Posted on 03/16/2018 12:56:22 PM PDT by GoldenState_Rose
Youve surely gotten the memo by now. As a fan of The Twilight Zone, youre supposed to be head over heels for Black Mirror.
I wish I could join the chorus.
I dont mean the show is without merit. Its well-produced, acted and directed. It has some intriguing storylines. But its no Twilight Zone for the 21st century.
Sure, its an anthology with fantasy/sci-fi touches. But its also incredibly pessimistic...Yes, TZ had its share of downbeat endings (hello, Henry Bemis). And its true that Serling didnt shrink from showing us the dark side of human nature (The Shelter and The Monsters are Due on Maple Street being two notable examples).
But one of the hallmarks of Serlings writing was his faith in humanity. He didnt leave us to wallow in misery he kept encouraging us to be better. We dont have to tear each other apart, he said. We can overcome suspicion and hatred.
And it worked. As we listen to his concluding narrations, we feel as if we want to try harder.
Black Mirror shows us the dark side as well. The problem is, it leaves us there.
And it keeps hitting the same theme: were all slaves to our devices. A fair point, but does that have to surface in practically every episode?
And as the questions above indicate, theres a bit of a preoccupation with sex. Even if you think a modern TZ needs that (and I dont), surely its possible to have an episode or two without it? Apparently not.
If that sounds like your cup of tea, tune in. But if youre looking for a modern-day Twilight Zone, I wouldnt recommend it. Black Mirror casts a dark reflection indeed.
(Excerpt) Read more at thenightgallery.wordpress.com ...
I’m a big fan of Black Mirror, and while I’ll grant that the vast majority of episodes have “downer” endings, two notable ones do not: “San Junipero”, and “USS Callister”.
The 1st episode of this show, has a mayor or governor or president of something, forced into having sex with a pig to release his kidnapped daughter. He had sex with the pig.
I wasnt liking where that show was leading and as soon as it was known he was doing it, I turned it off. Disgusting crap. I will never watch another episode of that depressing depraved show again.
Some are good some are so so.
Probably more like “The Scary Door”
uss callister was pretty dark...
but i am a big fan myself... though the first one i saw was a bit piggish...
The world, in general in 1960, had faith in humanity. Now, not so much.
Ill watch the remaining BM episodes but I dont have a lot of high expectations.
I always felt Twilight Zone is fairly overrated. They almost always slip into a story that could be conveyed effectively in 45 seconds.
Serling’s writing style is fairly stilted, too. People don’t have conversations, they talk at each other.
He also was fairly rigid in his presentation. You see this in his concept for Planet of the Apes. The ape civilization was almost exactly like our civilization - no wiggle room, not much creativity or imagination. Too rigid.
In the final version of the film, the presentation of the ape civilization was far superior. They were not exactly like us, but they were still like us. Some of the technology was there, but much of the technology wasn’t. They didn’t have the same exact roles as we have, but you could recognize the types. Far better. Far more effective.
The weaknesses of Twilight Zone became very apparent when instead of stretching a 45 second story into a half hour, they stretched it to an hour. Brutal. Forgettable television.
Watched parts of two episodes. From what I saw the show is obsessed with the F word. Yes, I know, the writers live in an environment of constant profane speech, so they believe this is everyone’s reality. But it is not.
I know I am fighting a losing battle with today’s media, but I am offended by this new “acceptability” of foul language. No, I am not holier or better than anyone else, but it feels like the “broken window” syndrome of societal deterioration to me.
I’ve watched all of the episodes, and there are a few that I would consider very good. It feels somewhat repetitive, however. Most of the episodes are somewhat corny, in a way. I do watch them though, always entertaining.
In my opinion, early Season 1 isn’t that good. It gets better as it goes along. USS Callister was pretty amusing.
Season two, White Bear was pretty good. Ending took me totally by surprise
I had exactly the same experience. I got just a few minutes in and turned it off forever.
After watching the dude pleasure the pig, and then the kid getting videotaped pleasuring himself, I thought typical Brit Daily Mail sex fascination crap. The robotic dog episode was good though.
That was pretty much my reaction/action to the show. I may have watched the 2nd one - but I only remember being creeped out....stopped watching.
Never heard if it.
Twilight Zone, looking at it now, I see makes no sense and isn’t very good.
It’s generally unpleasant and meaningless. When not, it’s a liberal message.
Well said.
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