BLACK MIRROR Episode 2 "Fifteen Million Merits"
My Impression
※I will omit the synopsis.
The fear of not just being forced
At first, Abi thought that the purpose was to use Bing's 15 million “merit”. Since using the “merit” should lead to the promotion of labor, I wonder if the system is set to send a collector if the “merit” are accumulated above a certain level. After all, there was no such thing and Abi was a good person.
Abi was not the person sent by the management system. On the contrary, there are no humans on the system side in this episode. The person on the system side is the person who is outside the system and actually operates the system. The judges of the hot shot seemed suspicious, but it is different because they are only the performers of the program prepared by the system. I think it will be easier to understand if you imagine the movie "The Matrix". The existence on the system side is the agent in the "matrix". I think you can write it as follows.
Existence on the system side
This episode: No
Matrix: Agent
Being managed by the system
This episode: All characters (Bing, Abi, hot shot judges ... etc)
Matrix: Humans living in the Matrix
Many dystopian works portray the existence of the system side, but their role is usually to eliminate and incapacitate people who have doubts or dislikes about the system and maintain it. In this episode, Bing is a person who has doubts about the system. Then, there isn‘t the existence of the system side in this episode, there is nothing to protect the system, and of course it is different if it is said that it is vulnerable to Bing's anger. He will eventually be firmly incapacitated and no longer a threat to the system.
Why does Bing question the system in the first place, because it simply doesn't "do". In other words, it's because he doesn't have a purpose to live. There is a “merit“ inherited from his brother, so if he ride a motorcycle normally, he will not have any trouble in his life, despise the entertainment provided by the system as "fake", and play shooting games with dead eyes. Conversely, as long as he's desperate for his life and enjoy the entertainment provided, he will not have any doubts about the system. It is portrayed as a human around Bing. A man who is rowing a motorcycle while watching a TV show, a man who is enthusiastic about making the appearance of an avatar, and a man who falls into the lower class called "lemon" due to lack of physical strength. In other words, by giving "do" without the existence of the system side, Bing is no longer a threat to the system.
Why does Bing invite Abi to a hot shot? He says, "I want to see the moment when the real thing happens once," but if the surroundings are full of "fake" for him, the hot shot should be the same. In fact, hot shot is an ugly show to promote consumption, and he'll see later that he shouldn't have invited the his "real" Abi. What's more, he's going to take a hot shot this time to convey his anger about system. Because that's what a hot shot "does" for him.
Not all hot shot contestants have doubts about the system, and many are purely for success (or most of them). However, there are some things that both have in common. It's simply a desire to get out of the current situation. In other words, if the type of person who agrees with the current situation "does" is the consumption of entertainment (pornography, avatar creation, OS update, etc.), the type of person who wants to get out of the current situation “does” is a hot shot. Since everyone falls into either type, the system now gives all workers "do" and eliminates the potential threat to the system itself.
In summary, the system does not interfere with the worker and provides only two types of "do". After that, if the environment is changed regularly, workers will increase their consumption and start participating in hot shot. For exampe one man feels "real" to new women and use the 15 million “merit” that he hasn't used in particular.
This method is more efficient than constantly monitoring all workers and eliminating each offense. Bing first acted for "real" and then for mentioning anger at the system, but what he actually did was generate 15 million “merit” of electricity and 30 million “merit”. After spending a lot of money (hot shot participation ticket x 2), it finally became a new mascot to encourage the consumption of other workers. He was willing to serve the system, even if the system did not interfere. It wasn't because the devil stabbed him, but because he was that type of person.
The horror of the managed society in this episode was that even rebellion against the system was controlled as an option provided by the system. Workers are not forced to do anything, but they are content with the options given and unable to access society. Nothing is forced, but we are unknowingly controlled by just providing choices and fueling our desires.
Thanks for reading！