“Nosedive,” depicts a society that is ultra-focused on how people perceive them. It’s a society in which people are constantly being rated by how they act, interact and what they post on social media; the higher you are rated the more liked by society you are and the more privileges you get, however, when you are lower rated you are shunned by society. Lacey is someone who tried her best to be liked by everyone but went on a downhill spiral and eventually cracked when trying to be perfect was no longer doable for her.
Overall, Nosedive was an interesting Black Mirror episode that showed how amplified social media could get. One of the most interesting scenes was when Lacey took a bite of a cookie and drank the drink she got for breakfast at the beginning of the episode. She did not even eat the cookie and she did not like the drink, but both made a good combination for her social media updates. She was trying to put her best self out there and instead of showing her true nature. Similar to how on social media, people post their vacations and their extravagant dinners to show as if they have a perfect life by only posting the good. However, Nosedive demonstrates that people who are ultra-perfect and nice are fake because it’s human nature to get upset and have bad days. So, on the contrast, the nicest person in the show was one of the people who had the lowest ratings, because she was authentically being herself instead of putting on this fake persona. In a perfect world, society probably wishes everyone would be nice and always be on their best behavior but it’s impossible. After being so perfect and trying so hard, it’s what made Lacey crack at the end because when she was showing her normal human emotions people did not want to accept her.
However, today’s social media, at least with this generation, has begun to let loose on past social media standards so this version of reality is probably far-fetched. For example, some of the more popular people who post on Tik Tok are showing their relatable sides instead of their perfect ones. The people who are more “popular” these days are the ones who are authentically themselves and show that they have bad days too and are open to the public with their struggles. People are starting to realize how there is not a “perfect” person in society and are being more open to show their true natures.
This is an incredibly interesting problem to pose in a television episode, because it is so apparent, especially in young generations right now. People’s social media pages are perfectly curated to portray an ideal life. The colors need to flow, the lighting needs to be perfect, and they will do whatever they think will garner the most likes. This creates an unrealistic set of standards for the developing brains exposed to the internet today. It creates a culture of comparisons that leaves people aspiring to become something that was never real to begin with.
I remember watching this black mirror episode and finding it so interesting. While the society depicted is dystopian and futuristic, I think a lot of people feel the basis of those emotions that Lacey feels– a pressure to be picture perfect and an obsession over curating your self image. I remember how uncomfortable I felt as I watched Lacey slowly start to crack. It was tough to watch because if I were her, I too would want to act out and scream F THIS. What holds her back is the threat of being completely shunned by society, which ends up happening as she falls down the slippery slope. I think it really speaks to the fact that the way we interact with social media can be so unnatural. It literally takes a huge tole on our well being, and I think that connects to why people are feeling so anxious in today’s society. That self-comparison is detrimental to psychological and social wellbeing.