Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory

<I>Black Mirror</I> is <I>The Twilight Zone</I> of the twenty-first century. Already a philosophical classic the series echoes the angst of an era a civilization and consciousness fully engulfed in the 24/7 media spectacle spanning the planet. With clever plots and existential themes <I>Black Mirror</I> presents near-futures where humans collide with technology and each other—tomorrows that might arrive in five years or five minutes. Featuring scholars from three continents and ten nations Black Mirror <I>and Critical Media Theory</I> is an international collection of critical media theory applied to one of the most intellectually provocative TV shows of our time and the all-too-real conditions that inspire it. Drawing from thinkers such as Michel Foucault Jean Baudrillard Guy Debord Marshall McLuhan and Paul Virilio the authors reverse-engineer <I>Black Mirror</I> by probing the ideas meanings and conditions embedded in the episodes. This book is organized around six key topics reflected and explored in <I>Black Mirror</I>—human identity surveillance culture spectacle and hyperreality aesthetics technology and existence and dystopian futures.