
If you were told you had a terminal illness what would you do?  Explore the world?  Spend all your money? Spend time with family and friends?  Spend time exploring your eternal life?  Yes, spending time exploring your eternal life is a possibility, or at least in the futuristic world presented in Black Mirror.   In the episode entitled “San Junipero,” civilians who are terminally ill, or expecting near death, are presented with the opportunity to end their lives through lethal injection and live in this Heaven on Earth city called San Junipero.  The story follows the lives of two girls: Yorkie who is paralyzed from head to toe and on life support and Kelly who is very sick.  Yorkie and Kelly are both exploring what their eternal lives in San Junipero could be like through a futuristic technological system.  This city, however, can only be visited every so often, so in order to make the permanent move one must end their own life.  Historically speaking euthanasia has always been a hot topic for people all over the world.  Arguments can be made for both sides through all periods of history, however euthanasia has become quite the topic in the twenty first century.  The biggest issue discussed concerning euthanasia is ethics.  Numerous questions can be raised based on this topic and have been brought up throughout history.  The ethics of euthanasia are put on full display in Black Mirror’s “San Junipero,” as we explore the possibility of living an eternal life through the controversial process of euthanasia. 

The word Euthanasia is of Greek origin and it means good death.  As previously mentioned, euthanasia is a very controversial topic and many groups of people have different stands.  One prominent stand is that of the Catholic Church.  One of the most well-known of the ten commandments is, “thou shalt not kill.”  In 1980, the Catholic Church addressed this heated topic by saying, “The Council therefore condemned crimes against life "such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion, euthanasia, or willful suicide”” (Hammer “A Declaration on Euthanasia- May 5, 1980”).   With the Catholic Church being one of the prominent world religions, many people take this same stance that euthanasia or any type of suicide is strictly prohibited and goes against God’s teaching.  Using this same mentality, the Hippocratic Oath which most doctors took up until modern day states, “I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan” (Pickert “A Brief History of Assisted Suicide”).  For years these two facts have been the reason that euthanasia was always frowned upon.  For starters it was against the law for doctors to provide a mercy killing, and for many people it was against their religion.  This remained the same for centuries.  It wasn’t until the twentieth century that things started to get interesting. 

With medicine always changing, euthanasia was quickly reborn and become a much more prominent topic in modern day.  Many people have changed their old ways of viewing euthanasia and are beginning to become more accepting of it.  With the modern day drugs making euthanasia as easy as taking a few fills prescribed to you by a doctor few states have legalized euthanasia.  According to ProCon.org California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington have all legalized doctor assisted suicide.  In addition, Montana has legalized physician assisted suicide via court ruling.  “San Junipero” gives a glimpse into what this life could be like if euthanasia were a widely accepted process.  In the story, both Yorkie and Kelly are considering being euthanized in order to pass over into this Heaven on Earth of San Junipero.  San Junipero encompasses what we today could consider a virtual reality.  You are sent to this city through a technological chip which is placed on the side of your head.  During one scene in the movie you can hear Kelly tell Yorkie that nearly 80% of the people in San Junipero are dead, or have already passed over, the other 20% are there momentarily in order to scope it out and see if they want to pass over. Living eternally sounds pretty good, but unfortunately the only way to get there is through a lethal injection.  

The idea which is brought up in San Junipero adds a whole new realm of ethical questions.  First of all, for many religions dying is considered sacred and is symbolic of your life on Earth ending and your life in heaven beginning.  So this idea of continuing your life in this city instead of dying and going to heaven could really make a lot of people angry.  The second problem is the same problem which can constantly be found in history, euthanasia is murder.  As mentioned, euthanasia was illegal for numerous centuries and remains against the law in many states and religions.  For many people it is seen as an act of homicide as opposed to an act of mercy.  From the religion side it is as if you are becoming God and controlling the life of another person.  Another issue is that if you cannot speak for yourself you have to have someone there who can speak for you and say that you want to pass on.  This is exemplified through Yorkie telling Kelly that she wants to pass on to San Junipero, but she tells her this while in San Junipero.  This sounds easy enough but now since she has told Kelly her and Kelly must get married in order for her word to be true in the eyes of the law.  Can something that is said in this virtual world be carried over to the real world?  Can that person even be trusted to relay your message honestly?  And is marrying in haste really the best idea here?  There are so many things which can easily go wrong in this scenario.  

When looking back at American history the trend has been that overtime people have become more comfortable with the idea of assisted suicide.  If this trend were to continue it wouldn’t be long until society could reach this point of living an eternal life.  Again San Junipero is a fictitious world, but this could easily become a reality.  All it takes is improvements in technology and in medicine and as seen in the past, those things don’t take too long to accomplish.  If San Junipero were to become a reality it would bring with it so many ethical concerns.  These concerns are the reason many people probably fear about where our technology is heading.  This new heaven could lead to the rise of a new religion, possibly a religion that requires you to die and pass over to San Junipero, who knows.  It is this idea of the unknown which is scary, if it were to go this far how would we as a society handle it?  Could we handle it? 
