Victoria's Vicious Situation

                In the episode of Black Mirror, “White Bear,” I was introduced to Veronica and a unique situation. This started as a very confusing episode with a confused Veronica not knowing anything about herself at all. She goes through the whole day dealing with onlookers and attackers with this lady who presented herself as ally. It all culminates with Veronica finding out that she is being punished for kidnapping a little girl with her significant other and watching and recording while he tortured the kid to death. Her memory would then be wiped and the entire scene would be reset and she would go through this hellacious cycle again and again.

                This raises the question if Victoria’s sentence is even just anymore. After much assessment and discussing in class, I decided that whatever is the equivalent of the judicial system in “White Bear’s” fictional world is focused on punishment rather than rehabilitation. This is evident at the end of the episode when Victoria’s seen expressing genuine remorse to the point that she even prefers death than to live through things again. However, this is neglected and everything is reset all again. I think this is where the punishment becomes unjust. Victoria clearly sees the error of her ways, and if she were released from captivity, she’d have a PTSD panic attack if she even tried to snatch another child because she was put through a traumatic experience.

                Furthermore, the fact that Victoria’s suffering was monetized makes matters murky. Punishment should be for the sake of the punished’s retribution and rehabilitation, not the punisher’s gain and advantage. This makes motives questionable. Are they really trying to get Veronica to see the error of her ways, or are they capitalizing on a way to turn people’s hate for child murderers into a payday? This is exactly why Kant believed morality was focused in the motive of the action instead of the action itself. It could be possible that the masterminds behind Victoria’s punishment care nothing about the fact that she spectate a child’s anguish and homicide.

                Lastly, the most questionable about all of this is if they’re punishing the right “Veronica.” With her memory cleared about everything, is she still the Veronica that was with her significant other when the terrible incident occurred? I think not. I think the “wiped Veronica” is a version of Veronica had she never met Ian and fallen under his spell to hurt kids. She has the same name, body, and appearance, but her conscious is different. If they wiped her and she went and snatched a kid again even without Ian then that would be proof that she is just a horrible person regardless. However, “wiped Veronica” showed a moral standing in “White Bear” that suggests she wouldn’t do such a thing.