Hill 1

Jhaleel Hill
Professor Srmabekian
English 114 B
8 February 2015
Compare and Contrast of Black Mirror and Readings
The Black Mirror episodes Fifteen Million Merits and White
Bear all intersect and overlap with the ideas of The Communist
Manifesto and the theory of Panopticism. This is because they all
describe a society that is controlled and constructed by a higher power
whether it is by technology or a hierarchy that keeps everyone in
check. All of them relate because they pertain to the theme of being
oppressed and imprisoned by a society, higher power, and technology.
Moreover, the ideas from the episode seem to be totally based on the
same ideas of The Communist Manifesto and Panopticism.
One example of an episode that relates to both of the writings is
White Bear, as it describes a society that forces the criminal to suffer
for a crime and relive that punishment everyday. This episode
describes the social class of a criminal and how they have no choices
or freedom from their punishment. It relates to Marxs view of how
there is a class that receives no freedom and is doomed to be
enslaved. The slavery in this episode is being tortured and punished
everyday as a criminal. Besides this episode describing the ideas of
Marx it also describes a society that is ran by technology, eyes that are

Hill 2
always watching. Which is a prime example of Panopticism, the idea of
being watched and having no freedom or privacy. This feeling of being
imprisoned and oppressed by society is all intertwined in this episode.
An example of imprisonment and oppression is where the audience
avoids the lady in White Bear so that she gets no contact and is
being watched by their cellphone cameras. This shows great similarity
to part of the text in Panopticism, Each individual, in his place, is
securely confined to a cell from which he is seen from the front by the
supervisor; but the side walls prevent him from coming into contact
with his companions. Both of these ideas of imprisonment and
oppression are part of the episode White Bear, The Communist
Manifesto, and Panopticism.
In comparison, Fifteen Million Merits pretty much follows the
same theme of how society can oppress and imprison a person of low
social status. As the character Bing struggles to find freedom from the
higher classed judges, who control the societies freedom. Moreover,
Bing is an example of a person of the working class or proletariat that
Marx believes can overrun and break the class system. An example of
Panopticism in this episode is when Bing conforms to the judges and
goes back to a life in a prison like home, to record videos of himself
that are watched by the rest of society.
Rhetorical moves that all of them have in common is using
pathos and logos throughout the writings and episodes. The readings

Hill 3
use logos, a lot of logic to make the reader believe in the theories of
communism and panopticism. An example of logos in The Communist
Manifesto is how Marx describes the class system and each role they
have in a society. Pathos can be seen in both episodes of Black Mirror
as the characters struggle and battle with their enemies and emotions.
In more detail, this can be seen in Fifteen Million Merits when Bing is
so distraught at the judges he puts a sharp glass pressed against his
throat and speaks his mind out. This allows the viewers of this episode
to feel for Bing and want to fight the battle with him.
Overall, all of these episodes and readings overlap in the idea
that a society can oppress and imprison a person. Moreover, how a
society controls a person through technology or by a class system. This
being said, all of these Black Mirror episodes have a resemblance and
similarity to the ideas of Marxs lens and Panopticism. And they all use
persuasive rhetoric to get the viewer to take the side of the helpless
hero, working class, and criminal. In the end they all make us consider
what is morally right or wrong in a society controlled by an
untouchable hierarchy or technology.