Exploring Virtual Reality and Love in Black Mirror's 'San Junipero'

[Music] Sam Junipero is perhaps the most unique of the black mirror episodes in that it

doesn't quite leave you feeling as depressed about the future as previous ones have given the pessimistic nature

of the show it was fairly surprising to watch this calm and beautiful tale unfold

not to mention that three of the most terrific and haunting episodes the show has ever produced preceded this one this

episode deals with many topics including sexuality immortality and virtual reality during the writing process

Brooker had been interested in nostalgia therapy for the elderly and its effects on those suffering from memory loss

diseases such as Alzheimer's the strength of the tale lies not perhaps in the typical shocking or disturbing

nature of the show but more in a well-written story and a carefully selected soundtrack this isn't to say

that neither of these elements show up in previous episodes but these are the two elements that I will be focusing on

in this analysis I hope you enjoy the opening of the tale only reveals one thing to us we are in the 1980s 1987 to

be except which is the year that the majority of the songs in the soundtrack were released an example of nostalgia

therapy is playing music from previous time periods to allow elderly people to reminisce times of normalcy and

familiarity heaven is a place on earth performed by Belinda Carlisle is the first and last song of the episode and

is played at the beginning to set the stage for the notion of a period piece allowing us to believe that the story is

taking place in 1987 this is also reflected by the costumes hairstyles cars the radio announcement and other

aesthetic choices the nervous expression of your key reflects the discomfort the viewer may feel given that this is the

first episode not to be set in the present or future of course this isn't actually the past but nonetheless a

first-time viewer would assume that the episode is in fact set in the past your key follows Kelley into Tucker's bar

interestingly the name of the company that hosts the San Junipero program is an abbreviation of Tucker's and is

plastered all over the robots and in front of the building on initial viewing one would again assume the use of the

song c'est la vie is just there to set up the atmosphere of the 80s but is played here to encourage visitors not to

worry about their limited and boring lives in fact the translation of the song's title is somewhere close to

that's life as she proceeds to the arcade machines she is invited by Davis to play

called top speed in which she reacts with alarm at the car crashing this foreshadows the reveal of being involved

in a car accident after being disowned by her homophobic family I do wonder if the decision to name the protagonist

yorky has anything to do with the chocolate bar I'm assuming they didn't for product placement reasons but their

catchphrase was for a while not for girls which also connects to the homophobia she faced before her accident

[ __ ] caught in the act anyway they begin dancing which is where things start to get interesting aside

from the fact Yorkie hasn't moved like this in decades it's interesting how traumatized and

nervous she becomes when she begins dancing simultaneously being surrounded by beautiful women given her repressed

sexual desires as well this moment is quite impactful the song fake that's played here creates a deeper connotation

in that it also exposes Kelly's promiscuous nature presumably Yorkie is falling in love with her at this moment

but the music is warning her of how Kelly is likely to change her identity physically each shown through the use of

costume later and emotionally in that commitment is something she simply cannot do after spending decades with

her husband in fact Kelly's rejection of Wes is shown at first and she would later do the same to Yorkie those that

have already passed over probably are relieved to be rid of their commitments and anxieties whereas Yorkie never had

any for the majority of her life this scares her and she runs out into the rain

after your keys chat with Kelly in the rain she decides to give the whole thing another try but this time dressing to

impress our first outfit consists of her previous clothing with girlfriend in a coma playing underneath only to be

interrupted by the hard bitter truth that she wants to be Kelly's girlfriend in a coma she

switches the tape to don't you forget about me and she is seen dressed up in more playful feminine attire only to

realize that by dressing up in an ordinary way Kelly is more likely to forget about her

tape get switched again to heart and soul by to power and she's seen in a much sexier outfit perhaps a little over

prepared for the notion of losing her virginity she hears the lyrics about giving a bit of heart and soul and

realizes that's what's lacking from her outfit the semi-final outfit appears much more professional and mysterious to

make a handsome impression on Kelly however addicted to love begins to play and suggests she's trying too hard and

should just relax a little the final track of this section then plays wishing well by Terence Trent d'Arby the meaning

behind this one I think is a little bit harder to narrow down but I think it was placed here when considering that the

song stops on the line wish me love a wishing well to kiss and tell a wishing well of crocodile Cheers

when Kelly steps out of the car interestingly the use of crocodile Cheers here once again warns us of

Kelly's insincerity towards your key our two main characters then return to Tucker's and the song living in a box by

the band living in a box from their debut album called living in a box starts playing although it's pretty

mundane and repetitive the song reflects the fact that all these people are now living inside a box that is their

afterlife the naive young man who is now chatting up Kelly says that he never understood this song perhaps he's been

in there for so long he can't remember why he's in there in the first place the song then changes again to need you

tonight by I nxs inks us INXS anyway the song's lyrics parallel the notion of only having this night to

enjoy yourself and the company of the living before they all get banned from the server for a week it's quite neat

that the music begins to fade after the line the 21st century's yesterday given that any notion of time is completely

eradicated in Sam Junipero Kelly then brings your key back to her place and they start doing it it then cuts two

waves crashing and I think we all know what this symbolises after some gushing we are teased into the subtext of

that's late heavily throughout the story by this time most first-timers will be pretty confused about two young women

talking like they were far older than they look but of course a second time viewing will do the trick to

understanding this dialogue Kelley spent all her time being dedicated to one person and never acted unfaithfully ever

the idea that she can spend all her time being free of such restrictions must be difficult to grapple with given how

liberating the experience must be while simultaneously feeling guilty about her dead husband

yoky then looks for Kelly in the quagmire which is full on Pleasure Island as she makes her way through the

club it's intriguing that a woman with a snake is there referencing the fall to temptation Adam and Eve face in Genesis

during the segments something against you by the pixies is heard plain notably this song isn't from 1987 but the

quagmire doesn't appear to be one of those places that changes with the time period one would assume that element of

the simulation is exclusive to the town not in some Shack on the outskirts your key then finds Wes resentful of Kelly

and how he can no longer get his Dickey sticking with her the lyrics of the song are pretty self-explanatory but I think

the fact the final line is I am one happy prick serves to show how he just doesn't give a [ __ ] about how much of a

[ __ ] he must look because he has all the pleasure he could ever want in here instead still continuing her search the

first time change occurs to 1980 pac-man space invaders and the sound of funky town playing are dominant factors that

prove this but before were allowed to take another breath we're here in 1996 with the sound of Alanis Morissette's

ironic playing in the background I honestly don't think there's any deeper meaning behind placing this specific

song here not to mention it's only played for about ten seconds and then we jump to 2002 almost instantly afterwards

upon doing this can't get you out of my head by Kylie Minogue begins to play this songs use toys with the facts that

they are all literally inside each other's heads even as Kelly walks away from your key you hear the line won't

you stay to add emotional impact to this particular moment in the scene funnily enough as well your keys desire for

Kelly to stay forever and ever later in the episode are foreshadowed by the chorus of this song it would be

interesting to know that is if we assume that black mirror is set in a shared universe how does this add up with white

Christmas and the cookie after our protagonists pitch fight in the bathroom Kelly punches the mirror

and in a stunning edit right here no damage is sustained despite the image of the cracked mirror

going from visible to invisible this sharp reminder that her experience is purely simulated reminds her that she

has a very small amount of time left to live they wind up on the rooftop and they talk about the percentage of people

that no longer possess human bodies and yet continue to live their existence inside the simulation as Kelly argues

later this certainly is comparable to a graveyard but such notions are irrelevant given that any individual in

here can exist potentially forever it really is a fascinating episode due to its giving away so little of the rules

of the simulation because it's so hyper realistic it doesn't appear to need them having said that after more glorious

gushing Kelly finds another floor in the machinery the cigarettes tasting empty these doubts assist the lead up to her

outbreak after they get married in that your key can look past the problems of the new world and insist on the system

being perfect heaven in fact but we'll talk about that in a minute their conversation about meeting up in

real life is very heartfelt given that this is the part where they converse and also look the most elderly it is at this

point exactly two-thirds of the way into the episodes that we see reality for the first time and the pieces will start

falling into place the girlfriend in a coma is finally revealed and feels like one of these odd you looked different in

your profile picture hookups you can imagine playing outing catfish or something but here there's no shame in

fact it's quite beautiful really that Kelly still finds affection to give to Yorkie despite her condition the fact

that the episode focused purely on their relationship across time beforehand gets us to sympathize with these characters

but also confuses the audience as to who is truly the main character initially it would seem that Yorkie is the main

character as she is the shy and lonely one chasing love that she never had it's here in reality that Kelly is put under

the spotlight as she then chases Yorkie only to find the answers to the questions that were left unanswered

right in front of her I find it fascinating when the fiance talks about the government putting in place a time

limit for the living so they don't kill themselves just to get into the simulation I guess it's understandable

to put such restrictions in place but it would be interesting to know if such therapy would actually stop people from

killing themselves in the first place the point remains however that simulations as near-perfect as this one

could have a detrimental effect on human life as we know it if everyone's busy living inside

a simulation who's going to fill the job positions perhaps as technology advances we would

hand over all the jobs to computers so that it won't matter if we're all plugged into virtual reality don't think

this is just a minor points however AI driven cars are just around the corner it is a very real problem that will need

solving one way or another on the other hand would we as people be so quick as to hand over our autonomy to machines

just so we can pretend we're invincible who knows it's really great to speculate about the future of virtual reality

given it's still in a relatively infant stage and has the potential to be a complete game-changer the design of the

device that places our characters inside the simulation kind of reminds me of a medicine tablet that you'd pop into a

glass of water adding to the theme of therapy as if these little devices are making

sufferable lives a bit better following the marriage ceremony we see those gorgeous shots of gulls flying

above the sea Yorkie sits and takes a deep breath of air placing her glasses beside her this imagery indicates her

freedom from her physical restrictions she can now breathe without the aid of a machine and she no longer needs a pair

of glasses to comfort her from the trauma she experienced Kelly then takes her for a romantic wedding drive only

for things to take a turn the moment your key reflects the addictive nature of the machine essentially telling Kelly

to die your key insists on Sam juniper and being real but it is Kelly who has witnessed firsthand the flaws in the

mechanic sight and that it is not a completely authentic replication of reality despite having eternity to wait

for Kelly she can't stand the idea of waiting a week for her mortal wife Kelly also understands the levels of work

people placed into their lives and that eternity in a fake reality has no value system in place for people to find

reason to carry on to her suffering and sacrifice gives life meaning and without that she feels it would be

an insult to her family's memory by taking advantage of an afterlife that they never got the chance to have in a

burst of outrage she drives herself into a barrier that would ordinarily kill her but the miracle of life is preserved

within the machine it is in this moment where your key tries to pick her up that midnight strikes and Kelly realizes that

her end point in life really is creeping up on her every day the next life will be a far more exciting and different

ones that are miserable and finite exist she led as a mortal after Kelly makes the final decision of her existence

heaven is a place on earth begins to play again after consuming all the information of the episode the song is

given a whole new context in that heaven and a continued simulated existence does actually take place in a giant computer

lab on earth the lyrics in heaven love comes first reflects Kelly's notion that love is waiting for her in the afterlife

as if this is the main priority of the simulation even though we see Kelly passing on and her coffin being lowered

into her grave the upbeat and cheerful music makes her death something to be celebrated unlike the solemn organ music

we commonly associate with death notice how Kelly's name is in white and not in the faded gray of her dead relatives of

course one could say this is just because it's been newly added to the gravestone but to me the color

symbolizes her entrance to heaven unlike her relatives whose experience will remain a mystery for the rest of time

the lyrics in this world we're just beginning to understand the miracle of living resolves Kelly's doubts of

becoming eternal in that it really is a miracle that she gets a second chance [Music]

thanks for watching apologies for my sore throats ahem unfortunately these things can't be

helped once I'm finished with the script I just simply have to record it do you think this type of virtual reality could

exist in the 21st century comment below where we will continue this discussion

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