{"id":285,"date":"2012-02-13T22:49:24","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T03:49:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/?p=285"},"modified":"2012-02-13T22:49:24","modified_gmt":"2012-02-14T03:49:24","slug":"black-mirror-channel-4-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/?p=285","title":{"rendered":"Black Mirror & Channel 4 Edge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The screening which struck me most this week was certainly Black Mirror<\/em>, a program which gets its name from the opaque screens of televisions, computers, and phones saturating all our lives. I’ll try not to make this post a contemplation on whether \u201cNational Anthem\u201d would work in America, as I know I am always tempted to do in this class (most of our blogs feature at least some commentary in this vein), but rather I\u2019ll use the lens of Black Mirror\u2019s significance to Channel 4 and its branding.<\/p>\n

The goal in Channel 4\u2019s creation was not just for an ITV clone but for content provider with an entirely new identity serving minority audiences. The remit in Channel 4\u2019s mandate is to \u201cto introduce new talent, to reaffirm creative alliances, or bring together fresh ones, and to develop ideas for which the existing services have not so far found a place.\u201d Not exactly the BBC\u2019s “inform, educate, entertain.” Channel 4 isn\u2019t made to cater to the strict public service mandate of the supposed license-monger BBC, and it thus gets the opportunity to engage with and challenge viewers in a different way.<\/p>\n

As Phil Wickham asserts in our text book, Understanding Television Texts<\/em>, \u201cDespite their diversity, the programmes were being broadcast by a channel marking itself out as new, vigorous and provocative and that affected the way the texts were understood\u201d (UT 35). Perhaps if I were a British viewer actively watching this on Channel 4, I would perceive this episode to be more radical than it was\u2014at least that\u2019s what Wickham might contend due to the influence of the channel\u2019s brand identity. As was parodied in the Brasseye <\/em>promo we watched in class today, the tertiary network often sensationalizes its own radicalism. One might assert that the premise of “National Anthem” isn\u2019t really all that complex and that the outcome isn\u2019t overly challenging (but rather a cheap stunt put on for shock value). <\/p>\n

In my opinion, the anthology episode we viewed was reminiscent of The Twilight Zone<\/em>, well-executed and thought provoking. Societal critique is still being made, and that\u2019s plenty more challenging than Mrs. Brown\u2019s Boys<\/em>. “Fuck Offcom” is even muttered by members of the media in the episode. With the kidnapping of a regent, internationally broadcast bestiality, and plenty of cursing, “National Anthem” does seem to fall in line with Channel 4’s image. <\/p>\n

Oh, and for the record: This show would never<\/em> make it onto the American basic cable airwaves.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The screening which struck me most this week was certainly Black Mirror, a program which gets its name from the opaque screens of televisions, computers, and phones saturating all our lives. I’ll try not to make this post a contemplation … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=285"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":300,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285\/revisions\/300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/yankswatchingtelly\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}