‘Black Mirror’ Study Guide: The Entire History of You

Themes: Surveillance and the new age panopticon, memory and control, and living in the past.

‘Black Mirror’ is a satirical anthology series that examines the dark aspects of modern society, particularly as it relates to our relationship with technology. Each standalone episode presents a picture of a world that’s futuristic, yet believable; cool, yet horrifying. Each of these study guides will touch on some of the themes the episode explores.

Surveillance and the New Age Panopticon

In “The Entire History of You”, life is constantly being recorded through a new technological implant called “Grain.” This technology records everything your eyes can see — even if you aren’t actively focusing on something — and allows for video playback (called “re-dos”) and zoom/enhancing, either on a TV or in your eye (using a lens of some sort).

This technology makes it so that everybody is constantly under surveillance, by each other. In this world, everybody is Big Brother and every set of eyes are telescreens, forcing us to keep ourselves…