Insert Witty Whitebear Title Here

Whitebear is a play on our own world much like every single Black Mirror episode. This episode I think focuses on the bystander effect and methods of punishment for criminals or otherwise. If you don't know, "The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that any one of them will help. Several factors contribute to the bystander effect, including ambiguity, cohesiveness and diffusion of responsibility." This is the definition that can be found on the wikipedia page of The Bystander Effect.

To me the bystander effect is one of the worst things about our society, and it has only worsened with the onset of smartphones and other recording devices. This phenomenon has quite literally gotten people killed in multiple instances. People can be watching a shooting victim bleed out on the street and no one will call 911 simply because everyone assumed someone else would do it.

So in Whitebear we see the "victim/prisoner" react to everyone recording, in a "what are you doing just recording, help me" sense. I think this is Black Mirror's way of briefly touching on the idea of the bystander effect.

The next issue the episode touches on is people recording while something is happening instead of calling 911 or assisting. This is sort of the bystander effect, but I think it is its own category. I think the issue is someone deliberately recording so they can upload the video somewhere to get likes, upvotes, points, or whatever instead of actually doing anything positive. This does not apply to instances where authorities are already involved and the situation requires no intervention. It is like the video we mentioned in class where 3 teens taunted and recorded a drowning man instead of calling for any sort of help.

And the final issue Whitebear addresses is the potential systems of punishment in the future. Like in the show, we could actually see a memory wiping device used to punish criminals and make them relive certain tragedies repeatedly. Whilst you might think they deserve it, is it humane? Do they honestly deserve it for 10 years? 10 years of anguish, reliving a mistake over and over with no chance to reform yourself? Is that fair? Some people have called for this form of punishment over internet forums but no real legislature has been made and no public figure has declared this to be a good form of punishment. But we do need to consider banning things like this under a blanket agreement similar to the Geneva Convention. 

I think people should consider things like the bystander effect and ask yourself, "Do I do that?"