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USS Callister is a SJW Rip Off of "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"

posted 6 years ago by cyberbob (3488)
13 replies | jump to latest

Not surprised to see this season getting good reviews, it's become the trend to make vapid rehashes of better stories and add elements of identity politics in order to drive the left wing media wild

Charlie Brooker is a hack, or has become so lazy that he's resorted to straight up plagiarism. The "asshole God", torturing a group of people who can't die. Even the removal of the protagonist's face so she can't scream. Some might call it an homage, I call it theft. It even stole a bit from Futurama

And of course the underlying feminist message had to be shoe horned in there. we get it, white men are evil. especially if they're in positions of power and in the future they will torture video game characters. what an original and insightful thought

I'm not going to bother watching the rest of the series. I can guarantee that it's going to touch on such beaten-to-death topics as racism, LGBTQ issues, etc. I could already feel the show's self importance ballooning in season 3 and now I see the transformation into another Netflix leftist cog in the machine

I consider myself a leftist but these shows are all starting to look the same and say the exact same things. Not surprisingly most are written and directed by white men who probably have savior complexes

[–] exatera (3947) 6 years ago

How do you go through life, I wonder, when you are outraged by SO MUCH in it?..

And the "white men are evil" conclusion is preposterous - the problem was with that character specifically, he was creepy and socially inept. He couldn't even exercise the power that (as CTO) was rightly his.

He really was a very dysfunctional human being.

P.S.: no, there was nothing about LGBTQ issues in this season.

[–] cyberbob (3488) 6 years ago

I go through life very angry. But for real though, I come on this website specifically to rant about movies and shows. obviously I'm going to have strong opinions

The character is meant to be representative of toxic masculinity, male entitlement, etc.

When the episode started I was pleasantly surprised to see that Jesse Plemons was gonna be the main protagonist. I'm not against women or people of color protagonists, but it feels almost expected now after all these stupid inclusivity movements. They got me invested in the character and got me to sympathize with him. Here was a talented and smart but unappreciated guy who would cope with his shyness by escaping to a virtual reality world. Who can't relate to that? One of the main reasons we watch movies and shows is to escape our every day troubles.

But surprise, surprise. Of course they had to make him the villain and the spunky programmer chick was the real protagonist. yeah, yeah, we get it. men objectify women and this guy literally turned her into an object. what a dick. but of course even her virtual self was too smart for him

And of course, since they got a bunch of token people of color to play the supporting crew members, the episode had to have a happy ending. so let's take the bite out of the classic "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" ending and just punish the evil nerd. I mean, think of the absolute absurdity of a bunch of virtual people being able to trap and essentially kill a living person, and the even more ridiculous notion that virtual people (essentially video game characters) NEED to be saved and don't just stop existing when a game is turned off

Brooker had always shied away from the more outlandish, pulpy sci fi elements in Black Mirror, and now I can see why. He has absolutely no knack for it.

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 6 years ago

Great points, Bob. However, I do love this series, so I will continue to watch.

😎

[–] cyberbob (3488) 6 years ago

Thank you.

I know how you feel. Decent anthology sci-fi shows come around very rarely. But the appeal of shows like The Twilight Zone are that they made you think and used genre tropes to make statements about people and society.

And Black Mirror did that very well at first. The first couple of seasons examined our evolving relationship with technology and provided cautionary tales. The Entire History of You warned us that as technology becomes ubiquitous it can provide many conveniences but it can also cause harm to our personal relationships. Fifteen Million Merits examined our growing addiction to entertainment and consumerist culture. Be Right Back is a poignant story that asks if it were possible to use technology to recreate our dead loved ones, would it be a good or bad thing?

But USS Callister, I feel, isn't saying anything original. it's saying what a million other shows and movies are saying nowadays because it's the trendy thing to do: that men can be bad

I might watch one or two more episodes of this season just see if I'm wrong, but more than likely I'll just stick to Twilight Zone re runs.

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 6 years ago

Yeah, Callister was not a barn burner.

Happy New Year!

😎

[–] brux (14666) 6 years ago

You sound like a quick-drying jerk .... the story you mention is the worst of the series, and by far. They continually get better, but I have not seen the last one yet. When you have some accomplishments maybe you have a right to be such a prima donna, until them, stifle yourself Edith.

[–] cyberbob (3488) 6 years ago

"You haven't accomplished anything, you have no right to say whether this song is good or bad"

"You haven't accomplished anything, you have no right to say whether the food at this restaurant is good or bad"

"You haven't accomplished anything, you have no right to say whether this weed is good or bad"

Imagine if we all lived in your fantasy world where only people who "have some accomplishments" are allowed to have opinions. Hey, that sounds like a good idea for an episode of Black Mirror

[–] brux (14666) 6 years ago

Relax, I did not have the time energy or inclination to really lay into you as you deserve for that too quick and too brutal non-review. I did not chide you for expressing you opinion as you seem to prefer to think, but the way you prized your ignorance without seeing the rest of the series. Though I sense you are the kind of person who would watch it now, or say you watched and still thought it was bad just to be a jerk. You don't have to have major accomplishments to be a critic, or express any opinion, but you also do not have any reason or right to be a prick about it with less than full information ... clear now? But you also indicate a right-wing bent, so I supposed if you ever get it it might be some years from now when you actually see what real life is or decide to care.

[–] cyberbob (3488) 6 years ago

I'm not being a prick. If you don't like my opinion on a show that you enjoy you can ignore it. I didn't post this to piss off Black Mirror fans, considering that I myself am still a big fan of the first two seasons. If my replies are prickish then it's because people feel the need to respond to my thread with insults

If I watch other episodes I will review those. I admit in my OP that I haven't seen the rest of the season lol so I'm not sure what your point was

My point isn't just about Black Mirror, but about the overall trend of television to pander to certain ideologies. If you don't believe that USS Callister is all about misogyny and has a feminist message then I suggest you visit the episode's wikipedia page or read one of the many online reviews which talk in length about the episode's themes

[–] brux (14666) 6 years ago

>> I'm not going to bother watching the rest of the series.

> I admit in my OP that I haven't seen the rest of the season lol so I'm not sure what your point was

You have conservative arrogance and prickishness so ingrained you cannot see it ... and clearly you do not like it being "mirrored" to you.

You have arrogant opinions without basis which you used to direct towards politics, when overall it shows the defect is in you. And when shown clearly what others could probably see and judge right away, you dig in.

Also, statistically given the frequency and ubiquitous of today's internet viz. nasty conservative comments, asking someone to conclude reality or bias based on what shows up on a Wikipedia page is another logical fallacy.

Add troll to the list of your defects.

So that this doesn't get nastier, or take up more of my time since I am more then llikely wasting it on you, I'll just put you on ignore and you can have you last word, unseen by me.

Cheers for the New Year and may you glance in your future mirrors and they not be black.

[–] cyberbob (3488) 6 years ago

It's pretty sad to see someone so butt hurt over an internet post. Conservative arrogance? I have no idea what you are talking about lol. I'm not going to bother looking into your post history but you're probably just a troll

[–] Satan2016 (23801) 6 years ago

Brux is a well know SJW insult-troll.

[–] [deleted] 6 years ago

I haven't heard about "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" before, just googled it and seems interesting, it's going on my reading list. Thanks.

I recently watched Star Trek the Original Series and there was an episode in season 1 episode 2 "Charlie X" where the Enterprise picks up an unstable 17-year-old boy with dangerous mental powers who goes on a rampage, hideously transforming or vanishing crew members at will.
And one of the crew members is transformed to have eyes, ears and mouth missing because he feels they were laughing at him.

So I guess Gene Roddenberry was inspired by the book since both was released in 1967, and now Black Mirror episode director was maybe paying hommage to the Star Trek episode.

https://goo.gl/images/mqk8CM