“The Entire History of You” was the first episode of Black Mirror I’ve seen. I was on the edge of my seat the entire hour and was impressed by the depth and subtlety of the story. But as soon as the screen went black, I was consumed with a numb feeling and felt disheartened at th. This impression was likely Black Mirror’s intention. I thought repeatedly about what-ifs. What is this story had played out in my present world?  Would they just be a happy family, oblivious to the truth that could tear them apart? What if Liam had been happy in his marriage and work-life? Would that have given him security that would have prevented his obsession with his wife’s relationship with another man?

Later on, I moved away from thinking about the what-ifs of this story that played out in a surreal world. In fact, I think the story says a lot about our current world. The episode follows the destruction of Liam’s life, with the memory device playing a large role in this destruction. Though one takeaway from this is that the past is dangerous, I believe the bigger takeaway is that the truth is dangerous. We value truth greatly, in our justice system and advertising and the media. At the same time, we place great importance in trust. Strangers trust others to stop at red lights; we trust our significant others to stay true to us. How can we value both trust and truth when these two entities are so often at odds with each other? This ironic relationship between truth and trust speaks to a greater values of our society. Our values of honesty and goodness. If honesty and goodness are observed to be true, then trust is earned. In Liam’s case, he prioritizes the truth over trust in his wife because he sees signs of dishonestly.