We Choose the Hero: The National Anthem
The National Anthem keeps viewers on the edge of their seats from the start of the episode. The Black Mirror episode challenges its audience to see the truth but defers from that reality in order to accept this absurd concept — the PM must f**k a pig to save the princess from a terrorist. This satirical comedy strikes back with the ultimate message.
Reviewers have said many things about this episode — that it is based on the societal movement towards blackmailing, the corruption of the government, and overall, media influence. Some have even argued that the episode was based on the United Kingdom’s previous Prime Minister (PM) David Cameron, who supposedly used to partake in a hazing ritual with pigs.
Regardless of the moral of the story, can we all at least agree that the influence of technology, fabrication, and hypocrisy is extremely relevant in this episode. I mean, did anyone think to scan the decapitated finger for prints? Or, did officials consider a Snowden approach? There are many flaws in the overall investigative aspect in the episode. However, the most interesting part of the story was the reaction of the people when the PM tried to get away with not fornicating with a pig. As a society, we have grown to be very easily influenced by the news we see perpetrated by the media. Many times, the news is not neutral, it comes from a very distinct opinion. I believe that this episode tries to tap into that notion. Furthermore, the onlookers in this episode vote on another man’s decisions, when these are not their decisions to make. The onlookers pin the PM as villainous because he is unwilling to risk his mental state for the life of another. Realistically, though, would anyone be so willing in his situation? The onlookers are hypocrites because when faced with this reality many knew they would not be willing to have sexual relations with a pig.
For me, the episode was about standing by and watching terror take a man’s life. I think this is about the PM, not the princess who merely symbolized something valuable to the UK, something for the people. Social media platforms are also reflective of this episode because they pertain to the same delivery of news. We often see videos of shootings, natural disasters, the outcome of poverty, and more — yet, we usually just observe — we rarely interact to fix the problem. This episode really got to me, as I’m sure Charlie Brooker wanted it to because the truth is our world is fairly disconnected if the issues occurring are not relevant to our filter bubbles. Unless the problem is physically in front of us or about us we do not try to fix it. In fact, I should probably rephrase that because the truth is if it’s not about us — then it doesn’t affect us so why should we fix it? The story also triggers another concept that we are all too familiar with but rarely acknowledge, and it’s the notion of the god complex. We set unrealistic expectations for people that even most of us can live up to.
Even if this episode was about David Cameron, I saw more between the pages of this script. The story triggered something personal within me, something that I often see in Toronto. The story reminded me of some of the people that I’ve interacted with who are narcissists, preaching one thing but, often missing the facts to the whole story. In today’s day and age we are so goddamn good at complaining about other people, but rarely able to fix our own problems. We place a lot of blame on others for the mistakes that they’ve made yet, forget that we have made mistakes too. And, ultimately, we do not stand by each other when we sh** hits the fan. We have too many expectations of others but, do not live up to our own. Perhaps this episode was simply trying to show us that the true terrorist is within us.
