What Screenwriters Can Learn from Black Mirror

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Talk about Black Mirror and filmmaking on our official Discord server: discord.gg/xxTqXXd

[@BoonMcNougat]

Hi Nehemiah, just wondering where the Edgar Wright video mentioned at the end is, as I don't seem to see it in your uploads.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

It had to get postponed because I'm lacking a few more good interview excerpts. Other than that it's almost done and I hope to release it soon!

[@BoonMcNougat]

@@BehindtheCurtain Thanks for the reply, looking forward to it!

[@kinhamid9665]

-Be British (basically be cynical af) -Watch the News every once in a while -Trip Balls -Radiohead song somewhere in episode -You’re done

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Check, check, and check!

[@MrGreaves]

Kin Hamid well you ain’t wrong about us brits

[@BigPurp9]

Feel like the show really lost its spark after Netflix picked it up and ‘Americanised’ it

[@bruhdabones]

Behind the Curtain and check and check (5)

[@StefanoPapaleo-TS]

@@BigPurp9 It's not just a feeling, it's a fact ;) Especially with season 5 and the last episode.

[@aidange2]

I just wanted to say that I really love how you just let the creators tell it in their own words. I hate youtube film analyses where the creator of the video really imposes themself on it and starts talking boring theory, your videos present good information in a selfless way :)

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Thank you! There are a lot of great video essayists out there, but I wanted to do something different. I felt like there wasn't a great presentation of what the actual filmmakers were trying to do with their films. Thanks again for watching.

[@talbrott]

amen

[@crowley7110]

What a such ignorance of yours

[@AbiCroCro]

I completely agree, I started watching a video about cool hand luke the other day, I was excited about it and then the video creator started going on about how cool hand luke isn’t as popular as shawshank redemption these days because millennials are snowflakes and don’t like the grittiness of CHL.... I... 🤷🏻‍♀️ haha

[@wilberforce95]

"I'm scared of everything...I'm also lazy." sounds like me

[@LuisSierra42]

You can write black mirror then

[@dfray4208]

When I feel stuck in a draft, I pull up one of your writers' videos and by the end I'm full of ideas. Thanks for making these. Keep 'em coming!

[@BehindtheCurtain]

That's the goal! I'm glad it's been valuable to you. Many more to come.

[@Peter-qe1yh]

-imagine you have a phone -now imagine you have too many phone -black mirror episode

[@BehindtheCurtain]

crazy

[@mitiamed]

The best episodes of Black Mirror make you think, and that's what people loved about them from the start. The best one yet is still White Christmas in my book. And to me, the meaning of the title is not so much the turned-off screen, but it's about how everything we do or use is still a reflection of what our feelings, insecurities and fears, demonstrated through this lens of 'what if' supertech which frail, imperfect humans will still exploit to the point of mental or physical breakdown.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

White Christmas is really good. The beautiful thing about the title is that I think it's meant to mean both the black screen as well as a dark reflection of our fears and insecurities. Thanks for watching!

[@mitiamed]

@@BehindtheCurtain thanks for the vid! Did you do the interview?

[@BehindtheCurtain]

This week's video was made from taking the best parts of numerous interviews. The links are in the description if you want to listen to the full interviews! I'm currently working on some original interviews that are really really insightful. Keep a look out for that!

[@HighDeafRadio]

White Christmas is a really cool episode in TV history. What do you think about though? I've always been critical of this show because it feels like pointless psychological torture and that episode is probably the best example. It's the only psychological torture episode I don't hate though. It just kinda feels like a way for neurotypical people to sample being crazy in a safe way.

[@ahnafdrubo9727]

White Christmas is undoubtedly the best in my opinon too

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Subscribe now so you can see next week's video on Edgar Wright, writer/director of Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Baby Driver, and more!

[@rem975]

Cant wait

[@DharmistJude]

I love how you always tease what's coming next! Thank you

[@kylecredo]

Thank you for this channel. Its amazing

[@amsheel9921]

When is the Edgar Wright video coming out?

[@alexispapageorgiou72]

Maybe you can pass it on to Brooker if you think it's cool ... He obviously dealt with the issue with the Paraplegic story, but I think this idea can still work, and perhaps there's a pretty realistic way of approaching it that avoids intellectual theft from himself :) issues. What if the wife of a man in a coma, in that same hospital, heard of what happened with the paraplegic patient and went and decided to try it with her husband. Pretty emotional episode that would make ... Only saw the pilot so now I imagine her trying to get the other character to react ... And suddenly he does. And they laugh, cry, bump uglies, and for a positive ending, the game maybe even enhances his actual physical condition. Doesn't wake him up but perhaps make his system work better, giving them another life together ... Actually, this last idea, makes me think that the coma patient is rapidly decaying and she uses the black mirror as a last resort ... And this gave me a dark one as well ... In the pilot, Mackie's character cannot get out of the game cause he doesn't know the "password" whatever. What if someone forces a pretty long session on another character (obviously change the password as well to something the other dude will never guess). He already used Kaluuya but that's the Get Out version in case he didn't do it already ..

[@hanh7395]

USS Callister will always be my favorite episode. I just love the concept and characters

[@josylee8495]

Agreed!

[@venu9250]

white christmas was also very good

[@92xed-sy8bp]

You will get to watch its sequel in 2025

[@legorahma]

this is my new favourite channel! gonna spend quarantine writing and binging your videos

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Hell yeah, keep that writing up! Which reminds me, I'm creating a community for us so that we can all keep each other accountable and talk about screenwriting. Is that something you'd be interested in?

[@burnieburnz8321]

The way he details the writing process from the idea to the finished episode baffles me and has me wondering, if you've gone through drafts, conversations, re-writes etc, to get it to the high standard and bar that you have set from previous seasons, then how do you explain season 5.

[@wilberforce95]

Why does everyone seem to hate season 5? I honestly don't think it's that bad. Smithereens is one of my favorite episodes

[@HarshNerf]

@@wilberforce95 you have no taste, s5 is critically and generally poorly reviewed coz it takes black mirror from conceptual scifi to "wot if" pop scifi

[@oliverbanks1975]

Karan Harsh Wardhan can you imagine being such a gigantic egotist as to feel confident writing a sentance such as “you have no taste“

[@George_Bass_UK]

@@HarshNerf Bit Harsh.....

[@thebhavyaahuja]

I can imagine a 'Hated in the Nation' kinda episode over you guys commenting.

[@HarshNerf]

wot if motherboards were made of actual mothers?

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Damn, that's so metaphorical.

[@benepic3101]

Karan Harsh Wardhan I’m black mirror

[@soda989]

*what a tweest!!!*

[@not_enoughmana]

*mirror shattering*

[@raindrop5082]

Expected an interview and got really good writing advice. Thank you Charlie Brooker

[@akacece]

i feel like i was in a professor's classroom learning about how writing goes and picked up on some great points i didn't think i'd need considering i'm not a writer but instead a video editor, great video i love how you let them tell it as it is from their own words!

[@redgreen2453]

Seems easy enough, let's give it a shot. In a kitchen with no windows, a young man cooks burgers on a flattop grill, dozens at a time. When an order's ready, he places it on a shelf and rings a bell. Suddenly, sky blue light pours in through a narrow window and a pair of hands reaches in and pulls the bag through, the window closes leaving just the harsh white lite of the kitchen again. Outside, the pair of hands is revealed to belong to one in a chorus line of crude looking robots on swivels, human looking from the waste up, handing out food taken from opening windows to customers tens of dozens at a time. The sign over the counter reads: "McWacko's: the only fast food _still_ cooked by humans." Beside that, a cartoon of their mascot: the cubby, smiling fry cook the robots are meant to resemble. Underneath, their slogan: "There's always enough to go around!" *Part 1* We follow a day in the life of the young man from the restaurant. He wakes up: refrigerator, microwave, he eats a reheated burger and rushes off to work. In the kitchen, the uncooked burgers come via conveyor belt from the bowels of the restaurant. The only human cog in a robotic assembly line, he works alone for his 8 hour shift, cooks himself a final burger and clocks out. At home, he eats his late lunch snack meal then plops down on his cheap couch and clicks on the telly. He doesn't watch. From under his couch he produces a medicine bottle and throws it back like a glass of water. He crunches on a mouthful of pills and the world slows down. His glazed eyes stare at the tv screen as time passes around him. Suddenly, it's night time, he looks around as if he's just woken up. Hungry, he leaves his house for food but, broke and lazy, he finds himself back at the very restaurant at which he works. Reluctantly, he buys two burgers and eats one on the way home. The left over meal goes in the fridge and the boy goes to bed. The scene changes. In secret, the government meets in an underground bunker. What goes on here is highly classified. The speaking advisor makes the current problem clear to all in the room: in less than 10 years, due to aggressive breeding and over-consumption, all domesticated animals and farmable crops will be extinct. The nation will face a food crisis like no other in history and the government has been keeping this secret from its citizens to prevent panic and retain control and profits. They've known this for years now but it can't be kept secret for much longer. Today, however, a lone scientist wants to pitch a far-fetched idea that might just solve this problem without it ever even going public. He begins his presentation. The entire plan hinges on one person, he explains, and that person is the man from the restaurant. *End of Part 1* *Part 2* The young man's daily routine is interrupted, for today he was invited to a party. He arrives fashionably late (more due to disinterest than fashion) but makes some attempts to be sociable. During a conversation with the host and some of her friends a party goer begins to show obvious interest in him but he rebuffs her advances. The host asks why he does this but he doesn't really have an answer. General anxiety, they figure and decide to use some future-type recreational drugs to lighten the mood. He takes his drug of choice, the pills from earlier to which he's clearly addicted, and the host playfully admonishes him for it. Apparently, he's the only one she knows who actually likes those pills, they don't seem to do much for most other people. He tells her they're really popular with his co-workers. While high, he finds himself alone in a room with the girl from before who makes her desires known. He gives in and they begin kissing but before letting it go further he stops her but is still unable to articulate why. Embarrassed, he leaves the party. On the way home he realizes he never ate anything while he was there and is pretty hungry. As usual, he makes a stop at McWacko's. *End of Part 2* *Part 3* The scientist continues his presentation. Using the very same bio-engineering they've used to breed farm animals for centuries, he explains that they've finally cracked the code to create synthetic, neurologically programmable human life. The person in question (the man from the restaurant) is the prototype for their idea: a line of fake humans designed to produce food and nothing else. Eating only from what they produce, unwilling and unable to procreate, and kept calm and complacent by a special drug that, while innocuous to regular humans is highly suppressant and addictive to synths. They can be slowly introduced into the population and no one would be the wiser, all of them working at a fast food restaurant that employs no one but them, sells high yield burgers, and operate outside government regulation. The listeners are skeptical. At work one day, the burgers stop coming. The young man is compelled to investigate. Through a floor hatch to the basement, he descends deeper within the restaurant than he ever had before. The familiar smell of burgers becomes overpowering as he finds himself in a freezer. Yet, shrink wrapped and shelved are not burgers but rows of people, seemingly asleep or dead, in uniforms like his own. Suddenly, a familiar sound. A hatch like the one upstairs opens but this one doesn't reveal blue skies, behind it is pitch darkness. Two robot hands reach out of the hatch, just like upstairs, but grab a person, dragging them into the darkness behind the freezer and the hatch shuts behind them. The man stares ponderously at the newly empty space on the shelf. A Radiohead song begins to play. Back at the bunker, the scientist is asked the million dollar question: how would this plan actually solve the upcoming food shortage? He cracks a grin preparing to explain the true dark brilliance of the plan. In the basement, the conveyor belt springs back to life and burgers flow from the room behind the freezer. It is revealed that the bunker scenes have actually been taking place 10 years in the past as the scientist explains on. Over the course of the coming famine, there will be time to slowly replace the meat in the burgers with meat from the synthetic humans themselves after they live out their 10 year life-cycle creating a secret, self-sustaining cycle of meat so the public can consume unchecked for as long as they please. In the present day, the man notices that the burgers are not being sent up to his kitchen but a different one. A door on the far side of the freezer opens and another fry cook steps out. After exchanging a brief nod, the new fry cook climbs the stairs to the kitchen above. The protagonist expressionlessly lays down on in the empty space on the shelf and closes his eyes. *The End* *Also, the whole thing is presented in Smell-O-Vision* Yes, I wrote all that just to make that dumb joke at the end. Hire me Charlie!

[@walksonair]

Red Green the 4 possible Radiohead songs: The Gloaming, Climbing Up The Walls, The Butcher, We Suck Young Blood 😂 this was really good!

[@naomizaire6737]

wow

[@hanniffydinn6019]

Bullshit, the future is synthetic meat , and food created by robots. You don’t get anything. 🐯🐯🐯

[@WhiskeyToro]

Quarantine's done you in,hasn't it? You should probably never write again...best you don't.

[@WhiskeyToro]

@D Suteki fyi...what kind of idiot adds a heart emoji at the end of a comment like that? Lol...what are you, Bipolar? Fucking tool.

[@nicholelaskowski5784]

I have been DYING for a new season of black mirror. No show will ever compare to it it’s that good.

[@shivavuyani]

It's easy just take mashrooms and know the future.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

I haven't tried that yet

[@rehannoon8709]

@@BehindtheCurtain yet.

[@kalebbbbbbbbb]

Bugson McKenzie accurate m8

[@boterham7144]

Behind the Curtain maybe you should and treat us with the result?

[@RockPhonic]

This is really great!! Not very often do TV show/movie creators give advice on how to write and make shows.

[@elijohnson8283]

The editing on this is unreal. What a video!

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Thank you!

[@pizzaiq]

Rewriting is, to me, the core process and it's actually where I feel most creative. Not awful at all.

[@summertimerobot437]

Black Mirror is awesome! Please write more!

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

*Fun Fact:* The title _Black Mirror_ referred to a black pitched screen when TV, computers, or phones are most likely turned off. I never realized that the science fiction version of the Twilight Zone really ahead of its time of how the show demonstrated perfectly about technology have a negative impact on humanity.

[@vik.1903]

I believe the science fiction version of The Twilight Zone is commonly known as The Twilight Zone

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Yeah really clever name. Love that.

[@2coulin]

Also a 'black mirror' was traditionally used for scrying (a form of divination as used by Nostradamus) where the subject channels things from the future.

[@Kazza_8240]

Alex Lawther captivated me on the Shut up and Dance episode. His face is so emotive, and I want to see him on much more stuff 😁

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Want to get access to exclusive interviews with professional screenwriters about their writing process? The Behind the Curtain Membership is coming soon. Sign up for the email newsletter now to learn more about it: www.behindthecurtainfilm.com

[@ChristophHeuwieser]

please consider "The OA"

[@jetemoji6293]

had to pause real quick to say genuinely this Page is amazing and inspiring me in so many ways.

[@denizgonjanin6585]

Fantastic work as always, just keep them coming and know there are a lot of grateful people out there.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Thanks, Deni! I really appreciate comments like that.

[@shannonalexis4300]

San Junipero was such a beautiful story. Needed to be a movie!

[@johnhall87]

San juniper was a movie. Every episode of black mirror is basically a movie. San junipero was an hour and a half long.

[@PartyPoison1995]

Give Upload on Amazon a try, it might seem a little light hearted at first but it is quite deep at it's core and has a similar vibe and concept. Check it out, highly recommend it

[@UncraftedLIVE]

Best channel for screenwriters.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Thanks, man. Means a lot.

[@twinpumpkin]

Whats the name of the song that starts at 0:48??

[@BB-mp2dz]

I love the name black mirror because look at your Device turned off it’s a black mirror

[@Kishan_Baijnath]

Another gorgeous video. Thank you. :)

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Thank you!

[@squishedcockroach8579]

your channel is absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for all your work

[@algoodie7761]

I loved the black mirror series, a lot of things came true though. I really think the series need to keep going and opening possibilities and giving us warning signs of technology that could possibly harm mankind

[@KerryRowberry]

This has totally motivated me to finish writing my PhD and get ready to defend it. 🙌🏼✊🏻

[@michaelotis223]

I'm one of those annoying people who claim the show peaked at season 3 (more specifically after San Junipero, which the Americans a la Netflix loved so much they tried to duplicate that feel)

[@noahbirthisel3285]

San Junipero is an overated episode anyway.

[@michaelotis223]

@@noahbirthisel3285 not gonna lie, at the time I needed that episode. It felt like a break from all the pessimism and existential horror in the prior episodes I was binge watching. Recently revisited it years later and it's pretty.... standard? The love story is still there of course, but that's just it. There is no compelling dilemma of the technology in question, since the characters are already ageing or dying anyways - the choice to remain in San Junipero is pretty much made easier for the characters.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Season Three is an excellent season

[@jaysway9251]

Michael Otis San Junipero is highly overrated.

[@michaelotis223]

@@jaysway9251 lol it won lyk every tv award I can think of. And of course the inevitable praise from the LGBTQ community. I still think it's good TV (well rounded characters I was rooting for). But as a Black Mirror episode it's a bit too easy with the complexities of virtual reality.

[@farhannr28]

You need to do Atlanta next

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Greaat suggestion

[@kemojoaquin]

Agreed

[@farhannr28]

@@BehindtheCurtain honestly still waiting for this

[@TheFushigiFan99]

I love this channel. How does it not have more subscribers?

[@BehindtheCurtain]

We're growing quickly! Thanks for the compliment. :)

[@batgurrl]

Thanks so much. Nicely done as usual

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Thank you!

[@MegaYoyo911]

Metalhead is the most genuinely terrifying episode of any series that doesn't use Hollywood's most overused thriller/horror/suspense techniques (camera angles, score etc.) It just scares the shit out of you because of the tension and stress of this menacing thing coming after you. Anyone got other suggestions for scary series that completely avoid any mainstream Hollywood like themes? Something that will really freak you out. I'm thinking of weeping angels, insidious, hereditary, woman in black kind of stuff. But more genuine thriller. Anyone?

[@jayjerrz]

omg honestly, i watched every single episode of black mirror and only went halfway through metalhead bc i got really really scared

[@MegaYoyo911]

@@jayjerrz haha understandable 😅

[@parthsavaliya2524]

Do "How I wrote Arrested Development" And "How I wrote Ozark"

[@BehindtheCurtain]

I too enjoy Jason Bateman. Those would both be great videos! Thanks for the suggestion.

[@LeeLee19901]

Please bring back black mirror!!!!

[@ItisMoody]

I love how this video simplifies the process for us audience. In reality I know it's way more complicated. I would love to know which episode(s) took years to finish!..

[@vahidfrzh9379]

thank you very much formaking this video as experienced yet novice wirting it's very helpful

[@kingsleylaurent562]

Amazing story telling

[@seankovacs4917]

Shut up and dance will forever be my favorite, it changed me

[@Bennymoth]

Amazing videos!!

[@BPBrutalPenguin]

Great compilation once again 😊

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Thanks!

[@bertvsrob]

the toby kebbell entire history of you hit too close to home >

[@martymcthatsthemostuseless8250]

Do one on Inside No.9 please. It's like black mirror but funnier and with a lower budget

[@melid211]

When’s the next season!?

[@mariovillanueva2442]

I'm not completely ashamed to admit that 1x03 broke me, that episode was simply BRUTAL

[@AlexJ1]

Okay what the fuck, KZbin took waaayyyyy too long to recommend me this channel. Subscribed now. Sorry for being late. I'll get comfy.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Hahaha. Glad you're here now.

[@leebeer]

The fact he wrote Nathan barley too called out the hipster scene way b4 it happened

[@Sicksick_sicksick]

I have a question so when you write a script for a show how do you know how many pages or words will be the length of an episode cause all episodes should be the same length but how do you figure out if what you've written is more or less then the length the episode should be?

[@inyangbassey722]

CAN YOU PLEASE LIST THE FEATURED EPISODES?

[@stu9000]

Black Mirror is brilliant. Thank you

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Glad you enjoyed!

[@davidporterrealestate]

This is a great channel

[@ozricaurora6943]

The first three seasons were excellent. It's a shame how downhill the show has gone

[@michaelotis223]

Truly a shame. To me it's not that Brooker has surrounded himself with yesmen, but that Brooker isn't exploring his ideas to the fullest so the latter seasons come off as gimmicky with nothing much to say. Maybe he needs to take a break from Black Mirror, and return when he has something else to say. Coz I think the world has caught up to what Brooker initially started. We were not desensitized in 2011-12 when the show started.

[@brad4013]

I hope season 6 is going to fantastic. I can't wait.

[@MrLogic88]

USS Callister was amazing though.

[@ozricaurora6943]

@@MrLogic88 Yeah I agree. I'd say most of season 4 was underwhelming though

[@abdelrahmanmekky7011]

I liked season 4

[@youngcashregisterakalilbro3261]

Great work sir Pretty sir this has been said but I love how you just let the creator speak I was so focused on what he was saying Great montage too it synched perfectly with each point they were getting too Props chief

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Hey I really appreciate that! Glad you're emotions the videos. I've got a lot more coming that I think you'll really enjoy.

[@youngcashregisterakalilbro3261]

@@BehindtheCurtain Looking forward to it I'm your fan but this is my first time commenting I love the Black Mirror and Dark Knight content they're my favorite you own chief

[@romanz9848]

I never watched it but im thinking about starting but i hope its worth while

[@riared6837]

Hi, love your videos! Was the Edgar Wright video ever uploaded? Thanks!

[@ThoughtsAndPretzels]

i always wrote what i wanted to. for 10 years i was a full time author. but true, not all my novels were traditionally published. do i regret that? no.

[@Kainkun]

what happened to the edgar wright video 😭

[@hectorflores6642]

Does anybody know if the 3-4 pages initial version of the story mentioned in here are available? It would be nice to know how this document looks like when pitching Netflix.

[@whothetechknows]

Great video. I love The content in this video.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Thanks for watching!

[@homenick93]

To be fair he’s talking about his episodes.... many other famous tv writers including Jesse Armstrong (succession, peep show, veep) wrote whole episodes for this show. Although Charlie Brooker is still great obviously

[@peterbune]

Can you please do Armando Iannucci?!

[@visionaryapril_art]

Beautiful

[@_SliK_]

They should work with Karl Pilkington lol👌🏼

[@Omnigreen]

Great and unique content!

[@BehindtheCurtain]

I appreciate that!

[@pts5217]

More like “How a genius writes brilliant shit”

[@Highwayunicorn0]

Pleaso do an episode on Hannibal

[@jehadkuvvetli9181]

Thank you so much 🙏

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Always welcome

[@SoSo-li6dn]

the most successful media studies student ever

[@ahnafdrubo9727]

Wasn't this Tyler Mowery's channel? Or am I mixing things up?

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Tyler made a video similar to this style about Jordan Peele, yes. We're good friends, but no, I'm not Tyler Mowery haha.

[@ahnafdrubo9727]

@@BehindtheCurtain I'm not saying you are. I saw your name in the video. I just thought this was Tyler's channel

[@wilhelmcough]

Brooker's comments on juxtaposing flawed humans with perfect machines suddenly reminded me of Dostoyevsky's "Notes from underground" - in which the embittered main character has a lot to say on man's inherent irrationality as a way to challenge utopian thought. I'm slightly terrified youtube lets you post this much text, but if anyone's interested I copied one of the most famous extracts below: Yes, but here I come to a stop! Gentlemen, you must excuse me for being over-philosophical; it's the result of forty years underground! Allow me to indulge my fancy. You see, gentlemen, reason is an excellent thing, there's no disputing that, but reason is nothing but reason and satisfies only the rational side of man's nature, while will is a manifestation of the whole life, that is, of the whole human life including reason and all the impulses. And although our life, in this manifestation of it, is often worthless, yet it is life and not simply extracting square roots. Here I, for instance, quite naturally want to live, in order to satisfy all my capacities for life, and not simply my capacity for reasoning, that is, not simply one twentieth of my capacity for life. What does reason know? Reason only knows what it has succeeded in learning (some things, perhaps, it will never learn; this is a poor comfort, but why not say so frankly?) and human nature acts as a whole, with everything that is in it, consciously or unconsciously, and, even if it goes wrong, it lives. I suspect, gentlemen, that you are looking at me with compassion; you tell me again that an enlightened and developed man, such, in short, as the future man will be, cannot consciously desire anything disadvantageous to himself, that that can be proved mathematically. I thoroughly agree, it can--by mathematics. But I repeat for the hundredth time, there is one case, one only, when man may consciously, purposely, desire what is injurious to himself, what is stupid, very stupid--simply in order to have the right to desire for himself even what is very stupid and not to be bound by an obligation to desire only what is sensible. Of course, this very stupid thing, this caprice of ours, may be in reality, gentlemen, more advantageous for us than anything else on earth, especially in certain cases. And in particular it may be more advantageous than any advantage even when it does us obvious harm, and contradicts the soundest conclusions of our reason concerning our advantage--for in any circumstances it preserves for us what is most precious and most important--that is, our personality, our individuality. Some, you see, maintain that this really is the most precious thing for mankind; choice can, of course, if it chooses, be in agreement with reason; and especially if this be not abused but kept within bounds. It is profitable and sometimes even praiseworthy. But very often, and even most often, choice is utterly and stubbornly opposed to reason ... and ... and ... do you know that that, too, is profitable, sometimes even praiseworthy? Gentlemen, let us suppose that man is not stupid. (Indeed one cannot refuse to suppose that, if only from the one consideration, that, if man is stupid, then who is wise?) But if he is not stupid, he is monstrously ungrateful! Phenomenally ungrateful. In fact, I believe that the best definition of man is the ungrateful biped. But that is not all, that is not his worst defect; his worst defect is his perpetual moral obliquity, perpetual--from the days of the Flood to the Schleswig-Holstein period. Moral obliquity and consequently lack of good sense; for it has long been accepted that lack of good sense is due to no other cause than moral obliquity. Put it to the test and cast your eyes upon the history of mankind. What will you see? Is it a grand spectacle? Grand, if you like. Take the Colossus of Rhodes, for instance, that's worth something. With good reason Mr. Anaevsky testifies of it that some say that it is the work of man's hands, while others maintain that it has been created by nature herself. Is it many-coloured? May be it is many-coloured, too: if one takes the dress uniforms, military and civilian, of all peoples in all ages--that alone is worth something, and if you take the undress uniforms you will never get to the end of it; no historian would be equal to the job. Is it monotonous? May be it's monotonous too: it's fighting and fighting; they are fighting now, they fought first and they fought last--you will admit, that it is almost too monotonous. In short, one may say anything about the history of the world--anything that might enter the most disordered imagination. The only thing one can't say is that it's rational. The very word sticks in one's throat. And, indeed, this is the odd thing that is continually happening: there are continually turning up in life moral and rational persons, sages and lovers of humanity who make it their object to live all their lives as morally and rationally as possible, to be, so to speak, a light to their neighbours simply in order to show them that it is possible to live morally and rationally in this world. And yet we all know that those very people sooner or later have been false to themselves, playing some queer trick, often a most unseemly one. Now I ask you: what can be expected of man since he is a being endowed with strange qualities? Shower upon him every earthly blessing, drown him in a sea of happiness, so that nothing but bubbles of bliss can be seen on the surface; give him economic prosperity, such that he should have nothing else to do but sleep, eat cakes and busy himself with the continuation of his species, and even then out of sheer ingratitude, sheer spite, man would play you some nasty trick. He would even risk his cakes and would deliberately desire the most fatal rubbish, the most uneconomical absurdity, simply to introduce into all this positive good sense his fatal fantastic element. It is just his fantastic dreams, his vulgar folly that he will desire to retain, simply in order to prove to himself--as though that were so necessary--that men still are men and not the keys of a piano, which the laws of nature threaten to control so completely that soon one will be able to desire nothing but by the calendar. And that is not all: even if man really were nothing but a piano-key, even if this were proved to him by natural science and mathematics, even then he would not become reasonable, but would purposely do something perverse out of simple ingratitude, simply to gain his point. And if he does not find means he will contrive destruction and chaos, will contrive sufferings of all sorts, only to gain his point! He will launch a curse upon the world, and as only man can curse (it is his privilege, the primary distinction between him and other animals), may be by his curse alone he will attain his object--that is, convince himself that he is a man and not a piano-key! If you say that all this, too, can be calculated and tabulated--chaos and darkness and curses, so that the mere possibility of calculating it all beforehand would stop it all, and reason would reassert itself, then man would purposely go mad in order to be rid of reason and gain his point! I believe in it, I answer for it, for the whole work of man really seems to consist in nothing but proving to himself every minute that he is a man and not a piano-key! It may be at the cost of his skin, it may be by cannibalism! And this being so, can one help being tempted to rejoice that it has not yet come off, and that desire still depends on something we don't know? You will scream at me (that is, if you condescend to do so) that no one is touching my free will, that all they are concerned with is that my will should of itself, of its own free will, coincide with my own normal interests, with the laws of nature and arithmetic. Good heavens, gentlemen, what sort of free will is left when we come to tabulation and arithmetic, when it will all be a case of twice two make four? Twice two makes four without my will. As if free will meant that!

[@BehindtheCurtain]

I love Crime and Punishment and need to read more Dostoyevsky. Notes from the Underground is on my list as well as Brothers Karamazov

[@AmCanTech]

Black mirror was truly an original series. Some episodes were amazing like the soldier with the implant , and some were lacking like the first episode of the first season. Still love the show and waiting for more episodes.

[@naveengwalia4007]

amazing

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Glad you think so!

[@HomemadeSubmarine]

Once Netflix took it up it really lost it’s edge.

[@LukeLoveland]

How do you get these people on your show?

[@HarshNerf]

just ask and make sure you schedule your interview/filming around their priorities. sometimes it takes years from first contact to interview

[@prappsy]

There is no show. This is a compilation of Charlie's other podcasts and interviews. They're listed in the description.

[@Youtuber90sdude]

Funny thing is black mirror has predicted our future more specifically the now.

[@guccipurse]

Give an example

[@gothicknight5538]

@@guccipurse And still no reply from him. Maybe too caught up with the shock value.

[@squamish4244]

I wonder what he would do with a global pandemic. Wait. We're living through one. Nevermind.

[@The.Kyle.Scott.]

Oh look at me I’m early :) I love you BTC

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Heck yeah. Good to see ya.

[@alejandrohualdez5550]

Imagine a dystopian world where everyone is not allowed to leave their home unless they get permission from the government because of an invisible......oh...wait...

[@BehindtheCurtain]

rip

[@Ludvigvanamadeus]

what if phones, but too much?

[@BehindtheCurtain]

Hahaha

[@charliebolt4107]

Oh.. Thought he was gonna say he got his plot ideas from Karl Pilkington

[@Dinckelburg]

Can't wait to see Clive Warren in the next series

[@jonnybishop]

Kane Danaher weetabix

[@benjammin9471]

@@Dinckelburg and Rebecca de Mornay

[@jaysway9251]

Best season was S1 and the show peaked at S3. S5 is absolute trash

[@yeahok1839]

It became americanised. First 2 seasons are amazing

[@evil1143]

Hmmmm no I think the only thing that's trash is you.

[@jaysway9251]

Evil 1 lol ok?

[@everafter2611]

I need money, lots of it! :D

[@gottalight3574]

the moment netflix got their hands at this show everything went bad

[@everafter2611]

Just give me money!

[@ItisMoody]

*THUMBS UP if you can't wait for COVID19 to go away so we'll get a new Black Mirror season 🖤*

[@TheSuperQuail]

Season 5 was funny though... Loved it up until then.

[@rjkzbkfy9665]

Please, please do the one for Bojack Horseman.

[@BehindtheCurtain]

It's on my list!

[@curtismaize]

nick ideas from karl pilkington

[@MikeNevill3]

people who make video games need to here this .. so bad..

[@maranathashalom9402]

This show is MESSED UP man. Gotta re-watch it soon, only gone through it once some years ago, but can remember basically every single moment :OO It heavily influenced by world view regarding technological advancements and the depths of the human psyche and morals. Oh and let's not forget the insanely great aesthetics of the show and even the traumatizing moments. I think some of the episodes I watched on some drugs and they messed me up good :D *edit* OOOH and the Black Mirror movie on Netflix with the different options! Man that shit was revolutionary!!! I really, really liked it. Was dark af.

[@vanntitrises2715]

House M.D Please

[@itsalexvargas]

tea

[@akesnov9329]

please change the thumbnail

[@BehindtheCurtain]

To what

[@akesnov9329]

@@BehindtheCurtainI'ld prefer striking vipers 🥒

[@jaysway9251]

akes nov that’s gay

[@rem975]

@@BehindtheCurtain anything but season 5. White Christmas

[@spacewad8745]

-listen to karl pilkington