Black Mirror as a speculative narrative

Netflix's hit show Black Mirror is a science-fiction anthology series in which most episodes are set in near-future dystopias where technology is at the forefront of each episode. While I won't go too much into detail about a specific episode because I don't want to spoil the series for anyone who may want to watch it (I encourage everyone reading this to go check it out here).

I think this series is such a hit because it forces us to reflect on the ways we interact with digital technology and how much of it we let into our lives. Several episodes start in worlds that don't seem too far off from our own, and then the episode (usually) takes a turn for the worse when some sort of technology is introduced. At the end of each episode I watch, I seem to always be asking myself the same questions that are similar to the questions Professor Alexander raises during his lectures: what kind of world do we want to live in? How can we prevent such a technological disaster from happening to our very own world?

Like pretty much everyone else reading Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower, certain aspects felt eerily similar to our current world: rampant violence, a crumbling climate, corrupt politicians, and more. All of those things currently exist, but Butler extrapolates them to a near-future. In doing so, she forces readers to reflect on the world around us. What do we need to do in order to prevent this change?

While reading Parable, it pushed me to reflected on the current state of our world. I would say that I am a pretty positive person, so it made me wonder why Butler would write such a pessimistic story. But then I realized, it isn't. It's a very real look into what our world could turn into if we don't demand change.