Do you ever feel like your life is a TV show? Like there’s someone out there writing a script for all the good and bad things that happen to you, maybe for the enjoyment of other people? The age of reality TV that blurs the lines between fact and fiction is well and truly on us, and surprisingly Black Mirror has never taken a shot at it until now. But does the mega commentary of Joan is Awful too on the nose?
Joan (Annie Murphy) discovers that her life is currently being adapted by streaming giant, Streamberry, with a new episode every day that seems to depict everything that happened to her that day, but she’s made out to be a really nasty person.
She finds that she has no legal standing due to a contract she signed, and her life is rapidly going down the toilet. In a last-ditch attempt to salvage her life, she reaches out to the actress playing her, Salma Hayek, to try and stop this madness.
It’s weird seeing what is effectively a comedy from Black Mirror. For a show that’s usually so nihilistic and miserable, to have an episode that’s not only genuinely funny but also quite goofy is certainly a strange experience. But it’s a gamble that pays off as Joan is Awful is a lot of fun. Its biggest problem is that it doesn’t have the kind of runtime to fully commit to its premise, it would have been nice to have this stretched out over a feature length runtime to explore other areas of how this strange situation is affecting Joan’s life.
The ending does sort of come out of nowhere though, and the big reveal at the episodes climax I feel doesn’t pay off the way it was intended.
Joan (Annie Murphy) discovers that her life is currently being adapted by streaming giant, Streamberry, with a new episode every day that seems to depict everything that happened to her that day, but she’s made out to be a really nasty person.
She finds that she has no legal standing due to a contract she signed, and her life is rapidly going down the toilet. In a last-ditch attempt to salvage her life, she reaches out to the actress playing her, Salma Hayek, to try and stop this madness.
It’s weird seeing what is effectively a comedy from Black Mirror. For a show that’s usually so nihilistic and miserable, to have an episode that’s not only genuinely funny but also quite goofy is certainly a strange experience. But it’s a gamble that pays off as Joan is Awful is a lot of fun. Its biggest problem is that it doesn’t have the kind of runtime to fully commit to its premise, it would have been nice to have this stretched out over a feature length runtime to explore other areas of how this strange situation is affecting Joan’s life.
The ending does sort of come out of nowhere though, and the big reveal at the episodes climax I feel doesn’t pay off the way it was intended.
The episode’s take on the way we allow the media to paint our perceptions of people, without actually knowing the full story is very clever though. It definitely gets a bit carried away at the end, but seeing these normal interactions Joan has getting blown out of proportion for the sake of entertainment isn’t all that different to how a lot of news corporations will frame stories in order to attract a bigger audience. We enjoy seeing people when they’re weak or perceiving ourselves to be morally superior to those around us, and we need that gratification however we can get it.
Murphy is expectedly great in the episode. I’m a big fan of her work on Schitt’s Creek and whilst she doesn’t play the same kind of character, her comedic nature compliments her dramatic sensibilities nicely. Hayek delivers in the way only Salma Hayek can, brilliantly over the top and a total boss.
Whilst Joan is Awful may not be among the best Black Mirror has to offer, it’s a good opener for Series Six. Wildly different in tone from any other Black Mirror episode, this truly is an episode that can appeal to both die-hard fans, and the most ardent of critics. It’s a shame the concept isn’t explored as thoroughly as it could have been, but the brilliant performances from Murphy & Hayek compensate for that a little. Joan may be awful, but this episode certainly isn’t.
Murphy is expectedly great in the episode. I’m a big fan of her work on Schitt’s Creek and whilst she doesn’t play the same kind of character, her comedic nature compliments her dramatic sensibilities nicely. Hayek delivers in the way only Salma Hayek can, brilliantly over the top and a total boss.
Whilst Joan is Awful may not be among the best Black Mirror has to offer, it’s a good opener for Series Six. Wildly different in tone from any other Black Mirror episode, this truly is an episode that can appeal to both die-hard fans, and the most ardent of critics. It’s a shame the concept isn’t explored as thoroughly as it could have been, but the brilliant performances from Murphy & Hayek compensate for that a little. Joan may be awful, but this episode certainly isn’t.