Black Mirror season 6 will take humorous potshots at Netflix and its streaming rivals
Netflix is in full meta mode
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Black Mirrorseason 6’s episode titles have been revealed – and, in the most meta way possible, one of them will directly poke fun at Netflix and its streaming rivals.
As reported byEntertainment Weekly(EW), and later shown in aYouTubeShort video, which you can view below,Black Mirror’s long-awaited new season will consist of five standalone episodes.
Understandably, fans have been left disappointed by the overall length of the forthcoming season. After all, many have been eagerly anticipating the next installment of one of thebest Netflix showsever made for years now. ButBlack Mirrorseason 6 hopes to make it up to you by perfectly skewering the very platform it’ll exclusively launch on.
How so? Season 6’s first episode, titledJoan is Awfulis a full-on satirization ofNetflixand the wider streaming industry.
Okay, so what’s it about? Per EW,Joan is Awful tells the tale of “an average woman who is stunned to discover a global streaming platform has launched a prestige TV drama adaptation of her life, in which she is portrayed by Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek.”
Joan is Awful, then, sounds like a Netflix reality TV show crossed withThe Truman Show, the 1998 satirical reality TV-based movie starring Jim Carrey. Thematically, it seems like it’ll train a lens on the idea of celebrityism, and individuals who seek (or don’t seek, in this case) their 15 minutes of fame.
More than that, though, the forthcoming release ofJoan is Awfulis particularly well timed amid the writers strike that’s currently dominating the entertainment news cycle.
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The industrial action, which has shut down multiple US and UK productions in the last two weeks, is taking place because Writers Guild of America (WGA) employees aren’t happy with how much they’re paid by the world’sbest streaming services, or with the prospect of artificial intelligence (AI) as a potentially cheaper labor source that could be used by Netflix and company to replace them in the writers' room. You can read more details on the situation in ourStranger Things,Daredevil, and every other show and film affected by the writers strikepiece.
What’s this got to do withBlack Mirrorseason 6 and, in particular,Joan is Awful? Well,Black Mirroris a sci-fi anthology series whose overarching message is centered on the perils of technological advances, such as AI, and its impact on society. As forJoan is Awful, its positioning as a reality TV-based episode is perfectly timed. That’s because Netflix and its streaming competitors could produce more reality TV shows – unscripted projects that don’t need writers – to fill the content void if the writers' strike runs for many more months.
In short:Joan is Awfulwon’t just be a satirical take on the content that streaming giants create. It could also be a perfect thematic summation of the industry, and the direction it’s going in, as a whole. If that isn’t dystopian, I don’t know what is.
Taking a deeper dive into the world around us
As I mentioned earlier,Joan is Awfulisn’t the onlyBlack Mirrorseason 6 episode that was revealed yesterday (May 11). The titles, plot synopses, and cast of the forthcoming season’s four other entries were also unveiled by EW and Netflix. Read on to find out more about each one:
For moreBlack Mirrorand Netflix-based coverage,read our trailer breakdown ofBlack Mirrorseason 6’s first teaser. Additionally, read up onhow to sign up to Netflix, or check thebest Netflix moviesaround.
As TechRadar’s senior entertainment reporter, Tom covers all of the latest movies, TV shows, and streaming service news that you need to know about. You’ll regularly find him writing about the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, Netflix, Prime Video, Disney Plus, and many other topics of interest.
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