Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits introduces a society where complex, specialized jobs are obsolete, leaving humans to simply pedal stationary bikes which supply power to their computerized world. The movie introduces several computerized automations which aid every need of the characters, including vending machines that replace cooking and entirely autonomous financial work [1][2]. While this dystopian lifestyle seems fictional, the current increase in computerized automation reveals potential parallels to the real world.
IRobot Corporation, founded in 1990, introduced consumers to the first successful, fully autonomous vacuum cleaner. The company released the Roomba in 2002, a robot vacuum powered by a rechargeable battery. By 2004, one million Roomba units were sold and approximately 17 million Roombas were used by U.S. households in 2019 [3]. Similar robots are under development, as companies aim to replace tedious domestic chores with computerized automations. For example, Franklin Robotics released a weeding robot in 2017 and a Tokyo-based company, Seven Dreams Laboratories, designed a Landriod cabinet to fold laundry in 2020 [4]. As people begin to incorporate robots, the lifestyle depicted in Fifteen Million Merits seems like a possible future.
The technology presented in Fifteen Million Merits not only eliminated the need for human jobs, but also demonstrated a decrease in real-world social interactions. Throughout the movie, the characters only interact in person while they ride their bikes. Outside of work each character is confined to their room, relying on the four screens which confine them to socialize with others. The characters interact through their avatars, playing games and attending shows virtually while secluded in their rooms [5]. Although the characters continue to perform their work ‘in the office’, their use of technology to communicate with others while being physically distant introduces the idea of telework. The Covid-19 pandemic introduced a physical isolation which paralleled the movie, as the U.S. Census Bureau reported the number of Americans working from home tripled from 5.7% (roughly 9 million people) to 17.9% (roughly 27.6 million people) between 2019 and 2021 [6]. While this telework setting does not yet include secluded rooms with screens as walls, the reliance on technology to replace social interactions mirrors the digital relationships in the films.
1. Euros Lyn, Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits, (Channel 4, 11 December, 2011), 5:22
2. Euros Lyn, Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits, (Channel 4, 11 December, 2011), 24:34
3. iRobot, "Robotic vacuum cleaner installed base in the United States in 2017 and 2019 (in million households)" (IRobot Company, 2020) https://www.statista.com/statistics/1068291/united-states-robotic-vacuum-cleaner-installed-base (7 October 2023).
4. Robert Bogue, “Domestic Robots: Has their time finally come?” (Industrial Robot, 2017), https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IR-01-2017-0018/full/html (7 October 2023).
5. Euros Lyn, Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits, (Channel 4, 11 December, 2011), 31:28
6. United States Census Bureau, “The Number of People Primarily Working From Home” (U.S. Census Bureau, 2022) https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/people-working-from-home.html (7 October 2023).
Jobs are not necessary - people in yellow could easily be replaced by a robot (based on the technology featured it seems very probable)
Digital divide - Those who pedal have access to a variety of entertainment while working compared to the yellow uniformed who appear to cater to the bikers
Skipping ads and not watching - pay for these privileges (monitoring section - 1164)
yellow uniform - limited technology use, bikes - technology but pay for everything, entertainment stars - no longer prisoner of bike, but no agency in technology and no privacy/property, entertainment producers - full access and agency over technology
Telework - in theory everyone could pedal from their own homes (or room) but accountability/management - work in groups
Different groups of bikes (and other similar repetitive tasks) throughout building (world?)