Whitebear is a "justice park" where a criminal is forced to relive a horror story that relates to the crimial's crime every day of their life, after going through a painful, daily "memory resetting" procedure so they don't remember what happened nor their name. They do not specify in the episode, but this appears to be another alternative to capital punishment. The episode shows her only receiving a sip of water and a bite to eat, which is not enough to sustain her health. Also under a constant state of terror and stress on top of the daily horrifying shocks to clear her memory, it's only a matter of time before her body gives out.
If we go along with the assumption that this could be another form of capital punishment, what ethics and morals construct that world to allow a concoction of torture and entertainment? If we look back in history, notably the Romans, they used the Colosseum do the same thing: death as punishment while entertainment for others. Has our morals changed since over 1,500 years ago, or is there a secret place in every human being where this could intrigue us?
Although usually not as gory as the Roman times and as shown in the episode "Whitebear," it is common to see videos/pictures online of fights, tragic events, car wrecks, helpless animals, or any media depicting an unmoral event with no resolution or purpose, all for likes and subscribers. As an example there was a you-tuber who would record themselves verbally abusing and punishing their child for the purpose of becoming you-tube-famous. The fact that people continually post and watch these types of media online shows that there is still a part of us all that is interested in some type of violence. Or does it show that societies where media is well integrated into most people's lives are becoming less empathetic or selfless?
Let me clarify that I am not saying violence and these types of posts are moral/ethical or good. I am pointing out the similarity from the past to the present day. I am also not saying everyone watches and posts these types of media (I, myself do not), but making a generalization.
My biggest question after watching this episode is who comes up with the ideas behind these shows?
Sources:
For the picture on the left: http://bethanyholmstrom.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Black-Mirror-s2e23.png
For the picture on the right: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Museum_of_Sousse_-_Mosaics_2_detail.jpg
1 comment:
I agree with you that this is probably an idea based off of something done in the past but I don't think this step that American culture is likely to take anytime soon. morally I don't think that this type of punishment should be allowed or even promoted.The concept of this type of punishment is interesting because its a lot like an eye for an eye.
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