I think.
AJ:You want to leave it feeling nuanced.
Youre always at pains not to be too didactic in terms of messages with this show?
CB:Generally, hopefully we are!
AJ:Because I dont know what the answer is!
Read Mirror season 4 here.
