Victoria's Punishment: "The Big Showcase"

In the "White Bear" episode of Black Mirror, Victoria Skillane is charged for being an accessory to the crime of kidnapping and killing Jemima, a child, but she has forgotten about this. Because of the crime, Victoria is subjected to people recording her every move everywhere she goes (her home, the gas station, the forest, etc.). Every day, Victoria must go through a cycle of not remembering anything and being verbally and physically assaulted by others. Later, when Victoria is strapped to a chair and the spotlight is on her in the "White Bear Justice Park," she realizes that everything she went through prior was all a part of a show as her punishment for what she and her fiance did to Jemima: she is reminded of Jemima, who was taken from her family and killed. Her fiance, Iain, was also punished, but he ended up committing suicide, thus, leaving Victoria to be the one to endure the consequences for the death of the little girl, Jemima, even though Victoria just recorded while Iain tortured and burned her body. Then, the guy orchestrating the show tells the viewing audience that they're going to make sure that Victoria suffers for what she did (I may not be quoting it verbatim). Afterwards, Victoria is taken back to her home while still being verbally abused. When she arrives, she is forced to watch footage of Jemima's death, and a device is placed on her head to make sure she does not remember anything that happened to her (Victoria). She lives this tortured life OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

The interesting part about this episode to me was the fact that there were "roles" that each person she encountered played: the two people in the gas station (Jem and Damien), the guy that picked them up in the truck (Baxter), and the people chasing and watching Victoria. It was all a part of the act. How long are they going to keep this show going before they start to show remorse?

The "White Bear" episode of Black Mirror raised a very important question that was discussed among my classmates: Did they go too far with Victoria's punishment? In my opinion, the people torturing Victoria for entertainment purposes did go too far. While Victoria's crime was sickening, I feel like someone should've stood up and said, "Enough is enough, she's learned her lesson." However, they continued along with the show. I think about whether her punishment was just or not in an "if the shoe was on the other foot" scenario: if one of the audience members or the "cast members" of the act was in Victoria's situation, they wouldn't be too thrilled to go through weeks or even months of psychological torture.