Black Mirror Christmas Special - White Christmas (2014) - Review

Starring: Jon Hamm, Rafe Spall, Oona Chaplin & Natalia Tena

Written By: Charlie Brooker

Directed By: Carl Tibbetts

Certificate: 15 

 

I love the juxtaposition of having a Black Mirror Christmas special. You've got Christmas – a time traditionally associated with peace, happiness and goodwill … and then you've got Black Mirror which, in the nicest possible way, couldn't be more of a polar opposite if it tried. But equally the show has often had a darkly humorous, satirical side to it, so it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise either. Regardless it's been over eighteen months since our last fix of the show and it's high time to return for some intelligent writing, social commentary and a constant sense of foreboding, with White Christmas.

 

On Christmas day, Matt and Joe are stationed at a remote outpost in a snowy wilderness, preparing to have Christmas dinner. For the first time in the five years they've been stationed at the outpost, they discuss what brought them there, and what their lives were like before. Matt explains that by day, he worked training the technological “cookies” (artificial copies of a person's consciousness) into running smart houses. At night, Matt would work as a dating coach, guiding single men into seducing women on dates, whilst charging other men to watch the video stream. When Matt's wife finds out what he does, she leaves him and takes custody of their child, prompting Matt to resign to the outpost. Joe, while initially disgusted by Matt's story, remembers that his own reason for being at the outpost is no better, and he has an even darker tale to tell...

White Christmas takes the traditional three-act structure and wears it like a badge, using it to tell three different and seemingly separate stories with each act, and each one focusing on a different aspect of futuristic technology. The only consistent element to each story is that it features at least one of our two main characters – either Matt or Joe. The first of the three stories focuses on Matt and his nightly job as a dating coach. This section examines the implications of viewing the world around us through technology, and introduces us to a similar form of tech previously seen in The Entire History Of You. While the 'grains' from The Entire History Of You could record and replay memories right in front of you, here the Z-Eyes do something similar, allowing Matt to view exactly what his client, Harry, is seeing. Not only can Matt see this, but so can his customers paying to view the stream live from their homes. Possibly the most worrying aspect of this is the lack of privacy involved in such a practice. Despite Matt having good intentions, there's no telling what this technology might be capable of in the wrong hands, and how easily it may lead to practices such as blackmail. And as this story demonstrates, it can unintentionally have fatal consequences.

 

In the 2nd Act, we are given even more thematic content to pick apart, as we begin to learn about Matt's official job of training the “cookies” to become artificial slaves to their owner. Creating artificial copies of an individual is reminiscent of technology seen in Be Right Back, but the most interesting thing about this middle section of White Christmas is the way that it flips traditional sci-fi conventions to deliver something rather more unique. In the vast majority of science fiction that tackles the trope of Man vs. Robot, it is the robots who are seen as the main threat and the oppressors. Yet here we see how humanity is fully capable of oppressing artificial intelligence too, and we can fully sympathize with the “cookie” that Matt is shown to be training. The fact that the “cookie” believes it's been pulled right out of its own body and is given a human appearance, despite in reality it would be nothing but computer code, are all remarkably effective in generating this sympathy. Not only that, but the “cookie” is shown put through mental torture, by being placed in a blank, empty room with absolutely nothing to do for more than six months. It's an unthinkable experience, and one of the many powerful moments found within this episode.

 

The 3rd Act switches the focus away from Matt and onto Joe, returning as well to examine more implications of the Z-Eyes technology. Here we explore the consequences of blocking people with the Z-Eyes, literally greying them out and being unable to hear what they say. When Joe discovers that his partner, Beth, is pregnant, he is initially joyful at the prospect of becoming a dad, but a number of reasons (some of which are revealed later in the story) leads Beth to place a block on Joe. The block denies Beth from being able to hear Joe's apologies and his pleading when she leaves him, and here we see the biggest drawback to this block system. Although it may sound appealing to literally block some people out of our lives, the fact that you don't even really need a reason to block someone means that this system is once again easy to abuse. It also acts as a way of avoiding problems rather than confronting and dealing with them, which as this 3rd Act shows, can quickly exacerbate things and cause them to spiral out of control. We see this again with Matt in the epilogue when we examine how this system is used in law enforcement. (Spoiler Warning!) When Matt gets charged by the police, we see that he is not only automatically blocked by everyone else, but is marked out from the crowd with a red filter too. It can be assumed that many criminals have this particular block, and have to walk around with everyone knowing that they've committed some kind of crime in their past. But doing this prevents what should be the primary aim of criminal punishment – reform. How can you try and rebuild your life and make up for your mistakes if all anyone sees in you are those mistakes, and not you as an individual?

 

Now all three of these individual sections present compelling stories and plenty to examine, which by now we should come to expect from the show. However, the thing that elevates White Christmas into something phenomenal and one of my favourite Black Mirror episodes, is its closing moments and when we finally understand how each of these stories overlap. I don't want to spoil the resolution, as if you ask me it's something that needs to be seen to get the full effect. However, I will say that each bit of technology such as the “cookies” or the Z-Eyes, and every bit of established information that we gather throughout the episode, such as Matt's jobs, all come into play for the end and wraps this episode up in a neat package. Usually with most Black Mirror episodes, we can end with a lack of clarity and on a note of ambiguity, but with White Christmas, everything is tied together perfectly. The eventual fate of both Matt and Joe is once more incredibly dark, and for those wondering how this episode can qualify as a Christmas special beyond the title, the ending even factors in some wonderfully cynical Christmas iconography. (Spoiler Warning!) As Joe's “cookie” is forced to endure a thousand years in the virtual cabin, the episode tortures him with the repeated image of the snowglobe, while his inability to destroy the radio playing 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday' at an increasingly louder volume, plays out as a darkly humorous parody of the song's overwhelming presence around Christmas time.

Topping all of this wonderful content off, White Christmas can further boast some fantastic production values. After previously directing White Bear, Carl Tibbetts returns as director and adjusts to the noticeably different style of the episode very well. While White Bear took the form of a gritty, dangerous thriller, White Christmas has a smoother feel to it which can also be picked up on in the editing. Throughout the episode, there's some great associational editing and match cuts to be found, with several cuts that are able to stitch scenes together that take place in entirely different times and locations. The use of colour plays a significant role too, with noticeably strong reds to signify danger and death as we follow Harry on his date, futuristic yet soulless whites as Matt is shown training the "cookie", and the increasingly dim lighting in the cabin as Joe's anger takes control of him. The performances from the cast, especially our two main leads are able to evoke a lot of sympathy too, despite their obvious flaws. Jon Hamm brings a natural rugged charm to the role of Matt, and even though we see him subject "cookies" to mental torture, and attempt to stream live sex shows to a paying audience under the pretence of giving dating advice, it's still hard not to feel bad for his character by the end, and the same applies to Rafe Spall as Joe too.

In the wrong hands, Christmas specials can be tricky to get right, but if there's one show and one writer that could do it, it's Black Mirror and Charlie Brooker. Despite it hardly being the most festive thing to watch, White Christmas is up there as one of my favourite bits of Christmas-related media (along with things such as Krampus, The Chimes Of Midnight etc.) It's definitely one of Black Mirror's finest, and I'd personally argue that it's one of the best, most tight and controlled screenplays I've ever witnessed. By the time the credits roll, it's really difficult not to feel stunned by this one...

White Christmas



10/10