The “Shock-Factor”

Science Fiction provides viewers with a stylized portal into the future, where we can see what it may look like. These shows are based on the writers’ understandings of today, implying that our current reality informs the trajectory of the future. With that said, many science fiction today include either a deliberate or inherent “shock factor”. In one sense, the events within these shows are provocative and far beyond our current moral standard, and yet, viewers would not experience as much of a visceral reaction if these shows did not evoke a sense of familiarity.

For example, Black Mirror’s episode Nosedive (Season 3, Episode 1) features a popularity-based rating system that impacts the opportunities citizens have access to, whether its high-end living situations or flight changes. The protagonist, Lacie, navigates the society trying to increase her popularity by appeasing to those around her, but finds that in doing so inadvertantly lowers her rating further. The five-star rating system is reminiscent of the likes and follower numbers found on social media applications. Although these numbers are somewhat arbitrary, they have become representative of a person’s popularity, and thus their “self-worth”.

Although the significance of these numbers is dependent on the meaning we assign to them, scaleable technology amplifies its impact. The extent demonstrated in science fiction shows may seem obscure, but we see through the evolution of technology that it may be plausible for seemingly well-intentioned features to bleed into other facets of our lives. With the upsurge of IoT, our devices operate in an ecosystem rather than solely individually, which has already posed a series of risks in security and privacy.

Nosedive is provocative because it closely resembles our society as we know it today in contrast to its science-fiction counterparts, such as Altered Carbon. In conventional science-fiction, adventures tend to play out in extravagant façades and other-wordly technology, but in all cases ask a similar question: what problems are already present in society today, that may be worsened through the evolution of technology?