Humans have an insatiable attraction to the macabre. We may not like to admit it, but when we’re told that something terrible has happened, or will happen, we immediately become curious about the details of it. We are also a society that has over the last twenty years become significantly more reliant on 24-hour news updates, access to screens, and the internet wherever we go. This irresponsibility and insatiable thirst for new information, even if we know we won’t like what we see, is exactly what The National Anthem seeks to address.
Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) is awoken early one morning to the news that a member of the royal family has been kidnapped and will be executed later on that day unless he performs sexual intercourse with a pig on live television. The ransom demand was uploaded to the internet, so the world already knows the demands that have been made, and that the princess’ life is in the hands of one man and his personal pride.
After many failed attempts at finding the princess before the act must take place the public opinion begins to shift from one of sympathy to one of anticipation as audiences gather en-masse to watch an unlikable politician fuck a pig on live TV.
Much like the fictional audience of The National Anthem, we too as viewers of Black Mirror are waiting with baited breath to see whether the PM will go ahead with the ransom demands; and I refuse to believe that anyone who watched the show was not to some degree hoping that we would get what we came for, to watch a man have sex with an animal. That’s the simple message that The National Anthem seeks to deliver, that we are the guilty party for allowing such an act to go ahead.
Prime Minister Michael Callow (Rory Kinnear) is awoken early one morning to the news that a member of the royal family has been kidnapped and will be executed later on that day unless he performs sexual intercourse with a pig on live television. The ransom demand was uploaded to the internet, so the world already knows the demands that have been made, and that the princess’ life is in the hands of one man and his personal pride.
After many failed attempts at finding the princess before the act must take place the public opinion begins to shift from one of sympathy to one of anticipation as audiences gather en-masse to watch an unlikable politician fuck a pig on live TV.
Much like the fictional audience of The National Anthem, we too as viewers of Black Mirror are waiting with baited breath to see whether the PM will go ahead with the ransom demands; and I refuse to believe that anyone who watched the show was not to some degree hoping that we would get what we came for, to watch a man have sex with an animal. That’s the simple message that The National Anthem seeks to deliver, that we are the guilty party for allowing such an act to go ahead.
In the final minutes of the episode it is revealed that the Princess is actually released 30 minutes before the televised event, in the middle of London. But that because so many people were eagerly watching to see their leader humiliate himself she went unnoticed and the act had to be performed anyway. A stunt performed by a fictional artist who sought to point the blame at the general public for their disgusting desire to see such an act occur.
I feel The National Anthem is a great way to start Black Mirror. A series that has always strived to tell us horror stories of what happens when we allow technology to rule our lives, it sets a precedent for the rest of the show that ultimately the only people to blame for the act are those who wanted to see it. It’s also one of the easier to stomach episodes of the show, because it leaves so much to the imagination. Depending on how vivid yours is depends on how you will react to the story told because you see very little in the way of disturbing content. It may not be my favourite episode of the show, but it is an excellent litmus test for the rest of the series to determine whether you are likely to enjoy the unique brand of sadistic cautionary tales it is famous for. Because let’s face it, if we were to wake up tomorrow and be informed that Boris Johnson needed to humiliate himself on live TV, wouldn’t you be curious enough to watch it, even if you knew you wouldn’t enjoy it?
I feel The National Anthem is a great way to start Black Mirror. A series that has always strived to tell us horror stories of what happens when we allow technology to rule our lives, it sets a precedent for the rest of the show that ultimately the only people to blame for the act are those who wanted to see it. It’s also one of the easier to stomach episodes of the show, because it leaves so much to the imagination. Depending on how vivid yours is depends on how you will react to the story told because you see very little in the way of disturbing content. It may not be my favourite episode of the show, but it is an excellent litmus test for the rest of the series to determine whether you are likely to enjoy the unique brand of sadistic cautionary tales it is famous for. Because let’s face it, if we were to wake up tomorrow and be informed that Boris Johnson needed to humiliate himself on live TV, wouldn’t you be curious enough to watch it, even if you knew you wouldn’t enjoy it?