MOVIE REVIEW

BLACK MIRROR: FIFTEEN MILLION MERITS

SUBJECT: ECONOMICS -I

SUBMITTED TO:

PROF AMIR ULLAH KHAN

SUBMITTED BY:

RIDDHI BANG

2019-5LLB-39

NALSAR UNIVERSITY OF LAW, HYDERABAD

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 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................... 3

BACKGROUND ...................................................................................................................... 4

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 5

POWER GENERATION THROUGH MANUAL LABOUR .............................................. 5

ARTICLES OF SNOB APPEAL .......................................................................................... 5

INCOME AND DEMAND.................................................................................................... 5

CAPITALISM........................................................................................................................ 6

OPPORTUNITY COST..................................................................................................... 6

DEMAND AND SUPPLY ................................................................................................ 7

CLASS-BASED DIVISION OF WORK........................................................................... 7

RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY ...................................................................................... 7

CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................ 8

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 INTRODUCTION
This project seeks to analyse the economic concepts in the second episode “Fifteen Million
Merits” of the series “The Black Mirror.” The author shall scrutinize instances from the
aforementioned episode by highlighting the economic concepts involved and examine the
behavioural patterns of the characters in relation to the economic choices they make. The
project shall engage in economic concepts like capitalism, value, demand, income and supply
and opportunity cost. The project will highlight how the decision-making process adopted by
the protagonist has an economic rationale behind it. This episode was chosen as it highlights
various fundamental concepts of economics. It is a reflection of where the modern society is
and where it is heading. It also represents the state of the present economy of the world.

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 BACKGROUND
The movie is based on a dystopian society existing in the future. The society lives in an
enclosed space with nearly every surface of the walled space being an interactive video screen.
The people ride on stationary mechanical bikes to generate power, in exchange of which they
are given ‘merits’ which basically co-relates to currency. Using this currency, they can buy
necessities like food, clothing for their virtual avatar, entertainment etc. The protagonist, Bing
Madsen, inherits 12 million merits from his brother who had died. The only escape from the
monotonous pedalling is through a show called ‘Hotshot’. If a candidate is successful in
impressing the panel of judges, he is released form the cubicle. However, a person has to give
up considerable amount of merits in order to enter the competition. Bing meets a girl names
Abi Khan and upon hearing her sing, he offers her his credits to elevate her talent by
participating in Hotshot. The judges name her performance as ‘good’ and not breath-taking.
She then caves into pressure from both judges and the audience, accepting to work for a
pornography show as she is, according to the judges, best suited for that. This leaves Bing
horrified and distressed. Determined to protest against this, Bing earns 15 million credits across
a period of a month by working overtime and spending as minimal as possible. Halfway
through his dance performance at Hotshot, he threatens to kill himself with a glass shard if not
given the opportunity to speak. He lashes out at the judges and the audience in general, ranting
about the horrendous system they live under and the utter artificiality of it. Impressed by the
magnitude of his expressions and oratory skills, one of the judges offers him a job on his regular
show and Bing accepts the job which indicates hypocrisy on part of Bing. The movie ends with
Bing in a luxurious room looking out the window at something that appears to be a forest.

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 ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
POWER GENERATION THROUGH MANUAL LABOUR
The first concept that the episode portrays is the generation of power through manual labour.
They ride on mechanical cycles to generate this power for which they earn currency in the form
of ‘merits’ that could be then used to buy food or other virtual items like games or tickets to a
reality TV show. The number of merits they get for a certain time of pedalling is pre-
determined. This closely resembles current models of productions where labour is
commodified and rewarded through a price determined by the producers. However, everyone
engages it anyway as it is the only means to realize ones’ needs (food from the vending
machine) and wants (Hotshot ticket).

ARTICLES OF SNOB APPEAL

Through course of the episode, Bing realises that the actual price of the ticket to Bigshot was
15 million merits and not 12 million merits like they thought initially but he buys the ticket
anyway. The law of demand states that ‘other factors remaining constant, the demand for the
product is inversely proportional to the price of that product.’ This scene thus depicts an
exception to the law of demand as the consumer bought the ticket even when the price rose.
This can be explained under ‘articles of snob appeal’, which is a general exception to the law
of demand. Consumers tend to buy certain products even when the prices increase as they
experience exclusivity as a result of having the product.

INCOME AND DEMAND

The relation between income and demand has been explicitly represented in the movie. Bing
goes out of merits when he spends all of them on the ticket. For a certain period of time, he
stops working with the same zeal thus bringing down his income. The consumption capacity
of Bing reduces as he chooses to allocate more of his limited income on other wants (the
Hotshot ticket), rather than basic necessities. He then tries to cut down his expenses due to
which his demand for commodities declines. For example, he initially used to pump in two
shots of toothpaste using the machine but now used only one shot. Another example is that he
chooses not to buy even basic food items, like apple or soda, that he previously used to and
instead decides to feed upon left-overs of others. This clearly shows the direct relation between
income and demand. As the income of the consumer falls, the demand declines consequently
bringing down the standard of living.

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CAPITALISM
The movie portrays several features of capitalism. Firstly, there is the system of capital
ownership- the merits that the people in the society make. This ‘property’ can be accumulated
by the individual and used according to his/her own will. In the concept of capitalism there also
exists a system of inheritance. Everyone has a right to acquire property and pass that own to
his/her heirs upon death. This is clearly shown in the movie where people can accumulate
‘merits’ and use them according to their will (be it on a TV show, on a game or on food). The
merits are transferable and hence Bing gets the rights to his brother’s merits when he passes
away. Secondly, in a capitalist economy, the desire to earn profits is the primary inducement
for performing any kind of economic activity. Profit motive forms the soul of the capitalist
economy. Each person in the episode puts in efforts to produce ‘energy’. They have solely been
driven by the desire to earn merits (profits) to work (ride mechanical bicycles). Also, the
protagonists take up jobs going against their sense of conscience with a motive to earn more
profits. A capitalist economy is also characterized by competition; something that is also
explicitly shown in the episode. The workers are in constant competition with each other to
remain on the cycles and not become janitors. They also compete to get into a show that could
increase their profits so as to earn and accumulate maximum merits that they then spend in
upgrading items that they can virtually buy and consequently improve the standard of their
living. Consumer’s sovereignty is given utmost importance in the system of capitalism.
Consumer’s taste directs the production line. Similarly, the performers of the show are judged
on the basis of the audience’s (consumers) likings. The more the consumers liking towards a
particular performer, the more they shall be willing to pay to watch the performance and hence
the more profits earned by the performer, the panellists and the staff organizing the show in
general (producers). The society here is divided based on class which is another aspect that is
inherent in a capitalist economy.

OPPORTUNITY COST
Bing chooses to spend his money on the ticket for Abi and not on himself. This can be co-
related to ‘opportunity cost’ which is the benefit or value derivable from a commodity foregone
for another. It is the benefit one misses out on when choosing one alternative over the other.
The relative gain that he gets here, by choosing to spend his merits on the ticket rather than on
himself, is impressing Abi.

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DEMAND AND SUPPLY
After Abi performs on the stage, the judges mention that there were already too many singers
on the show and they were hence looking for something new. The demand of singers previously
was but as the supply increased, the demand declined. This is a situation of disequilibrium high
where there is hype in the supply of singers but the demand is not that efficient.

CLASS-BASED DIVISION OF WORK

The movie also represents a class-based division in the type of work they engage in. The ‘upper
class’ are elites who do not have to pedal to earn a living. Examples of this are the judges of
the show ‘Hotshot’ and the people who succeed in impressing the judges. The middle-class are
the people riding the mechanical bicycles in order to gain merits so as to be able to buy
necessities and other required commodities. The lower-class comprises of people who take up
the job of janitors. Theses class divisions thus emerge on the basis of personal wealth, as one
may see in the contemporary society as well. Capital or money controls social status.

RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY

A choice that both the protagonists can be seen making is of choosing money over their own
morals and conscience. Abi takes up a job to act in pornographic movies (something that was
against her morals), purely for economic benefit as she wouldn’t have to keep doing the
repetitive work for little returns and reward. The same is the case with Bing where he chooses
a luxury lifestyle by abandoning his morals. He trades something pure and real for artificial
commodities. Taking it at an individual level, rational choice theory establishes that agents
choose options that they most prefer. However, talking in terms of the costs and benefits, a
rational individual chooses the alternative that provides him with economic benefits. Clearly,
Bing and Abi choose alternatives that provide them better economic benefits. Hence, rational
choice theory may lead to material rewards for the individual, but does not always result in a
net benefit to society.

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 CONCLUSION
‘The Black Mirror’ uses a future dystopian society to critique various economic concepts that
guide current society. It goes about depicting basic economic concepts of demand and supply,
relation between income and demand, value of products and commodities, opportunity cost
and rationality of consumers. It provides a criticism of the domination of working class in the
society. It also depicts the harsh reality of our current world where people are driven by the
desire to earn profits through whatever means. An individual adjusts his demands primarily
on the basis of his income and a market adjusts itself on the basis of demand and supply. The
movie depicts a clear idea of the current capitalism in the world. It subtly includes the major
features of capitalism in its various scenes. In conclusion, the movie portrays the key
economic concepts in a future economy and co-relates it to the economic conditions in the
contemporary world.

Private property

Right to private property

Price mechanisms

Profit motive

Competition and cooperation

Freedom of enterprise occupational and control

Consumer’s sovereignty

Class conflict

Rational choice theory is based on the assumption that individuals in a aeconomy make
rational choices based rational choice. They try to actively maximize their advantage in any
situation and trying to minimize their losses.