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Did Black Mirror "sell out" with Season 5?

  • "Here’s the thing: 'sellout culture' when it comes to television is a strange phenomenon to think about, especially when you take into consideration 'save our show' culture as a concept as well," says LaToya Ferguson. "You want a show to have as big of a budget and distribution deal as possible so that as many eyes watch it as possible. Then it’s more likely that people will be talking about it, and there’s a better chance the show you love is able to continue on even longer. How many times when a show is canceled do fans look to Netflix or Hulu for help? Netflix’s fourth season of the formerly Fox-canceled Lucifer just recently dropped, and it’s been called the best of the series as Netflix’s budget and belief in creative freedom worked in its favor. So on a pragmatic level, I understand a mainstream show can’t 'sell out,' both because the point of television is not just storytelling—it’s profit—and because selling out is the way it survives. As much as Black Mirror felt 'underground' prior to Netflix, that was only because Americans couldn’t watch it (and weren’t 'legally' watching) when it still aired on Channel 4 in the UK. But that doesn’t change the fact that Black Mirror has changed, and the reasons behind it feel very much in tune with the concept of selling out. The decision of bigger is better, from the gimmicks (Bandersnatch) to the elongated episode lengths to the celebrity names to the very technological components of the episodes, they all fall in line with the idea of selling out. An anthology show like Black Mirror exists to say something, and this season truly does say, 'What if phones, but bad… and also we have an Avenger in the building.'"

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    TOPICS: Black Mirror, Netflix, Charlie Brooker, Miley Cyrus