In Black Mirror a Netflix original television series directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, each episode is independent of the next and depicts a different issue with society.  In the second season, “White Bear” an episode about a girl who wakes up to find that she has no memory, and though a group of people are trying to kill her, everyone is simply walking next to her-standing there- videotaping her.  She later finds out she and her husband murdered a young girl and videotaped it, so this is her punishment.  She is trapped in a world where each day people will try to kill her, but no one will stop looking at their phones long enough to help her.  Howard uses exaggeration, symbols, and vulgar scenes to depict the issues with society’s social media obsession.

In the episode, not just a few people are videotaping, attached to their phones and computers as they walk through the woods and down the streets of residential neighborhoods, but every single person is looking down at their phones.  The main character meets two people who are also being hunted, and is told “they were always like that underneath” and people only needed to be prompted to become addicted to their phones.  Though not every person is like this, “like nine out of ten people now” have become “spectators” to the crimes of “hunters”.  Howard uses this exaggeration that everyone who hasn’t become a phone vegetable has become a killer, to show how today’s society is all about searching for acceptance and ignoring violence.  He uses the spectators to demonstrate how the media -such as silly cellphone videos online -has become the focus. People are no longer interested in helping other people, like those being attacked by the hunters, but instead they would rather get the best video of to gain the most likes and views on the internet.  Even after the discovery that being hunted is her punishment, the orchestrators of the hunt explain to the spectators “enjoy yourself, take lots of pictures” further demonstrating how society is obsessed with getting the most likes and views-even of a criminal- no matter what lengths they must go through. 

Howard creates a symbol to flash on the screens and TVs around the area as a symbol of how mesmerized people are by any technology with a screen.  The main character learns “there was a signal, pictures, like flashing pictures” they “appeared on anything with a screen.  It did something to people” and they all became glued to their phone screens doing anything to get a video, never even looking up from their phones.  Howard uses the flashing symbol to demonstrate how easy it is for people to get sucked into their phones.  Society is already obsessed with video and smartphones, it is almost as though everyone is watching the world pass them by on their phone screen, just as the people in White Bear Park, the setting of the episode, never look up from their screens as though they are mesmerized.  The characters are only acting in a transient state because they have been asked to act this way, however, Howard uses that characteristic of his characters to show the hivemind, and how everyone feels they must fit in. 

Howard also uses a lot of grim scenes in the episode to show how people today are less concerned with the horrors of the world, and more concerned with being the first to see or post a video about it.  Tragic events have become funny internet videos in just one click, and in this episode, the real-world horror is very clearly depicted.  There is a scene where the main character believes she is going to be raped, and many times she believes she is going to be killed. The spectators and onlookers however, simply stand by and take video as the girl screams for help.  They do not help her. Howard does not have the characters help her, to show how people today are content to sit back and watch terrible tragedies on the news or social media sights, without feeling a call to help.  The onlookers laugh when they are told to “make her think they are mesmerized” just as pain on the TV or websites often elicits a chuckle from watchers today.  Howard uses their laughter at the horrific scene in front of them, to show the problems that are in everyday life on the internet, and how people in peril are often ignored in favor of a good video.

Bryce Dallas Howard uses many different elements to create the episode “White Bear”.  He depicts people laughing at pain and torcher in front of them.  He shows society’s obsession with smart phones and technology by using a signal to make everyone seem unable to take their eyes off their phones for any reason, as though life is passing them by while they watch the screen.  He exaggerates the need to use phones all the time, by showing everyone on their phone except for just a few people, who are being hunted, because they are different.  Social media causes many problems for society by turning terror and pain into a funny video for a Facebook page, and making people numb to horrors they could stop rather than just watch on TV.  People are desensitized to today’s struggles and the problems around the world because they are so prevalent in the media, and are turned into trivial, funny affairs instead of real issues.  Just like “White Bear” demonstrates, people would rather have a good video and get likes and views instead of living life and helping to create a better world and stop injustice that is right in front of them.