If the TV show ‘Black Mirror’ was based in Pakistan
The British television show deals with the realities of our modern world and we can relate it to Pakistani society
PHOTO:FILE
KARACHI:
Whenever writers, film-makers or artists have explored the idea of a dystopian society, they always talk about it with reference to the future. We always think the worst is yet to come. In a paradoxical antithesis of the idea of hope, we most importantly want to feel safe in the here and now. “It’s alright so far,” we say. But what if it’s not? What if we are merely pretending that it is? What if the future is now and we don’t have to be afraid of the unpleasantness of the future dystopian world because we already live in it and as shocking as it may be, we are comfortable in it.
The increasing anger and frustration of this segmented world, the boiling paranoia of everything we don’t understand, and the technological invasion of our lives has turned us into the very creatures we read about in dystopian literature and feel afraid. “We are not them,” we say. But what if we are?
Gender equality: Educating women a must for enlightened society: Shehbaz
British television show Black Mirror deals with all the realities of our modern world and how we have become what we said we never would: paranoid humanoids who would steal someone’s oxygen to keep themselves alive. We have become the kind who inhales fear and exhales disgust. We live in a world where mob mentality overrules any laws and regulations. In literary dystopias, it is most often the government who is the controlling evil. But in today’s dystopia, it is the people. Mob mentality prevails and sanity is buried somewhere thousands of miles under the mine-filled land of distrust, hatred, and blind rage.
An interesting fact about Black Mirror is that it, in its own twisted way, predicted Trump’s presidency and even told a story of a fictional British prime minister having a 'very' close relationship with a pig. Coincidentally, knowledge of an uncorroborated anecdote between actual former British PM David Cameron and a pig was later made public. While the television show has made interesting social commentary on today’s perverted world, we wonder how it would look if it was made in Pakistan. If anything, recent happenings in the country have offered more than a glimpse of the bitter society we live in, and it would be interesting to see how the show’s creator Charlie Brooker would tackle them.
We discuss six recent happenings in Pakistan that would make for brilliant Black Mirror episodes.
We are Mashal Khan: Civil society comes out in support of slain university student
1) Qandeel Baloch’s life
Call her an attention-seeking wannabe model or a symbol for unapologetic independent women, Qandeel Baloch’s life surely fits the bill for a Black Mirror episode. It’s unsurprising, yet interesting to see how social media can change and even end lives. It was social media which hyped, mocked, and made Baloch a celebrity for no reason. It was social media that inadvertently caused her demise. We don’t even need to add fictional elements to make it a Black Mirror episode. A simple biopic with emphasis on the role of the internet and how its influence destroys lives is enough to make us reflect, at least temporarily, on our careless behaviour when we are anonymous. “We didn’t do it. They did,” we say.
2) Mashal Khan incident
The fact that Mashal Khan was brutally murdered not by the 'lesser educated' (generally believed to be more extremist-adjacent) but rather his own fellow university students and faculty, is evidence enough that education and technology don’t change man’s inherently violent nature. If anything, it merely enhances it and gives it different ways to implement it. We have moved on from swords and spears to guns and missiles. Yet, Khan’s story reminds us of our animal nature where a quick death isn’t enough to satisfy us.
It’s a classic case of mob mentality overpowering the general rules of a civilised society.
Imagine a world where it was legal for people to murder and maim anyone they perceive as guilty of a crime. What would become of the society where purging of sanity was encouraged?
Mardan university student accused of blasphemy beaten to death on campus
3) Yasir Hussain’s child molestation joke
Yasir Hussain caught heat when he made his life’s biggest mistake by joking about child molestation at a recent award’s show. Sitting comfortable in his home, he apologised and was largely forgiven. A couple of weeks later, the incident is largely forgotten as we dwell on our latest obsession. With our short attention spans, that’s what we do. We raise our voice on one issue, forget about it the next day and move on. But what if those twitter warriors were actually willing to go farther than typing 140 characters?
PHOTO: FILE
Imagine a world where governments don’t exist and all conflicts are solved by public trials where angry people decide what to do. Hussain would not go forgiven from the trial, even after hundreds of apologies. It’s cruel to imagine what would come of him, but it won’t be a surprise, given this is the direction we’re headed toward as a society.
4) Waqar Zaka’s beatdown
This may seem eerily similar to Black Mirror’s ’15 Million Merits’ episode from the first season. Television ratings and online views are all the rage. Brands, corporate companies and channels are willing to spend money on anything that goes viral. In the aforementioned episode, Bing’s rant about being sick of the slave-like society powered by ratings and constant distraction through entertainment shockingly earns him a television show of his own. Zaka’s incident may or may not have earned him sympathy or a new television show (along with his attacker), but it did earn him thousands of views, which translate as free publicity. It served as a good distraction for people and now it’s largely forgotten about. What if the entire episode with Zaka, his beatdown, and the eventual resolution of the conflict with his attacker landed him a series? It would not be far-fetched to think it could happen. In this day and age, free publicity (positive or negative) is like winning a jackpot. You’re sure to become popular for 15 minutes, or could end up drowning in your 15 million rupees.
5) Naureen Laghari
A medical student, Naureen Laghari made headlines last month when she was captured for being involved with ISIS. An educated girl from the province which is a symbol of peace and love and Sufi scholars had joined ISIS and was set to suicide attack a church on Easter. She allegedly met a man through Facebook who lured her into joining the group. She disappeared, travelled to Syria, married another terrorist and returned to Pakistan to carry out her mission. The potential Black Mirror episode could revolve around her family and friends trying to find her, and the mystery of what urged Laghari to go in that direction.
6) Ramazan ban on eating/drinking in public
Religion is a personal matter. The entire point of fasting is to not be affected by the tempting surroundings. If we are to remove the temptations in our surroundings, then what’s the point of fasting anyway?
It does not test a Muslim’s faith and actually shows how weak it is. We don’t even need to imagine a world where eating and drinking is banned during Ramazan because it’s happening right here. What you can imagine is the suffering of all those who can’t fast – elderly, sick, pregnant women, children, and how this ban will affect them. With the scorching heat waves this region is known for, it is bound to end with people dying due to dehydration and other factors. The ridiculousness and unsurprising level of public support for the ban screams Black Mirror at this point. I wonder how it would go down if a hungry child or elderly person falls victim to a mob.
Couple gets death over 'blasphemous' text message
This is sadly the dark truth of our fearful society. We go to curb anything and everything to protect our convictions. As we go about our lives mocking a stranger online or fighting our friend for questioning authority or common beliefs, we need to understand that the black mirror of our cellphones and laptops is actually showing a truer reflection of us than the dressing table mirrors.
Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.
Whenever writers, film-makers or artists have explored the idea of a dystopian society, they always talk about it with reference to the future. We always think the worst is yet to come. In a paradoxical antithesis of the idea of hope, we most importantly want to feel safe in the here and now. “It’s alright so far,” we say. But what if it’s not? What if we are merely pretending that it is? What if the future is now and we don’t have to be afraid of the unpleasantness of the future dystopian world because we already live in it and as shocking as it may be, we are comfortable in it.
The increasing anger and frustration of this segmented world, the boiling paranoia of everything we don’t understand, and the technological invasion of our lives has turned us into the very creatures we read about in dystopian literature and feel afraid. “We are not them,” we say. But what if we are?
Gender equality: Educating women a must for enlightened society: Shehbaz
British television show Black Mirror deals with all the realities of our modern world and how we have become what we said we never would: paranoid humanoids who would steal someone’s oxygen to keep themselves alive. We have become the kind who inhales fear and exhales disgust. We live in a world where mob mentality overrules any laws and regulations. In literary dystopias, it is most often the government who is the controlling evil. But in today’s dystopia, it is the people. Mob mentality prevails and sanity is buried somewhere thousands of miles under the mine-filled land of distrust, hatred, and blind rage.
An interesting fact about Black Mirror is that it, in its own twisted way, predicted Trump’s presidency and even told a story of a fictional British prime minister having a 'very' close relationship with a pig. Coincidentally, knowledge of an uncorroborated anecdote between actual former British PM David Cameron and a pig was later made public. While the television show has made interesting social commentary on today’s perverted world, we wonder how it would look if it was made in Pakistan. If anything, recent happenings in the country have offered more than a glimpse of the bitter society we live in, and it would be interesting to see how the show’s creator Charlie Brooker would tackle them.
We discuss six recent happenings in Pakistan that would make for brilliant Black Mirror episodes.
We are Mashal Khan: Civil society comes out in support of slain university student
1) Qandeel Baloch’s life
Call her an attention-seeking wannabe model or a symbol for unapologetic independent women, Qandeel Baloch’s life surely fits the bill for a Black Mirror episode. It’s unsurprising, yet interesting to see how social media can change and even end lives. It was social media which hyped, mocked, and made Baloch a celebrity for no reason. It was social media that inadvertently caused her demise. We don’t even need to add fictional elements to make it a Black Mirror episode. A simple biopic with emphasis on the role of the internet and how its influence destroys lives is enough to make us reflect, at least temporarily, on our careless behaviour when we are anonymous. “We didn’t do it. They did,” we say.
2) Mashal Khan incident
The fact that Mashal Khan was brutally murdered not by the 'lesser educated' (generally believed to be more extremist-adjacent) but rather his own fellow university students and faculty, is evidence enough that education and technology don’t change man’s inherently violent nature. If anything, it merely enhances it and gives it different ways to implement it. We have moved on from swords and spears to guns and missiles. Yet, Khan’s story reminds us of our animal nature where a quick death isn’t enough to satisfy us.
It’s a classic case of mob mentality overpowering the general rules of a civilised society.
Imagine a world where it was legal for people to murder and maim anyone they perceive as guilty of a crime. What would become of the society where purging of sanity was encouraged?
Mardan university student accused of blasphemy beaten to death on campus
3) Yasir Hussain’s child molestation joke
Yasir Hussain caught heat when he made his life’s biggest mistake by joking about child molestation at a recent award’s show. Sitting comfortable in his home, he apologised and was largely forgiven. A couple of weeks later, the incident is largely forgotten as we dwell on our latest obsession. With our short attention spans, that’s what we do. We raise our voice on one issue, forget about it the next day and move on. But what if those twitter warriors were actually willing to go farther than typing 140 characters?
PHOTO: FILE
Imagine a world where governments don’t exist and all conflicts are solved by public trials where angry people decide what to do. Hussain would not go forgiven from the trial, even after hundreds of apologies. It’s cruel to imagine what would come of him, but it won’t be a surprise, given this is the direction we’re headed toward as a society.
4) Waqar Zaka’s beatdown
This may seem eerily similar to Black Mirror’s ’15 Million Merits’ episode from the first season. Television ratings and online views are all the rage. Brands, corporate companies and channels are willing to spend money on anything that goes viral. In the aforementioned episode, Bing’s rant about being sick of the slave-like society powered by ratings and constant distraction through entertainment shockingly earns him a television show of his own. Zaka’s incident may or may not have earned him sympathy or a new television show (along with his attacker), but it did earn him thousands of views, which translate as free publicity. It served as a good distraction for people and now it’s largely forgotten about. What if the entire episode with Zaka, his beatdown, and the eventual resolution of the conflict with his attacker landed him a series? It would not be far-fetched to think it could happen. In this day and age, free publicity (positive or negative) is like winning a jackpot. You’re sure to become popular for 15 minutes, or could end up drowning in your 15 million rupees.
5) Naureen Laghari
A medical student, Naureen Laghari made headlines last month when she was captured for being involved with ISIS. An educated girl from the province which is a symbol of peace and love and Sufi scholars had joined ISIS and was set to suicide attack a church on Easter. She allegedly met a man through Facebook who lured her into joining the group. She disappeared, travelled to Syria, married another terrorist and returned to Pakistan to carry out her mission. The potential Black Mirror episode could revolve around her family and friends trying to find her, and the mystery of what urged Laghari to go in that direction.
6) Ramazan ban on eating/drinking in public
Religion is a personal matter. The entire point of fasting is to not be affected by the tempting surroundings. If we are to remove the temptations in our surroundings, then what’s the point of fasting anyway?
It does not test a Muslim’s faith and actually shows how weak it is. We don’t even need to imagine a world where eating and drinking is banned during Ramazan because it’s happening right here. What you can imagine is the suffering of all those who can’t fast – elderly, sick, pregnant women, children, and how this ban will affect them. With the scorching heat waves this region is known for, it is bound to end with people dying due to dehydration and other factors. The ridiculousness and unsurprising level of public support for the ban screams Black Mirror at this point. I wonder how it would go down if a hungry child or elderly person falls victim to a mob.
Couple gets death over 'blasphemous' text message
This is sadly the dark truth of our fearful society. We go to curb anything and everything to protect our convictions. As we go about our lives mocking a stranger online or fighting our friend for questioning authority or common beliefs, we need to understand that the black mirror of our cellphones and laptops is actually showing a truer reflection of us than the dressing table mirrors.
Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.