
Euthanasia is the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve one who is suffering or in pain. Many people have varying beliefs on this topic, weather it is a positive attribute or not. Euthanasia, like heaven has different meanings to people. Some see it as a peaceful way to die, but on the other hand others consider it assisted suicide. Some religions are against this and do not consider it the proper way to heaven. Euthanasia is illegal today in some countries around the world because people feel it is not the correct way to afterlife. In “Black Mirror”, (season 3, episode 4) San Junipero has a beautiful beach for the characters to get away and resort to, to relax before they experience their afterlife. San Junipero is a virtual afterlife where people can live their life and experience a new life. San Junipero is portrayed as heaven on Earth. In this episode it demonstrates this theory of the afterlife by raising moral questions in peoples’ lives and through religion. The use of euthanasia in the shows context prolongs the person’s life by putting them in a virtual reality that they can live long after their death. 

The main character in the episode, Yorkie, is a shy and innocent woman who is confused at the beginning and it appears she has some issues. Yorkie meets another woman named Kelly who sort of breaks Yorkie out of her shell. San Junipero turns Yorkie into a different woman 

after a while as she settles in and becomes comfortable. They become very close friends, so close that they start to have an affair and fall in love. Yorkie claimed to have a fiancé named Greg and Kelly was previously married to a man for 49 years but he has passed away. Her husband believed that death was an important time in life and he wants to join their only daughter who is deceased. Kelly is sick and keeps receiving dire cancer prognoses, but she continues on with her life. Yorkie is quadriplegic because of a severe car accident she was in when she was 21. She has been suffering for more than 4 decades and has been on life support laying in the same hospital bed. Euthanasia allows these characters to live a whole new life after death in San Junipero.

Today in our modern life, people have different perceptions of Euthanasia. Some people look at it as a peaceful way for one to end their life and some feel it is plain murder. If an individual is simply suffering and cannot live life any longer then euthanasia is an option. “For the suffering patient the request for euthanasia is regarded as a natural human right.” (Trowell 24) I feel it is not fair to just end your life early and leave loved ones is not the correct way to pass away. In ancient Greece, before Christianity, euthanasia and suicide had tended to be tolerant. Several doctors in the 2000’s have been sentenced to prison for playing a role in euthanasia to his or her patients. Today in the United States, assisted suicide is legal in only 4 countries. Christians are mostly against euthanasia because they feel God has gifted humans with life and they should not cut it short. “The Christian belief was that life on earth was important only as a preparation for the hereafter.” (Amundsen 79) Euthanasia is a huge debate between people today in our society. 

      After reading and learning more about euthanasia and discovering the positives and negatives, I feel it is more on the negative side. I would never end my life earlier than it was supposed to be, I would continue to fight and live my life. You cannot really compare this episode with real life, because you cannot simply die and then go to some paradise city like San Junipero. We die and hope to live our afterlife in heaven with loved ones that were once apart of one’s life. I see San Junipero as a heaven on earth, where people go to live a happy life. When Yorkie meets Kelly and becomes comfortable with her she is happy about spending eternity there with her. In this show it makes the idea of euthanasia look like a positive idea and makes it have a fantastic outcome. 

I could never see myself doing anything like this because I have no intentions of ever cutting my life short. I’d rather fight through whatever the issue is and be there for my family and do everything I could to impact their lives and when my time comes, move on to heaven. Euthanasia is not a common thing today where I come from because it is simply illegal. At the end of the episode it goes to present day and shows Kelly and Yorkie are old and elderly. Yorkie is in a coma and is on a breathing machine in a hospital when Kelly goes to visit her. Through the power of the impressive technology, Kelly goes back in time and marries Yorkie before she dies. This episode was entertaining and provided a fascinating concept of afterlife in this virtual world known as San Junipero.                          

 