While Episode 1, Season 2 of Black Mirror explores the desire to fill the emotional void associated with the death of a loved one, it more deeply examines how the process of grieving has changed due to advances in technology. As someone who has witnessed a lot of death in her life, I tried to connect Martha’s grieving process to Elisabeth Kübler Ross’ five stages of grief model: shock, denial, anger and guilt, despair and depression, and acceptance. Although I could easily identify some signs of grief in Martha’s behavior, I had trouble determining whether she arrived at the final stage, acceptance. It appears as if Martha is unable to accept Ash’s death because she never really let him die. This raises the question: how does the process of “mourning,” or “lamenting for the dead” occur when the person who died isn’t actually gone (OED)? Technology’s ability to keep Ash “alive” obstructed the grieving process for Martha, thereby bringing her more suffering and pain in the end.
When the police officers arrive to inform Martha of Ash’s passing, there is no dialogue; all we see is Martha open the door, look at the officers and the flashing lights outside, and close the door in their faces. These actions make it seem as if the audience is in Martha’s head. Just as she slams the door before the officers can inform her of Ash’s death, her mind simultaneously slams the door on the possibility that he is gone. This is a clear indication of denial, one of the stages of grief. Additionally, when Sarah informs Martha of a technology that would enable her to speak with Ash, Martha screams, “Shut up!” which brings her emotions to a public level. The anger present in this instance also represents yet another stage of grief. At first, Martha grieves in “normal” ways, but it is not until she develops an unhealthy attachment to the technological replica of Ash that her grieving process truly goes astray.
One especially poignant moment in the episode occurs after Martha’s ultrasound when she drops her phone containing Ash’s voice on the ground. We see that the phone shatters and his voice disappears, leading Martha to believe that she has lost him forever. Immediately after she hears from Ash on her newly purchased device, she apologizes profusely for “breaking him.” It is almost as if watching the phone crack and die was like experiencing Ash’s death all over again, which does not help Martha progress in terms of her grieving process. This moment exemplifies how technology can intervene and intrude in the grieving process in ways that make it even harder to let go. Ash’s statement, “Calm down. I’m not going anywhere,” also masks the possibility that he could very well be lost again due to the fragility of technology.
Martha’s unwillingness to accept Ash’s passing becomes more apparent as she explores her relationship with his replica. She rejects many of his actions and identifies flaws in his behavior, claiming that the real Ash would not behave in ways the replica did. Although at times she wants to get rid of the replica, she is unable to because she is to some extent addicted to it. The addictive nature of this technology makes the acceptance stage of grief unattainable. Confining Ash to her attic confronts the idea that her grieving process will never be complete and more broadly hints at the implications technology has on grief in society today.
In today’s world it has almost become ritualistic to grieve publicly. For instance, funeralOne, a technology company, provides funeral homes with webcasting services and streams videos of funerals online for people to watch wherever and whenever. Watching a funeral on one’s cellular device has now become a common occurrence which poses a threat to the traditional funeral industry. You can now light virtual candles for loved ones on memorial websites, utilize online funeral home guest books, and address the dead in Facebook comments. With the amount of technology increasing within the realms of death and loss, we can put a hold on our grief and mourning processes because we are able to interact with the deceased in unprecedented ways. Will we ever be able to move on after a loved one passes? This episode of Black Mirror and advances in technology surrounding death reaffirm the need to reassess the stages of grief and the places we mourn as we enter a rapidly evolving digital climate.