Just watched the first episode of the highly anticipated Season 6 of Black Mirror, titled “Joan is Awful.” Here are some of my initial thoughts:
The story is truly captivating, following the classic Black Mirror formula at the expense of reality. It’s hard to believe that any contract allowing such impersonation would still be valid. However, drawing the line between what’s acceptable and what’s not is not an easy task.
Interestingly, there is a real-life case similar to the one portrayed in the show. It involved a sex scandal fabricated by an “award-winning” screenplay writer, aimed at boosting box-office numbers. The victim of this defamation was Cui Yongyuan , a highly acclaimed state-running TV host in China. Unlike the protagonist in the show, Cui didn’t end up wearing a house-arrest sensor on his ankle because such “Quanputer” technology didn’t exist at that time. Instead, he single-handedly brought down those media