Youth Culture in TV: Black Mirror

Black Mirror is a British anthology show that shows the dark side of technology (the name is a reference to how a screen becomes a 'black mirror' as it is turned off).

Since Black Mirror is an anthology show, only a few episodes show examples of youth culture:
-Season 2 Episode 3: The Waldo Moment
-Season 3 Episode 1: Nosedive
-Season 3 Episode 2: Playtest

The Waldo Moment

The Waldo Moment is based around a failed comedian who voices a cartoon bear named Waldo gets mixed up in politics as the Shows’ executives want Waldo to run for Office

-This episode is especially relevant today as Donald Trump won the Presidency this year (this episode aired in February of 2013, whereas Donald Trump announced his campaign for president in June 2015). 

-The Waldo moment features a small example of British youth culture where it is mentioned that Waldo is gaining traction from young voters. It is mentioned in the episode that the amount of young people that are voting is the highest it has ever been. This fits with the Hebdige theory of youth where they are very limited to being either trouble or fun, this representation is clearly trouble as the youth are voting a cartoon character to become the Prime Minister of the UK.

-It also fits well with the Cohen theory of Moral Panic, this is because the youth are ‘trying to express themselves in a way that adults have not seen before’ by rebelling against the establishment by voting for Waldo. The Waldo moment also contrasts the Acland theory of the state trying to ‘control’ the youth, this episode shows the youth rebelling against this theory.

Nosedive

-This future is controlled by an app that lets people give others a rating out of 5 stars, and provides a very detailed view of youth culture. 

-This episode aligns itself with Acland’s theory of control. This is because of the app being a form of control by the state as this episode essentially replaces social classes with ratings i.e. only people with a certain rating can have certain jobs or houses. Acland’s theory of control blends well with this episode because the rating system stops people from disobeying the state as people with ratings below a 2 are essentially outcast from society.

-This episode also lends itself to the Gramsci theory where he describes the impact social classes have on the representation of youth as the ‘lower’ social classes (low ratings) are shown in a much more negative manner and are unable to to have the same lifestyle as middle/upper class people (mid and high ratings).

Playtest

Playtest is set around a young adult who leaves his home and family after his father dies (from complications due to Alzheimer's disease) in order to go traveling .

-This is the main example of youth culture, and it is a more negative representation of youth as it therefore relates to the Hebdige theory of youth culture as this youth is represented as trouble rather than fun as he abandons his family rather than helping them deal with their loss; however, this also links with Giroux’s theory of youth culture as he describes them as an ‘empty category’ that adults do not understand, this implies that he left his family in order to deal with his loss in his own way.