Black Mirror has come to life, yet the dystopic series creeping into reality is less horrific than one would imagine, albeit still pretty weird.
The Emmy-winning anthology series returned for its sixth season on June 15th and promised to be “the most unpredictable season yet.” The series creator Charlie Brooker even indulged in tropes he previously swore he would stay away from “to stretch the parameters of what a Black Mirror episode even is.”
The first episode of Black Mirror breaks the fourth wall in a unique way. The episode titled “Joan is Awful”, features a woman browsing through a popular streaming app (sound familiar?) Streamberry only to find a drama series based on her real-life starring Salma Hayek Pinault… as it’s happening.
As a clever retort, Netflix recently launched Streamberry.tv which allows users to sign up to make them awful. “Whether your name is Joan or not, you are the star of the show. Take or upload a photo of yourself and you could be the next star of Streamberry!” says the faux streaming platform. Clicking any of the other selections under the familiar “Top Picks” or “New To Streamberry” will direct you back to Netflix.
Clicking the “Make Me Awful” icon will bring you to You Are Awful, which invites you to join the Streamberry Family. Simply enter your name, email, provide a photo, and Streamberry will create a poster of you announcing the next star (victim?) of the Awful series.
There are terms and conditions, which long-time fans of Black Mirror know hold the real horrors, so be sure to read them carefully. Accepting these terms includes granting permission for Netflix to use uploaded images for marketing purposes, similar to what happened to Joan when she signed up for Streamberry.
The full five episodes of Black Mirror are available to stream on Streambe-… ahem, Netflix now.