This week’s featured film was an episode of Black Mirror entitled, “The Entire History of You”.  The particular fictional dystopian universe presented a world wherein people could relive moments of their lives with the click of a button.  The plot revolved around an obsessive and jealous husband, Liam, that abused this advanced technology in order to prove his wife was cheating on him.  His neurotic behavior immediately became apparent to the viewers after he continuously replayed and overanalyzed a job interview in the beginning of the episode.  This compulsiveness drastically increased once he had a slight inclination of his wife’s indiscretion.  After seemingly irrationally picking at straws and having a complete breakdown, it turned out that his suspicions were right- his wife was cheating on him.  In the final scene of the episode, Liam removes his chip (which sounds as painful as it looked) that allows him to replay memories.

Did the ending surprise me?  Was I shocked that this technology led to completely neurotic and obsessive behavior?  No and no.  The premise that this was a bad idea for mental health immediately dawned on me once I heard the description of the episode.  People already overthink constantly and neurosis is not something that I think should be enhanced.  Liam was just one example of the product of a society with technology but definitely would not be a singular one.  People could relive their most embarrassing moments endlessly and be afraid to ever react naturally to any situation.   Or, people could stay stuck in their best memories forever, essentially becoming the embodiment of “stuck in the past”.  This isn’t forward thinking technology- in fact, it’s just the opposite; new technology should be promoting a better future, not exacerbating the past.  Dwelling on past mistakes makes it almost impossible to move on from them or grow from them.  I left that screening solely thinking: How could people not end up like Liam when all they have to do is press a button?