Black Miror - Fifteen Million Merits

Fifteen Million Merits is the second episode of the first season of Black Mirror.

After watching National Anthem I was pulled into the Black Mirror series. In my anticipation I cheated myself by reading a short description of the next episode. I thought the description sounded boring so I put off watching. When I finally did watch the episode I was pleasantly surprised by seeing Daniel Kaluuya waking up in a tiny room.

Daniel Kaluuya is the main character of the hit movie “Get Out”. I didn’t expect to see him in Black Mirror and I ended up learning that David was discovered by the director of “Get Out”, Jordan Peele, after watching his performance in this episode. And to think, I thought David Kaluuya was American this whole time.

So, as usual, here are my thoughts.

Fifteen Million Merits looks to me like a cheap low budget take on the not too distant future. It’s the only episode that I’ve seen thus far that gives that vibe. The screens and graphics aren’t cheap but the other episodes don’t have such a cliché dystopian, gray sweatsuit, “we’re all cogs in a machine” aura to it. The only thing more cliché would be if the characters had numbers for names.

I should mention that in this episode, the characters are indeed all cogs in a bleak system. Everyone lives in tiny rooms and gets paid in digital merits for riding bicycles that produce electricity for everyone. At least that’s what they’re told. They’re really mining bitcoin for me. Just kidding.

In this world the main character, Bing, has fifteen million merits which he supposedly inherited from a dead relative. He gives it to this cute woman named Abby so she could be a singing contestant on an American Idol type game show called “Hot Shot”. Why does he do this? He says it’s to give her an opportunity. But we all know it’s for the same reason a lot men give beautiful women insane loads of money. It’s a chance for him to be with the beautiful girl. Argue if you like but we learn that his merits equal about 5-6 months wages and we all know when a man gives a pretty lady friend that much there’s more to it.

So Abby goes on the show, sings a sweet lullaby. In a big surprise, the judges think that she would be better at porn. Abby reluctantly agrees and is whisked off to join WraithBabes -“the hottest girls in the nastiest situations”.

Poor Bing. C’est la vie

Bing is out Fifteen Million merits and in this world everyone is forced to watch advertisements otherwise they are charged. In his newfound state of being broke, he has to watch ads of Abby making her porn debut and eventually he snaps. He breaks the glass of his micro-apartment screen, picks up a long shard, and comes up with a plan to regain his fifteen million merits and breakdance his way onto Hot Shots.

Bing does it ! He pops and locks his way onto Hot Shots. While there he pulls out the shard of glass and threatens to kill himself while making an emotional speech about how effed up the world is. The judges love it and give him a 30 minute show each week doing “woke” suicidal rants. No more mining on the bike for Bing. He lives in the penthouse now and that’s how it ends.

Like all Black Mirror episodes the show says more about the present than the future. If you watch this episode closely there is another young lady eyeing Bing. He doesn’t find her attractive but she’s a good person. She spends her time playing violin apps and she selflessly helps him get fruit from the vending machine and tries to strike up meaningful conversation. She’s a genuinely caring person with substance and she likes him. But in that world, like ours, it’s not substance that attracts us it’s the veneer of it. It’s superficiality that rules the day.