This message contains spoilers For the episodes “Black Mirror” “Eulogy” and “The whole story of you”.
Fans of “Black Mirror” often fear that the spectacle will be short of real surprises or significant things to say. There is now a familiar formula in the way an episode typical of “Black Mirror” should be down: an apparently sympathetic character is presented to science fiction technology, technology turns out to be worse than supposed, and the main character proves to be more accomplice in this evil than we would have been. For the character to be a pure innocent victim of technology is not enough; Horror only cleaned if the victim carries him at least partially.
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At least on the surface, “Eulogy” checks all these boxes. The character of Paul Giamatti, Phillip, is presented as a lonely man and the broken heart, who asked to use a computer improving the image to review the key moments of a relationship in their twenties. Technology allows him to enter old photos, letting his memories fill and improve existing things outside the frame. It is a cool concept, but it is not a single phillip is delighted to participate. He hates his ex-girlfriend recently discouraged Carol, and this process of revising his happy moments with her quickly highlights her vindictive side. He cannot stop talking about how Carol was selfish and she ruined her life.
But while we look at him talking about Carol, it is clear that there is a lot of guilt under his bitterness. Halfway, we discover that Phillip deceived her as much as she was wrong. We also learn that he had an alcohol problem, that he had not taken his musical interests as seriously as he should have, and that he was simply not a great boyfriend in general. Like many “Black Mirror” protagonists during the series race, Phillip is not a saint.
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“Eulogy” is the opposite of “all the story of you”
Some fans could compare “praise” to an episode like “Crocodile” of season 4, which presents a similar memory sweeping technology. Or maybe they will compare it to the star of season 3 “San Junipero”, a love story where the characters can review the decades of their youth. For me, it most reminds a story of season 1: “The whole story of you.” In this episode, a jealous boyfriend rewinding and over-anoly over-anoly, obsessive ways between him and his wife, ultimately confirming that she not only cheated on her, but that she knowingly had a baby with the man with whom she had cheated.
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I have always hated “the whole story of you”, not because writing is bad but because I found the episode miserable even according to the “Black Mirror” standards. The story made more disturbing by the underlying current of misogyny: the main character is controlling and vindictive towards his wife, which makes him more complicated and more uncomfortable when his suspicions about him are proven 100%. We never get the full side of the story of women here; We only see her from the point of view of her angry and bitter husband.
“Eulogy” also concerns the rupture of a relationship, with a revelation that the woman involved had cheated and had another man. But even if the episode also sticks to the perspective of man – to the point where we do not see Carol’s face until the end – “praise” is more interested in asking what the woman feels. While Phillip Trash speaks Carol throughout, the guide with which he is (a digital consciousness following in the simulation of memory, played by Patsy Ferran) constantly pushes him (and the spectator) to consider Carol’s point of view.
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What happens to the woman and the baby after “the whole story of you” is a total mystery, but “Eulogy” follows Carol and her child, ending their history in a worthy way. There is much more to Carol than what she did in Phillip, and the episode never forgets to make sure we know it.
Black Mirror gives Paul Giamatti a spectacular actor
“The whole story of you” is always an effective criticism of toxic masculinity, the main character who finally regretted his obsessive behavior. But it is a cold and cruel examination of the subject, which often has the impression of singering in humanity itself. “Eulogy” is optimistic about his heart. Phillip slowly proves the sentence of being rooted, and technology improving memory here is undoubtedly a net positive for the world.
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Like the arc of the character of Paul Giamatti in “The Holdovers”, you can see life return to the old grumpy phillip, little by little, while he deepens Carol. As the episode reaches its greatest revelation – Phillip discovers that Carol had left a very Important letter for him – all the protests from Phillip have dropped: this guy still loves Carol deeply, no matter how much he asked for the opposite. Giamatti’s performance indicates on this subject from the first minute, but it is a pleasure to see Phillip understand this for itself. It is Cathartic to see him reluctantly pass to remove some photos to excavate with enthusiasm through his old things for everything related to Carol.
When Phillip finally returns to review the face of Young Carol, revisiting her memory for a long time that she played an original song on her cello, Giamatti plays a man who finally let himself feel again. He crossed a sad trip with a lot of ugly moments, including a particularly devastating punch in the final act, but unlike most of the “Black Mirror” protagonists, he takes out a better person. “The whole story of you” spoke of a man who succumbs to his rage and his insecurity; “Eulogy” concerns a man who lets them go.
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