“The juxtaposition of the epic and mundane is the point. This is a broad-strokes diagnosis of a species in existential crisis. It’s meant as a warning about what’s happening in the present moment. And it is seemingly unconcerned about timelessness, because at the rate we’re going, we won’t be able to look back on anything, since we’ll be too busy scrounging for survival in the wasteland. That every anguished or panicked moment seems to vanish mere instants after registering on your brainpan is part of the design. It’s the miniseries as Snapchat message. The tl;dr version is that the world is stuffed, as the Brits would put it, if we don’t face facts and start cleaning up the mess we’ve made.” [Via]
This is not like Black Mirror. Though you may think the show will villainize technology and futurisms as they appear, they are redeemed throughout and at the end. For example, in the first episode, you get a young girl hiding behind snapchat-like filter holograms, declaring that she is “trans” yet meaning she is transhuman. Her experience turns out to be somewhat of a warning and encouragement in the series. No spoilers, but her transition has just as many horrific stepping stones as well as joyful ones. In the last episode, the matriarch of the family goes on a rant involving the self-checkouts at the grocery stores and you start to roll your eyes, but then the monologue actually recognizes itself and makes a point. And like the futuristic techy bits, the characters themselves all have their moral flaws at times, only to be given redemption — or what one might call “multidimensionalness.”
It’s an interesting show that is sticking with me, especially with it’s delivery of such an expansive timeline. The use of loudness when the family experiences societal pressures or sped-up time was quite effective at producing anxiety in me. The parallels on issues migrants are experiencing now with ICE in the U.S. brought me to tears.
Perhaps a little melodramatic or glossed-over storyline-wise, it was still a wonderful “warning and encouragement” for how badly we can keep fucking up as well as step the fuck up.
See also:
What we talk about when we talk about post-apocalyptic stories.
The Anti-Natalist and Anti-Colonial Messages in The Girl With All The Gifts (The Fanzine)
