*This article contains spoilers for Black Mirror: ‘Common People’* Trigger warnings: mentions of terminal illness, degrading acts, suicide Black Mirror has done it again – continuing to showcase the dystopian nature of our present. Many issues are explored throughout Season 7, but what particularly stood out for me was the opening episode – ‘Common People’. The episode highlights the capitalistic nature of corporations – the greed of them all – shown through ever-changing subscription fees, unaffordable healthcare, and developing technology.
But ‘Common People’ also showcases the bizarre, yet disturbing, world of online streaming. The episode highlights the capitalistic nature of corporations – the greed of them all When scrolling through your TikTok For You Page, you’re likely to see a livestream of someone begging for gifts. Roses.
Donuts. Galaxies. These are just a few of the many virtual gifts they have to offer.
Sometimes, people even turn to degrading acts to earn bigger gifts – humiliating themselves on camera. Maybe you laugh. Maybe you feel pity.
You might even send a few gifts yourself. Thinking – How can anyone be that desperate? That shameless?
But sometimes, life takes a turn for the worse, and you have to resort to anything just to survive… At the start of ‘Common People’, we meet Mike (Chris O’Dowd) and Amanda (Rashida Jones), a couple living a pretty ordinary and mundane life – until Amanda collapses at work. It’s discovered she has a brain tumour and may never regain consciousness. There’s not much that can be done, until Mike is introduced to an experimental procedure by a rep from Rivermind.
To put it simply, after that procedure, they practically have control of her brain – and of her life. Rivermind saves Amanda’s life, but the cost is high. It wasn’t as simple or cheap as they told Mike it would be.
He now has to pay a subscription to keep her brain functioning. But, like all subscriptions, the terms are always changing – price hikes, new tiers, even adverts implemented. Taking on more shifts at work doesn’t cover the costs.
That’s when Mike resorts to new measures. DumDummies – a livestreaming website. A place where people turn to degrading acts in order to earn money – from drinking urine to pulling out their own teeth.
It’s a twisted reflection of platforms like Twitch and TikTok. And just as Amanda’s life is controlled by Rivermind, Mike’s life quickly becomes controlled by DumDummies. Mike does just about anything to earn money on the website.
Earlier in the episode, we see Mike looking at the same website in disgust, watching his work colleague Shane (Nicholas Cirillo) laugh at the livestreams. Despite watching them himself, Shane later mocks Mike when he sees him on the platform. This all comes full circle when Shane is in an accident – after a brutal confrontation with Mike – and his legs are crushed under a vehicle.
So, what happened to Shane? Nobody knows. Maybe he made a full recovery – or maybe he couldn’t afford the medical bills.
Maybe Shane had to resort to DumDummies himself. It just shows how quickly your life can change – when the watcher becomes the watched. behind every bizarre livestream is a real human being, with very real circumstances driving their actions.
‘Common People’ critiques the direction streaming culture has taken. It’s no longer about tipping your favourite creators as they play your favourite games. Instead, the only entertainment many streamers now offer in return for cash gifts is their own self-degradation.
However, this episode doesn’t villainise the streamers themselves. It shows that behind every bizarre livestream is a real human being, with very real circumstances driving their actions. Meanwhile, the systems continue to profit off their suffering.
The ending of this Black Mirror episode, like most, is not a happy one. Mike takes his own life on livestream. Sadly, this isn’t just fiction.
We’ve seen public figures openly discussing what streaming has done to their mental health – some even resorting to suicide. While online creators suffer, corporations continue to profit off their pain – off our pain. Black Mirror continues to remind us that the line between fiction and reality is getting thinner everyday.
As we continue to scroll our For You Page, we might not notice when we have crossed it. More from Redbrick TV: Review: Last One Laughing UK Formula 1: Drive to Survive Season 7 – Review Hidden Gems: The Traitors Australia
