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Black Mirror Season 1 Episode 2: "Fifteen Million Merits"
Black Mirror Season 1 Episode 2: "Fifteen Million Merits"
Set in a dystopian world were people earn currency, 'merits', by cycling on stationary bikes, the protagonist Bing searches for something meaningful in his repetitive, technology dependent life. Each day, Bing wakes up to a virtual sunrise displayed on the screens that consume the entirety of the four walls that confide him. From the moment he wakes up, Bing is surrounded by screens. Facial recognition detects how much soap and toothpaste he uses, deducting merits from his virtual bank account as he gets ready, and television shows are placed in front of his stationary bike, forcing him to watch any program or advertise displayed.
0:01:08 [1]
One of these programs Bing must watch is Hot Shot, a virtual competition show where people can enter for a chance to evaluate their status, abandoning their stationary bikes for fame and their own television program. To enter this contest characters must purchase an entry ticket for 15 million merits, a large sum which takes months of pedaling to attain. After hearing Abi, a fellow cyclist, singing in the bathroom, Bing buys her the 15 million merit entry ticket, beveling that her singing is 'real' and she should share her talent.
37:25 [1]
Unimpressed by her singing, the judges offer her a spot on the sexually explicit show, WraithBabes, where she gains fame because of her body, rather than her voice. Abi, influenced by "Cuppliance", the drug she was forced to drink before auditioning, accepts the offer. Furious with the judges manipulation of Abi, Bing purchases another entry ticket, this time performing himself. While holding a glass shard to his throat, Bing passionately preaches about the artificial, heartless system they live in.
The judges, ignoring the message Bing presents, are impressed by his passion and offer him fame in the form of his own livestreams. Bing accepts, and the film ends with him living in a large house, no longer confined to the four screen-walls and stationary bike, but instead makes videos angrily ranting about the heartless system he continues to contribute to.
Bing, 56:55 [1]
In the midst of a technology dependent society, Bing searches for something 'real'. After hearing Abi singing in the bathroom, he purchases an entry ticket worth fifteen million merits, allowing Abi perform on the competition show Hot Shot, and broadcast her real talent to the world.
Abi, 34:06 [1]
After singing for the judges on Hot Shot Abi is offered a chance at fame. However, rather than sharing her singing, Abi is used for her body, accepting a role on a sexually exploitive show.
Fifteen Million Merits Trailor [2].
The full episode is available on Netflix.
Euros Lyn, “Black Mirror: Fifteen Million Merits”, (Netflix, 11 December 2011)
Channel 4 Entertainment "15 Million Merits", (Channel 4 Entertainment, 2014), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqTyZoupc1w&ab_channel=Channel4Entertainment (9 October 2023).
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