
From a varying degree of standpoints, such as a religion, a community, or a person, everyone has their own personal view of the afterlife. Whether it's the ascent to heaven or the plunge to hell, each perspective has its similarities of what is going to happen to a person when he dies. In the TV. show Black Mirror "San Junipero", viewers get to witness a scene concerning the afterlife. The show starts off with an upbeat setting, viewers see Yorkie going into Tuckers, a nightlife club, then she meets Kelly. They start talking, dancing, having fun, then Kelly invites Yorkie to go back to her place. But Yorkie declines. The next time they meet, Yorkie asks if she can go back with Kelly, they go on this rendezvous. They're having a steamy night, and Yorkie falls for Kelly. In the next few weeks, Yorkie tries to find Kelly at Tuckers and at Quagmires, and in those weeks there's a succession of decades that take place from the 80s to the 2000s. They meet up again, and Kelly wants to meet Yorkie in real life. So in the next scene, it shows Kelly exiting a senior home and she goes to the hospital to meet Yorkie. Kelly finds out Yorkie is quadriplegic, she can't talk and she's on her deathbed. Kelly marries Yorkie so that she can sign the consent papers to let Yorkie pass over, and stay in San Junipero. Later on, Kelly passes over as well and joins Yorkie in San Junipero. In this episode, it shows 3 distinct settings, Tuckers, Quagmire and Kelly's Beach house. These 3 locations can be tied back to heaven, hell, and a personal little heaven. They can be connected to Greek mythology or Buddhist mythology. By focusing on the Black Mirror's depiction of the afterlife, we can view the similarities between an immersed nostalgia euthanasia and the mythological views of the afterlife; this is important because it gives you a new perspective as to how in the future when people pass over and what it will be like. 

In Buddhist mythology, more specifically Thai or Tai, it is said that “each khwan is the spiritus vitalis of a specific part of the body”, and in the episode you can see the nurses placing a little round tab on the sides of Kelly’s and Yorkie’s head to connect them to San Junipero (Formoso, 121). This can be connected to Tai belief “that the head is the place of the highest concentration of souls”, but the brain is located in the head which controls brain waves that can connect to a person’s memories and how the patient can control their memories (Formoso, 121). There’s a small part in the show that tells about Kelly’s daughter who died before they created this nostalgia euthanasia, no one exactly knows where a soul moves onto, and it’s similar to what Formoso said “there is little uncertainty about the future of the deceased in this system of beliefs” (Formoso, 121). Then in the beginning where it shows Tuckers, the upbeat bar, it can be associated with heaven, a site where everyone is having fun, enjoying their time, Formoso doesn’t go in depth with Tai belief of heaven even though it is “the main locus of the afterlife” (Formoso, 123). In Buddhism, it “emphasizes the infernal bowels of the earth as the site upon which human imperfection is projected”, this can be related back to the Quagmire, where you see all these emo, goth people dressed in leather and chains, and it just has a sadistic vibe to it (Formoso, 123). There is a popular idea that “death transforms the person into a polluting spirit and a negative essence…”, it would refer to a person’s untimely demise or someone who had regrets before he moved on, this wasn’t particularly focused in the show but it relates back to Kelly’s daughter who died and to Kelly’s husband who died too and did not choose to be in San Junipero for the reason that their daughter could not experience this nostalgia (Formoso, 123). In Tai belief when a person is cremated there is “a ‘surviving essence’ of the dead person remains” which can be tied back to the end of the episode where it shows Kelly’s tombstone with her daughters’ and husbands’ name engraved (Formoso, 123). 

Then in Greek mythology, there’s an article about the afterlife of emperor Claudius, and it’s about Claudius’ afterlife adventure where Bakhtin calls a “’three-planed construction’ of the Menippea: Olympus, earth, the underworld”, similar to San Junipero’s Tucker, reality, and the Quagmire (Paschalis, 201). where “it narrates Claudius’ “descent” to the underworld, where he is judged by Aeacus”, in this episode there’s barely any judgement as to what people may think everyone is supposing to be in San Junipero for (Paschalis, 199). No one is there to really point out the guilty or the victim, everyone chose to be euthanize and to pass over into San Junipero because it’s a place where no one can get hurt and it stays in the primetime of each decade. 

In conclusion, Black Mirror “San Junipero” showcased a couple going through an adventure in an immersed nostalgia therapy session, where they realize they are running out of time and try to make the best out of it. “San Junipero” shows an alternative to the afterlife in a new technology where patients get to be in a setting that is most joyous compared to the traditional heaven and hell. 
