"Arkangel" is the second episode of the fourth series of anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by Charlie Brooker and directed by Jodie Foster. The episode first aired on Netflix, along with the rest of series four, on 29 December 2017.
In the episode, "Arkangel" is the name of an implanted chip technology that allows a parent to track and monitor their children, as well as pixelate images that would cause them distress. Single mother Marie (played by Rosemarie DeWitt) has her young daughter Sara implanted with Arkangel, which while initially effective, becomes a dangerous hindrance, and Marie allows Sara to grow up without the use of Arkangel. As Sara matures into a teenager (played by Brenna Harding), Marie becomes tempted to use Arkangel again.
The episode was the first episode of Black Mirror to be directed by a woman, and the first to have a strong emphasis on family. Arkangel was met with mixed reception and was compared to an indie-movie. Some critics praised the episode's concept, but thought the theme of helicopter parenting was emphasised at the expense of other, more potentially interesting aspects.
Video Arkangel (Black Mirror)
Plot
Protective single mother Marie Sambrell (Rosemarie DeWitt) gives birth to her daughter Sara. Three years later, Sara goes missing one day at a playground, chasing after a cat. Marie becomes hysterical and calls out for Sara, but she is recovered shortly without incident. Fearing future crises, Marie signs up to participate in a limited-release free trial of Arkangel, a revolutionary tech-integrated child monitoring system. An Arkangel representative administers Sara a neural implant, which enables Marie to monitor her geolocation and medical state in real time via an included tablet computer. The representative also demonstrates an option to view Sara's immediate eyesight, and censor obscenity and other stressful stimuli with pixelization and audio distortion. The Arkangel system proves initially successful, censoring an intimidating neighborhood dog; however, flaws in the system present themselves, such as the obscenity filter preventing Sara from reacting appropriately to her live-in grandfather's stroke.
Years later, after her grandfather's death, Sara has become socially outcast and emotionally immature due to lack of exposure to stressful stimuli. She grows frustrated at being unable to view the contents of a shock site, to have its contents explained to her, or to even illustrate blood on paper. That evening, she pricks her finger with a pencil in an attempt to produce blood, and slaps her mother when she attempts to stop her. Marie has her analyzed by a child psychologist, who concludes that the now-controversial and soon-to-be-banned Arkangel is responsible. Though the implant itself cannot be removed, he convinces Marie to deactivate the obscenity filter and stow the tablet away. Sara goes to school unsupervised for the first time, where her schoolmate Trick exposes her to gore, internet pornography and terrorist beheadings.
At age fifteen, Sara (Brenna Harding), now well-adjusted and popular, secretly attends a party with Trick (Owen Teague) at a nearby lake, telling Marie that she is going to a friend's house. Marie grows concerned after Sara fails to answer phone calls and her schoolmates' parents cannot locate her, and she reactivates the Arkangel tablet in panic to discover Sara and Trick having unprotected sex. Some time later, Marie, having grown distrustful of her daughter, uses the Arkangel tablet again and sees Sara persuade Trick to let her try cocaine; identifying him with a reverse image search, she intimidates Trick into breaking up with Sara and cutting her off. After vomiting due to an emergency contraceptive pill snuck into her drink by Marie, Sara discovers the reactivated tablet and confronts Marie in her bedroom. She pries the tablet from Marie's hands, accidentally reactivating the obscenity filter, and beats Marie unconscious with the tablet until it breaks. The filter deactivates moments later and Sara finally sees what she has done.
A dazed Marie reawakens and frantically calls Sara's name down the street, mirroring her reaction to Sara's disappearance twelve years earlier. Meanwhile, having fled the scene, Sara flags down a semi truck for a ride.
Maps Arkangel (Black Mirror)
Analysis
One critic compares "Arkangel" to previous Black Mirror episodes "The Entire History of You" and "Be Right Back", as each episode is based on an existing technology, and plausibly demonstrates how the technology could go wrong in the future.
Production
Whilst series one and two of Black Mirror were shown on Channel 4 in the UK, in September 2015 Netflix commissioned the series for 12 episodes, and in March 2016 it outbid Channel 4 for the rights to distributing the third series, with a bid of $40 million. The 12 episode order was divided into two series of six episodes each.
This was the first episode of Black Mirror directed by a woman, Jodie Foster. Foster was in control of casting the episode leading to the casting of her friend Rosemarie DeWitt as Marie, as the pair had met through Foster's wife Alexandra Hedison; this was only the second time Foster had worked with a friend as a director, after Mel Gibson in 2011 film The Beaver. According to Brooker, Foster was chosen for the episode because as a former child actor, she would understand what it was like to grow up in the spotlight, as well as how to deal with the child actors during filming. Netflix had also recommended Foster to Brooker, since she had previously directed episodes of their series Orange is the New Black and House of Cards; she provided a good amount of "grounded" feedback on the script prior to shooting, according to Brooker. Foster also flew to London to help with the episode's editing alongside Brooker.
Written by Charlie Brooker, the episode is intended to be sympathetic to helicopter parenting; Brooker took inspiration in how he "[felt] reprogrammed" following the birth of his children that made him more protective. Annabel Jones, co-producer for the series, said that the idea of Arkangel came from microchip implants used to identify pets that, at the time of writing, were also being considered for children. Jones said, "We wanted to think what the updated version of that [was] and find a really good idea of how that could go terribly wrong". The original script gave Marie's father only a very minor part, but this was fleshed out by Foster. Foster also influenced other changes in the script, and offered many observations on the technology used and Marie's motivation for her actions after seeing her daughter have sex with Trick.
Filming took place in Toronto over three weeks in November 2016, starting just around the 2016 United States presidential election. Foster states that the filming involved "very long hours" and that the scenes starring children were particularly troublesome. Displaying graphic content was avoided in the episode, with Foster believing it would "distract from what the meaning was". An exception was the scene where Sara attacks her mother. Brooker notes that in this scene, more whacks were filmed than made it into the episode, though enough were needed for the viewer to understand Sara's perspective, and render Marie unconscious. The final shot of the episode, where Marie frantically tries to use the tablet shouting "No!" repeatedly, was filmed the day after the election results were in; DeWitt injected her personal reaction at the results of the election into that scene.
Explaining the actions of her character Marie, DeWitt says in an interview that single mothers "experience betrayal differently"; Foster adds that when Marie realises Sara is lying to her, but does not confront her, it causes a "fissure" and Marie begins "fighting a battle to win control". By attempting to prevent her daughter from leaving her, Marie is victim to a self-fulfilling prophecy as she "engendered the exact result that she most feared".
Marketing
In May 2017, a Reddit post unofficially announced the names and directors of the six episodes in series 4 of Black Mirror. The first trailer for the series was released by Netflix on 25 August 2017, and contained the six episode titles. In September 2017, two photos from the fourth season were released, including one from "Arkangel".
Beginning on 24 November 2017, Netflix published a series of posters and trailers for the fourth series of the show, referred to as the "13 Days of Black Mirror". On 6 December, Netflix published a trailer featuring an amalgamation of scenes from the fourth series, which announced that the series would be released on 29 December.
Reception
Praising Foster's directing and DeWitt's acting, Adam Starkey of Metro writes that the episode is about a "recognisable paranoia" which compensates for the "slightly predictable" execution of the episode. In a positive review for Den of Geek, Louisa Mellor praises the "deft balance" given to the ethical quandary explored by the episode, as well as Foster's "sensitive and emotional US indie-movie style" and how the story is told not with authority, but "with empathy".
Sophie Gilbert of The Atlantic opines that despite the episode's excellent premise, it fails due to lack of execution. Gilbert further asserts that the episode's moral is obvious, and the question of what impact adult imagery has on a child is interesting but not explored far enough. In a three star review for The Telegraph, Ed Power has the same criticism that Brooker could "delve further" into the repercussions of children watching violent and pornographic images, calling the episode "archetypal Black Mirror, almost to a fault".
Planned Parenthood has criticised the episode for an inaccurate display of how emergency contraceptive pills work; the episode implies that these pills terminate a pregnancy, whereas in fact they prevent pregnancy before it occurs.
References
External links
- "Arkangel" on IMDb
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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