@@nl-ho4wm same. he’s still at that age where he can unlearn his “desires” but because of this terrible event it cements a much more grave picture for him that he did not even choose. Then again, he could’ve always just admitted to his family about this and asked them for help both regarding the ransomware and the child porn instead of succumbing to the crimes just because he doesn’t want anyone to know.
Maybe I was just naive, but I was totally surprised at the reveal. Up until that point I was rooting for Kenny, sympathizing with him and wondering why they were being so cruel to him, and thought they had mistken him for someone else. Black Mirror fully trolled me.
nah i figured he had to have done something fucking terrible considering the absolute extent he went to in order to not get caught up for his actions. if it was just jerking off i doubt he would’ve robbed a bank
To be fair even this far into Black Mirror there had been some big "miss" episodes for every hit, even the good ones usually missed certain points that made their plots unrealistic or stupid (given the universe they exist in I mean) so I was fully considering it bad writing. Like "why do any of this mate? nobody will actually care." Then at the end I was just like. "Oh. Fairs..."
The acting by the Kenny character was really amazing to watch. One of the best performances by a young actor I've ever seen. It all felt extremely real because of him.
@@patrickconrad396 haha true, but only upon rewatch did his p e do vibes become noticable. First time around it never crossed my mind that he was into that kind of thing and I was simply mesmerized by his amazing performance.
@@BlyGuy I know just funny. First time I saw it I thought he was just gay and didn't want anyone to know. My old formerly not gay roommate used to be super protective over his laptop too lol. Plus cheating on wife and secretly gay seemed more on the same level. Never expected cp. It's my favorite episode because I felt gutted watching it thinking you're rooting for the kid who gets preyed on and then realize he's not innocent at all. So I definitely agree with you. Just think it's hilarious and if I ever meet the actor I'm going to tell him those exact words lol
Something I found interesting is how the hackers punished actual criminals like Kenny, but also people like Hector who, even though morally wrong, didn't commit heinous criminal acts. Yet they were paired together to commit felonies, as if their actions were on the same level. It reminds me of how easily people are demonized, regardless where their actions fall on the "morally wrong" scale. We even see this in the prison system where people who go to prison for drug possession are forced to room with and treated the same as murderers and predators. It brings in the theoretical argument of where do we draw the line on punishment with people who are morally in the wrong? Fantastic episode.
Kinda reminds me of Saw. Some ppl see Jigsaw an antihero even if the 'immoral things' Jigsaw punished them for were often absurd and not even that bad.
@@productoftheLAnd smoking, jigsaw put 2 guys in a trap that would crush their sides if they breathed, of course our main character is healthy and is pitted against a smoker who worked in his building, jigsaw killed that man for bad lungs
I posted a separate full comment, but the idea that Hector wasn't a criminal is almost certainly a misread of the broader purpose of the episode. Hector's behavior, and the show's treatment of his character, signal that the "woman" he thought he was meeting at that hotel was, in fact, a girl, not a woman. Motorbike man's family's reaction is wildly disproportionate to his crime if all _he_ did was hire a prostitute or something. The episode is about the ordinary-seeming people who contribute to an ugly cycle of child trafficking. _All_ of them who get the trollface in the end. Hector is in _Georgina's hotel_ to meet an underage girl, with a video camera. Kenny watches CSAM, which would be the appropriate term for what it is Hector would be making with that video camera in Georgina's hotel. The man Kenny fights in the end is really just a representation of who he's going to become. It's not just that Kenny hides in plain sight, it's that they _all_ do.
The best thing about this episode is that it breaks the stereotypical view of pedophiles. As when we hear about them in the media it's usually a middle age man/woman. And like everyone else who's watched this episode I felt sorry for Kenny until the end.
Not to mention, defying people's tendency to automatically picture IRL bad people as cartoonishly evil like in movies and stuff. Which is kind of harmful, because real evil doesn't make itself so obvious. Real evil is friendly until it doesn't need to be anymore.
I remember watching all that Kenny goes through and just thinking “there has to be more to this. I mean, the video was embarrassing but it’s not worth robbing a bank or killing someone.” I hate that I was right.
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”-Friedrich Nietzsche
Am I the only one who knew that there was no way someone would rob a bank or kill someone to protect a regular porn history? I mean if it was just pictures, he wouldn't have risked his life. Deep down, he knew that if anyone found out, his demons would be exposed. He knew it was wrong. Even if he wasn't ready to fully accept what he had done.
Tbh tho, let's say you were guilty as him, why'd you do the crime to hide your fetish? If a there's a hacker competent enough to take over your webcam, I think you can reasonably argue you were framed by the hackers planting the video in his laptop. Unless there was a security camera in the room confirming he was actually watching said video while jacking off (which there isn't such a camera), you can't really tell if he's actually watching that vid. His reputation would still be ruined, at least by his masturbation video leaking, but miles better than actually committing criminal acts to try and cover your tracks.
@@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022 My point was, if it was just masturbation (not him looking at kids) he wouldn't have robbed a bank. At least I wouldn't. That was my first thought - that he must have done more than just touch himself - and I was right. Anyways- I still stand by that.
@@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022 I wouldn't give a rip if someone saw me masturbate- I mean, I guess it would be embarrassing but not enough to go to prison for robbing a bank. This was just another clue (there are a ton) that his story went much deeper. Of course, as you know, that was exposed at the end of the episode,
For me, the underlying theme of this episode was “Responsibility”. If any of the blackmailed characters would’ve taken responsibility for their wrongdoings and behavior, the jig would’ve been up. For example, if Hector would’ve just owned his infidelity and admitted his adultery to his wife, the hackers would’ve lost all control/power over him. Instead, they went to extreme lengths and were willing to commit even more crimes in an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for their initial deeds. Assuming responsibility for their actions would’ve liberated all the characters from their controllers.
I'm not so sure Hector was telling the truth when he said he just wanted to *F* a 20 year old. Mindy was probably a lot younger. He kept repeating he'd lose his children and, as we saw at the end, they were young girls.
@@Azoqhnqnot necessarily. In the UK split custody is what's most common, so both parents would get custody. I'm no lawyer, but while his infidelity may mean she gets primary custody, he should be able to still see the kids, unless he was a threat to them in some way. And since the other men being blackmailed seem to be pedophiles, it's not much of a stretch to think that maybe the "20 something" was actually a few years younger. I could be completely wrong though, it's left up to interpretation
@@lottasunshine1325 Nah Hector sort of got off easy. The two child attracted people, compare their punishment to Hectors. One dies and the other kills, gets exposed and gets arrested. Compared to all that I believe all Hector was planning to do was cheat.
When I first watched shut up and dance I was a young teenager, you have to remember everything is embarssing at that age and I thought "I would definitely be this ashamed" if someone saw me do that. When the guy he fought said how young? I thought it was too show that Kenny realizes how insiginifcant his action was compared to the others. So the twist was huge to me, rewatching as an adult where sexual things aren't as embarrassing, you could see it early on.
I’m watching this 1st time as late 30s woman…. So I agree my thought was “go a head show video” but then I reminded myself that being 19 would not feel that way. So I was still shocked by the ending
i also thought so, after that scene i was like "huh, he is gonna fight a pedophile who thinks he also is one, since he put himself trough trial after trial, it would only make sense for a guilty man to think he did it because of a big crime. i guess kenny must be regretting it so bad now, since he only beat his meat, poor guy"
The "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" is based on the assumption that the things that are acceptable now will be always acceptable
same here. my head was aching something awful and i just wanted to curl up in a ball while thinking about nothing. thing is, i definitely wouldnt have felt that way about some guy who was like… 21+. its the fact that kenny himself was also very young (ep description says that he is a teenager) and had thrown his whole life away that freaked me out. he did an evil thing, yes, but he was young enough to get help fighting off those thoughts. people like him have a chance to recover if you catch them early enough. its an all-around frustrating and pitiful episode.
The hackers aren’t even remotely interested in “justice”. If they were, they’d’ve sent Kenny’s info straight to the cops and leave it at that. Instead, they used Kenny to rob a bank by threatening the people there with a gun, they used him to straight-up murder another criminal, and then they distributed Kenny’s CSAM stash to his sis and mom. They distributed CSAM! This is a real issue with vigilantes and law enforcement, distributing cp to lure predators even tho by distributing cp they themselves have legally become predators. All these a-holes think they’re above the law cuz the people they go after are somehow “worse”. The hackers are only interested in digging up dirt on people and ruining their lives and the lives of their families in the most horrific ways. They’re FAR worse than any of their victims, using humans as replaceable toys…
@@hotel_arcadia If they just showed Kenny’s jerkoff vid, then how did his mum know what he did? “Kids Kenny! Kids!” No, the hackers made damn sure everybody knew EXACTLY what Kenny was watching when he was having his “me time”. Yes, the hackers shared Kenny’s CSAM with all of Kenny’s contacts. They scarred all those people for life by sending them those vids, they didn’t need to do that. They coulda just sent it straight to the cops and spared Kenny’s friends and family from seeing it. But no, the hackers don’t care about what’s right, only what’s “fun”. And it’s absolutely sick that so many people think they’re the good guys just because Kenny looks at CSAM, when the hackers are just straight-up murderous psychos manipulating people for their own amusement. Sorry for all that, most of it isn’t directed at you. It’s directed at everybody who thinks the hackers are somehow “better” than Kenny. None of this is me defending Kenny for what he did, it’s me defending Kenny from having his basic human rights stripped away. Most people unfortunately believe human rights aren’t universal and can be suspended at will. It’s all fine and good til YOUR rights are being suspended! Besides, it’s been proven that harsh punishments do very little to deter crime. The death penalty doesn’t stop people from committing rape and murder, so what good is it aside from some savage notion of “retribution”? Instead of vigilantism, we need actual solutions to crime prevention and criminal rehabilitation, not tossing people into prison where they’ll just become even better criminals…
Every single black mirror episode I saw immediately I watched your explanation videos afterwards. I seriously have a greater love for this series because of your in depth analysis videos. So Thank you.
Quick tw for child abuse mentions. I was sexually abused as a child, and there were videos/photos taken of my abuse. I know that one of the bastards who hurt me as a kid got beat to death in prison. That monster deserved worse. Anyone who can look at what is essentially crime scene footage for enjoyment/pleasure deserves to die or worse.
This is a really late reply but I'm so so sorry that permenant records of the hell you went through are online for people to leer at, I hope you are doing well
Im sorry for what happened to you, but death penalty should never be a thing and is never justified. That’s why neutral people do the punishing, not people like you who are personally involved
Agreed. Im sorry for what happened to you, may you continue to heal. Cant believe these sickos in the comments defending the pedos, saying the hackers were wrong for doing vigilante justice. Fuck that! HaCkers did the world justice. Pedos are the worst of the worst.
I feel like just the idea that the vigilante punishment is distributed to both Kenny and the guy who cheated on his wife already lets you know the hackers are not the good guys either
I always think it's crazy when people root for vigilante justice, it's one thing to think that someone like Kenny should be punished but it's an entirely different thing to essentially become someone like Kenny in your pursuit of punishing those people. It's the classic saying "two wrongs don't make a right" it's why I always find it strange when people root for prison rape when murderers and rapists go to prison, like isn't rape something we are against hence why we dislike these types of criminals in the first place?
Great comment. I think this episode really started me on the path of not demonizing criminals and being obsessed with the idea of enacting justice as a form of “an eye for an eye”. While what Kenny was doing was obviously wrong and needed to be intervened, I think this episode and white bear really go into how our current society would rather sadistically punish people instead of attempting to rehabilitate them. If we actually want to solve issues such as child abuse and drug use, we need to provide readily available treatment for potential offenders and find/fix the systemic issues causing it. There’s so many global issues that we react to on an individual basis instead of proactively looking at how we can minimize the occurences besides through fear.
@@lnlyby_yt As human beings, we tend to exact emotional responses rather than logical ones, it is a fundamental flaw that we struggle with every day. However, to live with the standards that justice is pure by exacting an equal amount of suffering unto the harmer, all we are successfully doing is creating a greater level of suffering that might not be necessary. Besides, we will only be ostracizing ourselves from the punishments we all deserve and yet are never paid back. I hope to live in a world that lives by a greater code of morality. "Justice" without mercy is nothing more than our own ego deciding who is worthy of life and death and the quality of that life. We have hundreds of thousands of recorded examples in history of the dangers of this mindset. Thank you for sharing your opinion, though.
I really liked the point that you made about how people can get carried away when they take justice into their own hands. I would also compare this concept to the 3rd story in Black Museum. People found some sick pleasure and even got souvenirs from torturing the cookie version/consciousness of Nish’s father Clayton. They alluded to some doubt of whether or not he was innocent, but just like patrons of the White Bear park torturing Victoria; everyone is the “bad guy”. I really miss Black Mirror. It makes you think! Great video!
Honestly it was well done but it kind of ruined the episode for me. I get the point was to make it dark and shocking but it just made me feel like everything I’d watched was pointless. Idk I might just be disappointed that he turned out to be icky
@@persephoenixI agree! I hated the ending as it just felt unnecessary. Like they just wanted to shock us at the last moment. I honestly thought he just didn’t want a video of him wanking online lol.
@@kusovia1148 same, it would’ve been better if he was gay or something imo. Like yeah that’s something he might want to hide from his family but it’s not just a crazy shock value reveal
I disagree with you on the motorcycle dude doing something akin to Hector. When his family are yelling at him, the person in his face says "Is that what you've become? A dirty, sick, disgusting pervert? Look at me! Is that what you are?" which has to be way more serious than cheating.
More serious then cheating, but still not necessarily illegal. Could be that he was into a weird fetish, something embarrassing for everyone if it gets out. 🤷🏽♀️
It could be that the man is secretly homosexual and the family is homophobic? The person in his face could be a sister or something. Puts an even darker turn on people's secrets getting exposed.
I have to say I totally get why people think what was done in white bear and what was done in shut up and dance is ok. Because what the main characters did in those 2 episodes was awful and heartbreaking. And I know that it feels good that they were punished and somewhat tortured. But that doesn’t make it right, because the people that are punishing them are also becoming just like the same people they are trying to punish. Like the saying says 2 wrongs don’t make it right. And what the main characters did is absolutely disgusting and I want to see them suffer as well but it’s not right. The wrong thing done for the right reason is still the wrong thing. It’s not our job to punish the guilty that’s why we have laws. But who knows maybe I’m just naive.
I have plenty of embarrassing things I do on my devices that aren't illegal or immoral but still would rather not get harassed about. If the hackers were watching a pedophile jack off they certainly were watching normal people too.
I would Say they are Even worse than the criminals they torture, cause they are hypocrites and sadist, they love that people like Kenny, Héctor or the white bear protag (don't remember the character name) exist, cause they can vent all their sadism and cruelty with total impunity and Even taking a sick pride on it.
@@shreyasi1150the phrase is just supposed to mean just do what I say. "Shut Up" don't say anything and just be quiet. And "Dance" just means take action. Kenny was watching minors so what could he do?
this episode is so hard to watch, yet it is my favorite. Alex's acting was so perfect and he totally got into Kenny's character. The only problem is i could only see him as Alex and not as Kenny because i love Alex as an actor way to much.
my “friend” recently told me about how he’d been arrested for looking at underage pics on the dark web… i was disgusted, can’t believe people like this are all around us in real life
That’s disgusting, yeah for sure, but look… He has those tendancies, but opened up about it. Maybe, he hasn’t attacked or been agressive towards someone. So, he may receive some help. What’s important to not forget is, some pedophiles are agressive, and do whatever it takes to satisfy themselves. Others, in the contrary are not. They feel the urge, but resist… And honestly, I wouldn’t like to put myself on their shoes. Some organisms can help those people, maybe they can help your friend…
Most firearms can used as blunt weapons without changing the way you're supposed to hold it. Meaning you can very easily pistol whip someone effectively without holding it backwards. In fact it would give you multiple points to strike with instead of one with the "hammer method". Not to mention much easier to control the way it was literally designed to be. . .I know, not at all important, just sayin...
I think this is where the titles protagonist and antagonist comes into play really well because they don’t refer to the moral position of the character they refer to the position of the story
Its kinda mad how people are so conditioned by watching stuff as a kid to think that they have to root for the protagonist. Kids TV shows and movies have very black and white good vs evil dynamics, and people carry that with them even while watching stuff like the Sopranos and Breaking Bad. So many people I know blindly support the protagonists in those shows
I count it interesting that hackers DID differentiate Hector and Kenny. Yeah they both faced consequences but Kenny’s is so much heavier: he prob have charge for pedo, robbing bank, AND killing the guy at the end. The guy at the end faces death for his action. Hector will probably divorces his wife, and possibly for the bank robbing, but the charge is probably lighter than Kenny.
What made it so stomach churning was how innocent and kind Kenny looked and acted. That to me is absolutely terrifying. The worst kinds of monsters don’t look like monsters at all…they look trustworthy and just plain normal. You would never think in a million years that he was a pedo….fucking CHILLING if you ask me
@@glynphelps9027 I'd argue that not all pedophiles are monsters, but the ones who actually act on their thoughts (either by abusing real children or viewing CP) ARE monsters.
@@dumptruck_babs I think of it like how people buy dimands and shit Like they know it could come from a Congo boy slaving away in a mine but they buy it anyway or how in the Vietnamese war people allowed there government to bomb thousands of children and comit war crimes Openly supporting it I am not saying these people aren’t bad people or don’t deserve prison time in any way but monsters is a very extreme word
I agree with your final point. People taking pleasure in torturing who they think “deserve it “ are monsters as-well. People hide their twisted desires by claiming their victims “deserve it”.
I think Hector was supposed to meet with an underage girl. the name "Mindy" just sound young lol and he was for sure knew his wife would leave him if she finds out. also motorcycle guy too was watching underage kids. the way his family reacted
I think Kenny’s reaction to the situation and effort to amend the chaos was genuine to how wrong and morally disrupted his actions were, and not to the fact that he would get his life ruined and wanted to save his own ass. That said, I think he could *maybe* have been fixed with intense therapy. Though I do not look at him and think of a psychopath his actions still were unforgivable to some extent, even if he did not engage in anything, it would eventually lead to irreversible consequences. So at the end of the day, he might have gotten what he deserved because I doubt he would ever seek help if he didn’t suffer on his skin at the cost of his own actions
Unfortunately Hector could have been assumed to be associated with and potentially complicit in Kenny’s crimes considering he aided his efforts in robbing the bank which could presumably be perceived as helping him acquire wealth to leave the country after being caught … his photo was also taken on Kenny’s phone.
“Stooooop nickin’ me Cokes!” This episode was the reason why me and so many of my friends covered the camera on our laptops with adhesive or electrical tape.
This is the perfect episode of Black Mirror for me. I used to live in Oxford and I’m pretty sure a lot of the shooting locations were in Oxford, the setting is so personally familiar, but the story, the twist, makes the show terrifying.
Humans love to dehumanise other humans. When somebody does something suitably egregious, they can justify advocating for, or actually doing something equally egregious it inhumane. In this case and I noticed it in the film, Hard Candy, you're sympathetic to the person who is eventually revealed as the bad guy, even after the reveal. It's like the case of James Bulger where people lined the streets to hurl abuse and try to physically attack the killers, even though the killers were ten year old children. They were angry about the attack on a child so they wanted to attack two children like that made these adults better people. The blackmailers wanted to punish these people in ways that didn't make them better or make you feel significantly less for Kenny and co. Also, the black guy was doing what Kenny was doing, hence the reason his family were calling him a pervert and calling him sick.
Your analysis here sort of reminds me of a video I saw about predator catching channels (basically the sorts trying to mimic Chris Hansen) Some of them seem to get off on torturing their catches, falsely imprisoning them and general stroking their own ego while doing ‘journalism’. There’s no sense of professionalism or justice, it’s just for their own entertainment and to feel superior, much like how the hackers in Shut Up and Dance seem to care more for the spectacle they’ve created. That’s not to say there aren’t those types of channels that do good work or hackers that actually care about doing good, but rather that, like all human constructions, it’s possible to twist and pervert it to suit someone’s own ego.
I agree completely, the first time I watched it, I went out of my way not to try and guess what was happening, I wanted to be surprised... oh boy was I
I agree 100% with your analysis of the hackers also being the bad guys and that this episode, White Bear and Hated in the Nation are all arguing _against_ vigilante justice, even for the most heinous of crimes. As for the fight, I thought the most probable answer was that the other man had been drinking, which would have slowed his responses and weakened his coordination. Kenny also walked away with a bloody face, and maybe he was walking so slowly because he had other injuries, which indicates that it was probably a close fight which could have gone either way.
This dude wouldnt die on the hill of the waldo moment alone that is one of TV's greatest episodes when I watched that episode I felt like it changed my life
It really stinks that people use that concept/trope, a lot of people are only comfortable around safe humans (like family and kids) and animals but aren't predators. It's very common in autism
If the hacker want good for others then say "stop doing it or I will leak the video" will make more sense. But the hacker just want to torture someone so they just find an excuse to do so
this episode is the scariest because you dont have to be a bad person to be in kennys situation like the guy who helps him he did a bad thing but not at the level of kenny this could be anyone this could be you or me and we wont know until they get us
Tbh this reminds me something prominent that happened in my country years ago that some people found a way to punish street robbers beating them up and instead of calling the cops they let them naked and covered with foil while bystanders film them with their phones or take pictures to humilliate them online, it happened ad a "reaction" of the crime rates and feble action of the authorities on poorer cities
I literally got the notification for this on top of the New Rockstars breakdown of Andor Episode 5, specifically on a frame of the same actor from this. He's great in Andor as well.
I honestly was shaking the whole time watching this. My fever suddenly got up and my hands are frozen in place. The anxiety was just too much to swallow.
When I finally noticed the camera for sale shit… that’s so terracing. It’s weird how I went from feeling so bad for this kid to instantly now thinking he got everything he deserved..and still didn’t get enough.
@@jadehicks3651 same, that's why the ending didn't have my jaw on the floor, it just made me sad. i do like the fact that he's a scumbag though, because too many of these episodes have injustice
Its a sick ending but i cant help but find kennys mum saying "kids kenny" hilarius. like its something about the way she is saying it just comes across and funny to me despite it actuly being in refrence to something dark.
I thought the episode was about an embarrassing moment caught and recorded by the hackers. I had no clue he was into children, even at the end where the mom confirms the photos were of kids. I THOUGHT THE HACKERS PUT THISE PHOTOS THERE. And thought the he was innocent the whole time
I just watched Shut up and dance episode and I'm feeling numb! Ive never felt like this at the most horror movie or even a real life incident this terrifying than Black mirror! Im cold but I know even if the show is filmed but it felt so much real! Internet is a dark place and most importantly depressing!
This was probably the most depressing thing I've watched on screen for as long as I can remember. I hope no one ever encounters anything like this at any time in their lives.
something interesting as well is the fact they paired kenny up with a man who needed to keep his secret private to protect his kids/family. he forms this relationship with kenny, he helps him and probably feels quite sorry for him but then a few days later, on top of losing his family he finds out that the person he helped would be a huge danger to his own kids and that would probably be what could've possibly driven him over the edge
Well yeah, I mean, technically speaking, they're distributing spreading CP. Vigilantes are in the most literal sense, criminals. They break laws to catch people who break laws. In this case though, they're more than that. They're trolls. They're trolling. I would go as far as to say this isn't justice. Maybe mob justice, but not by legal definition justice.
Its just straight sadism. And also a lesson of what happens when you go along w out any questions asked. Those ppl made mistakes...but those mistakes were not for anyone on this Earth to judge. Only the man upstairs has that authority.
When I first saw this, I totally overlooked that content of those photos and simply thought he was recorded clearing his own pipe. Such a video could be embarrassing, especially for a young man. The whole episode made sense as someone who was trying to protect their reputation. I can't believe I overlooked the CONTENT of what he was looking at being the all-important fact and motivation for the hackers. Wow...this series really goes deep and now I need to watch it again from top to bottom
Crazy how you can feel sorry for Kenny until the twist ending.
RIGHT?! I felt so sick to my stomach at the end. Like Black Mirror really had me cheering on and sympathizing with a child predator.
Right?! haha
tbh I still felt bad for kenny
@@nl-ho4wm same. he’s still at that age where he can unlearn his “desires” but because of this terrible event it cements a much more grave picture for him that he did not even choose.
Then again, he could’ve always just admitted to his family about this and asked them for help both regarding the ransomware and the child porn instead of succumbing to the crimes just because he doesn’t want anyone to know.
I still felt bad for him after the ending
Maybe I was just naive, but I was totally surprised at the reveal. Up until that point I was rooting for Kenny, sympathizing with him and wondering why they were being so cruel to him, and thought they had mistken him for someone else. Black Mirror fully trolled me.
Me too!
nah i figured he had to have done something fucking terrible considering the absolute extent he went to in order to not get caught up for his actions. if it was just jerking off i doubt he would’ve robbed a bank
To be fair even this far into Black Mirror there had been some big "miss" episodes for every hit, even the good ones usually missed certain points that made their plots unrealistic or stupid (given the universe they exist in I mean) so I was fully considering it bad writing. Like "why do any of this mate? nobody will actually care."
Then at the end I was just like. "Oh. Fairs..."
Thats what they were going for
This was the first black mirror episode I watched
The acting by the Kenny character was really amazing to watch. One of the best performances by a young actor I've ever seen. It all felt extremely real because of him.
He's my favourite actor, he's AMAZING in "end of the f****** world"
@@kadegetslaid634I was gonna mention that!! I loved end of the f****** world
Lol this is probably the worst best compliment to get. "You are a super believable pedophile.. congrats!"
@@patrickconrad396 haha true, but only upon rewatch did his p e do vibes become noticable. First time around it never crossed my mind that he was into that kind of thing and I was simply mesmerized by his amazing performance.
@@BlyGuy I know just funny. First time I saw it I thought he was just gay and didn't want anyone to know. My old formerly not gay roommate used to be super protective over his laptop too lol. Plus cheating on wife and secretly gay seemed more on the same level. Never expected cp. It's my favorite episode because I felt gutted watching it thinking you're rooting for the kid who gets preyed on and then realize he's not innocent at all. So I definitely agree with you. Just think it's hilarious and if I ever meet the actor I'm going to tell him those exact words lol
Something I found interesting is how the hackers punished actual criminals like Kenny, but also people like Hector who, even though morally wrong, didn't commit heinous criminal acts. Yet they were paired together to commit felonies, as if their actions were on the same level. It reminds me of how easily people are demonized, regardless where their actions fall on the "morally wrong" scale. We even see this in the prison system where people who go to prison for drug possession are forced to room with and treated the same as murderers and predators. It brings in the theoretical argument of where do we draw the line on punishment with people who are morally in the wrong? Fantastic episode.
Kinda reminds me of Saw. Some ppl see Jigsaw an antihero even if the 'immoral things' Jigsaw punished them for were often absurd and not even that bad.
That is an excellent point.
@@GenetMJF i havent watched all the saw movies but what’s the least worst thing someone got punished for
@@productoftheLAnd smoking, jigsaw put 2 guys in a trap that would crush their sides if they breathed, of course our main character is healthy and is pitted against a smoker who worked in his building, jigsaw killed that man for bad lungs
I posted a separate full comment, but the idea that Hector wasn't a criminal is almost certainly a misread of the broader purpose of the episode. Hector's behavior, and the show's treatment of his character, signal that the "woman" he thought he was meeting at that hotel was, in fact, a girl, not a woman. Motorbike man's family's reaction is wildly disproportionate to his crime if all _he_ did was hire a prostitute or something. The episode is about the ordinary-seeming people who contribute to an ugly cycle of child trafficking. _All_ of them who get the trollface in the end.
Hector is in _Georgina's hotel_ to meet an underage girl, with a video camera. Kenny watches CSAM, which would be the appropriate term for what it is Hector would be making with that video camera in Georgina's hotel. The man Kenny fights in the end is really just a representation of who he's going to become. It's not just that Kenny hides in plain sight, it's that they _all_ do.
The best thing about this episode is that it breaks the stereotypical view of pedophiles. As when we hear about them in the media it's usually a middle age man/woman. And like everyone else who's watched this episode I felt sorry for Kenny until the end.
Not to mention, defying people's tendency to automatically picture IRL bad people as cartoonishly evil like in movies and stuff. Which is kind of harmful, because real evil doesn't make itself so obvious. Real evil is friendly until it doesn't need to be anymore.
@@BrokenHedgehog Real evil disguises itself as good until it gets what it wants.
I disagree about the woman part. Women get off lightly with most crimes than men because of fourth wave feminism
@@slamgrams11_16L + ratio
@@slamgrams11_16 calm down all I said was L + ratio lmfao
I remember watching all that Kenny goes through and just thinking “there has to be more to this. I mean, the video was embarrassing but it’s not worth robbing a bank or killing someone.”
I hate that I was right.
Same 😢
I was like 🤔 what’d you do Kenny!????
Same i thought to myself he should tell them f off but it makes sense
i just thought he was gay 😭
I was like “is he an idiot?” And was so confused lol
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”-Friedrich Nietzsche
Good one.
Sometimes it takes monsters to deal with monsters
@Victor reznov that's stupid
@@victorreznov6320 yeah but then we just have another monster to deal with
@@danny91pr Gotta choose between whichever is the lesser evil sometimes.
Am I the only one who knew that there was no way someone would rob a bank or kill someone to protect a regular porn history? I mean if it was just pictures, he wouldn't have risked his life. Deep down, he knew that if anyone found out, his demons would be exposed. He knew it was wrong. Even if he wasn't ready to fully accept what he had done.
tbh when you put it that way alot of people should’ve realized, personally i already knew since before i watched the episode because of tiktok
fully thought they were going to go for the 1nc3$t angle, that he was doing things looking at pics of his sister.
Tbh tho, let's say you were guilty as him, why'd you do the crime to hide your fetish? If a there's a hacker competent enough to take over your webcam, I think you can reasonably argue you were framed by the hackers planting the video in his laptop. Unless there was a security camera in the room confirming he was actually watching said video while jacking off (which there isn't such a camera), you can't really tell if he's actually watching that vid.
His reputation would still be ruined, at least by his masturbation video leaking, but miles better than actually committing criminal acts to try and cover your tracks.
@@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022 My point was, if it was just masturbation (not him looking at kids) he wouldn't have robbed a bank. At least I wouldn't. That was my first thought - that he must have done more than just touch himself - and I was right. Anyways- I still stand by that.
@@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022 I wouldn't give a rip if someone saw me masturbate- I mean, I guess it would be embarrassing but not enough to go to prison for robbing a bank. This was just another clue (there are a ton) that his story went much deeper. Of course, as you know, that was exposed at the end of the episode,
For me, the underlying theme of this episode was “Responsibility”. If any of the blackmailed characters would’ve taken responsibility for their wrongdoings and behavior, the jig would’ve been up. For example, if Hector would’ve just owned his infidelity and admitted his adultery to his wife, the hackers would’ve lost all control/power over him. Instead, they went to extreme lengths and were willing to commit even more crimes in an attempt to avoid taking responsibility for their initial deeds. Assuming responsibility for their actions would’ve liberated all the characters from their controllers.
I'm not so sure Hector was telling the truth when he said he just wanted to *F* a 20 year old. Mindy was probably a lot younger. He kept repeating he'd lose his children and, as we saw at the end, they were young girls.
@@Azoqhnqnot necessarily. In the UK split custody is what's most common, so both parents would get custody. I'm no lawyer, but while his infidelity may mean she gets primary custody, he should be able to still see the kids, unless he was a threat to them in some way. And since the other men being blackmailed seem to be pedophiles, it's not much of a stretch to think that maybe the "20 something" was actually a few years younger. I could be completely wrong though, it's left up to interpretation
@@lottasunshine1325 Nah Hector sort of got off easy. The two child attracted people, compare their punishment to Hectors. One dies and the other kills, gets exposed and gets arrested. Compared to all that I believe all Hector was planning to do was cheat.
Absolutely. 8 mile yourself
When I first watched shut up and dance I was a young teenager, you have to remember everything is embarssing at that age and I thought "I would definitely be this ashamed" if someone saw me do that. When the guy he fought said how young? I thought it was too show that Kenny realizes how insiginifcant his action was compared to the others. So the twist was huge to me, rewatching as an adult where sexual things aren't as embarrassing, you could see it early on.
I am a similar age so I felt really stupid when I also didn't get it immediately after the fighter said "how young" either
I’m watching this 1st time as late 30s woman…. So I agree my thought was “go a head show video” but then I reminded myself that being 19 would not feel that way. So I was still shocked by the ending
@@student8663 why else did you think the guy said "how young"
i also thought so, after that scene i was like "huh, he is gonna fight a pedophile who thinks he also is one, since he put himself trough trial after trial, it would only make sense for a guilty man to think he did it because of a big crime. i guess kenny must be regretting it so bad now, since he only beat his meat, poor guy"
The "if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear" is based on the assumption that the things that are acceptable now will be always acceptable
This is one of those things I wish I could see again for the first time.
The shock I felt at the end, I haven’t felt that since
Same!
Then watch interstellar
same here. my head was aching something awful and i just wanted to curl up in a ball while thinking about nothing.
thing is, i definitely wouldnt have felt that way about some guy who was like… 21+. its the fact that kenny himself was also very young (ep description says that he is a teenager) and had thrown his whole life away that freaked me out. he did an evil thing, yes, but he was young enough to get help fighting off those thoughts. people like him have a chance to recover if you catch them early enough. its an all-around frustrating and pitiful episode.
Try looking into psychological thriller movies like fractured
The hackers aren’t even remotely interested in “justice”. If they were, they’d’ve sent Kenny’s info straight to the cops and leave it at that. Instead, they used Kenny to rob a bank by threatening the people there with a gun, they used him to straight-up murder another criminal, and then they distributed Kenny’s CSAM stash to his sis and mom. They distributed CSAM! This is a real issue with vigilantes and law enforcement, distributing cp to lure predators even tho by distributing cp they themselves have legally become predators. All these a-holes think they’re above the law cuz the people they go after are somehow “worse”. The hackers are only interested in digging up dirt on people and ruining their lives and the lives of their families in the most horrific ways. They’re FAR worse than any of their victims, using humans as replaceable toys…
They didn't distribute Kenny's cp, only the video of him having a "good time." But I still see what you mean
@@hotel_arcadia If they just showed Kenny’s jerkoff vid, then how did his mum know what he did? “Kids Kenny! Kids!” No, the hackers made damn sure everybody knew EXACTLY what Kenny was watching when he was having his “me time”. Yes, the hackers shared Kenny’s CSAM with all of Kenny’s contacts. They scarred all those people for life by sending them those vids, they didn’t need to do that. They coulda just sent it straight to the cops and spared Kenny’s friends and family from seeing it. But no, the hackers don’t care about what’s right, only what’s “fun”. And it’s absolutely sick that so many people think they’re the good guys just because Kenny looks at CSAM, when the hackers are just straight-up murderous psychos manipulating people for their own amusement.
Sorry for all that, most of it isn’t directed at you. It’s directed at everybody who thinks the hackers are somehow “better” than Kenny. None of this is me defending Kenny for what he did, it’s me defending Kenny from having his basic human rights stripped away. Most people unfortunately believe human rights aren’t universal and can be suspended at will. It’s all fine and good til YOUR rights are being suspended! Besides, it’s been proven that harsh punishments do very little to deter crime. The death penalty doesn’t stop people from committing rape and murder, so what good is it aside from some savage notion of “retribution”? Instead of vigilantism, we need actual solutions to crime prevention and criminal rehabilitation, not tossing people into prison where they’ll just become even better criminals…
@@sirhenrymorgan1187 i was just saying man, im sorry
@@hotel_arcadia Don't apologize! Like I said, most of that isn't directed at you, but at the people who say the hackers are the "good guys".
The hackers are the true hero's 🥷🏿🥷🏼🥷🏻🥷🏾
Every single black mirror episode I saw immediately I watched your explanation videos afterwards. I seriously have a greater love for this series because of your in depth analysis videos. So Thank you.
Quick tw for child abuse mentions. I was sexually abused as a child, and there were videos/photos taken of my abuse. I know that one of the bastards who hurt me as a kid got beat to death in prison. That monster deserved worse. Anyone who can look at what is essentially crime scene footage for enjoyment/pleasure deserves to die or worse.
This is a really late reply but I'm so so sorry that permenant records of the hell you went through are online for people to leer at, I hope you are doing well
Im sorry for what happened to you, but death penalty should never be a thing and is never justified. That’s why neutral people do the punishing, not people like you who are personally involved
Agreed. Im sorry for what happened to you, may you continue to heal. Cant believe these sickos in the comments defending the pedos, saying the hackers were wrong for doing vigilante justice. Fuck that! HaCkers did the world justice. Pedos are the worst of the worst.
@@relmag1947shut up
I feel like just the idea that the vigilante punishment is distributed to both Kenny and the guy who cheated on his wife already lets you know the hackers are not the good guys either
Yeah a cheater doesn’t deserve this
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle yea but ig he shouldn’t have cheated
@@productoftheLAnd again that’s his problem not a bunch of sick fucks to kill him over it
@@augustuslunasol10thapostle yeah i see wym but it just shows that karma can be a bitch
@@slamgrams11_16 idiot
I always think it's crazy when people root for vigilante justice, it's one thing to think that someone like Kenny should be punished but it's an entirely different thing to essentially become someone like Kenny in your pursuit of punishing those people. It's the classic saying "two wrongs don't make a right" it's why I always find it strange when people root for prison rape when murderers and rapists go to prison, like isn't rape something we are against hence why we dislike these types of criminals in the first place?
Great comment. I think this episode really started me on the path of not demonizing criminals and being obsessed with the idea of enacting justice as a form of “an eye for an eye”.
While what Kenny was doing was obviously wrong and needed to be intervened, I think this episode and white bear really go into how our current society would rather sadistically punish people instead of attempting to rehabilitate them. If we actually want to solve issues such as child abuse and drug use, we need to provide readily available treatment for potential offenders and find/fix the systemic issues causing it. There’s so many global issues that we react to on an individual basis instead of proactively looking at how we can minimize the occurences besides through fear.
@@722blitz Took the words right out of my mouth lol
@@lnlyby_yt an eye for an eye makes the world go blind.
@@lnlyby_yt false dichotomy
@@lnlyby_yt As human beings, we tend to exact emotional responses rather than logical ones, it is a fundamental flaw that we struggle with every day. However, to live with the standards that justice is pure by exacting an equal amount of suffering unto the harmer, all we are successfully doing is creating a greater level of suffering that might not be necessary. Besides, we will only be ostracizing ourselves from the punishments we all deserve and yet are never paid back. I hope to live in a world that lives by a greater code of morality. "Justice" without mercy is nothing more than our own ego deciding who is worthy of life and death and the quality of that life. We have hundreds of thousands of recorded examples in history of the dangers of this mindset. Thank you for sharing your opinion, though.
I really liked the point that you made about how people can get carried away when they take justice into their own hands. I would also compare this concept to the 3rd story in Black Museum. People found some sick pleasure and even got souvenirs from torturing the cookie version/consciousness of Nish’s father Clayton. They alluded to some doubt of whether or not he was innocent, but just like patrons of the White Bear park torturing Victoria; everyone is the “bad guy”. I really miss Black Mirror. It makes you think! Great video!
Every time I watch this episode I get goosebumps over the ending. Such a dark twist
Right? Still can't get over the final phone call
Honestly it was well done but it kind of ruined the episode for me. I get the point was to make it dark and shocking but it just made me feel like everything I’d watched was pointless. Idk I might just be disappointed that he turned out to be icky
@@persephoenixI agree! I hated the ending as it just felt unnecessary. Like they just wanted to shock us at the last moment. I honestly thought he just didn’t want a video of him wanking online lol.
@@kusovia1148 same, it would’ve been better if he was gay or something imo. Like yeah that’s something he might want to hide from his family but it’s not just a crazy shock value reveal
@@persephoenixwhat are you guys on about? This episode shocked the fuck out of me 😂
I disagree with you on the motorcycle dude doing something akin to Hector. When his family are yelling at him, the person in his face says "Is that what you've become? A dirty, sick, disgusting pervert? Look at me! Is that what you are?" which has to be way more serious than cheating.
More serious then cheating, but still not necessarily illegal. Could be that he was into a weird fetish, something embarrassing for everyone if it gets out. 🤷🏽♀️
cheating is a disgusting perverted act tbf
It could be that the man is secretly homosexual and the family is homophobic? The person in his face could be a sister or something. Puts an even darker turn on people's secrets getting exposed.
Honestly it could be anything. He could be worse or it could have been something that goes against his religion. Like major gambling or being gay.
@@ethan-es3cw Wouldn’t call it perverted. Unless maybe you’re a priest? 😂
Was floored by this twist. This show just delivers and delivers. Can't believe I didn't watch it until now.
I hope we get more of these kinds of episodes in season 6
WHAT TWIST????
@@darrengordon-hillThat kenny was looking at pictures of minors in this episode
@@javenperez2883 i thought they made it up
I love the way you break down these episodes, I wish there were more episodes so you could give us more Black Mirror content.
Seaosn6 coming this June 2023
Harry's Moving Media also does a great job of reviewing BM.
I have to say I totally get why people think what was done in white bear and what was done in shut up and dance is ok. Because what the main characters did in those 2 episodes was awful and heartbreaking. And I know that it feels good that they were punished and somewhat tortured. But that doesn’t make it right, because the people that are punishing them are also becoming just like the same people they are trying to punish. Like the saying says 2 wrongs don’t make it right. And what the main characters did is absolutely disgusting and I want to see them suffer as well but it’s not right. The wrong thing done for the right reason is still the wrong thing. It’s not our job to punish the guilty that’s why we have laws. But who knows maybe I’m just naive.
I have plenty of embarrassing things I do on my devices that aren't illegal or immoral but still would rather not get harassed about. If the hackers were watching a pedophile jack off they certainly were watching normal people too.
I would Say they are Even worse than the criminals they torture, cause they are hypocrites and sadist, they love that people like Kenny, Héctor or the white bear protag (don't remember the character name) exist, cause they can vent all their sadism and cruelty with total impunity and Even taking a sick pride on it.
The entire time I thought Kenny was a kid himself until the ending 😂
same apparently he’s like 19 😭
The only thing I disliked about this episode is no one actually danced.
AGREED
Then why is it called shut up and dance
@@shreyasi1150the phrase is just supposed to mean just do what I say. "Shut Up" don't say anything and just be quiet. And "Dance" just means take action. Kenny was watching minors so what could he do?
Crazy how the situations they explore in the series is closer to reality than many may think
i genuinely hope this show gets another season
It's coming back!
@DarthVaderGrandpa season6 coming this June 2023
this episode is so hard to watch, yet it is my favorite. Alex's acting was so perfect and he totally got into Kenny's character. The only problem is i could only see him as Alex and not as Kenny because i love Alex as an actor way to much.
Perfect timing. I was missing black mirror and was fixing to binge the series and your vids !!
Glad I can help fill that void haha
Back in Black! (Good to see the Black Mirror videos back)
A video that reminds me that black mirror needs a new season!
Soon!!!!
Totally!!
Its coming this June 2023
*A good season.
my “friend” recently told me about how he’d been arrested for looking at underage pics on the dark web… i was disgusted, can’t believe people like this are all around us in real life
Oh god! That must have been so shocking and sick to hear and learn about your "friend"
@@GenetMJF surprised I didn’t throw up, I just cried for ages afterwards 😩
That’s disgusting, yeah for sure, but look… He has those tendancies, but opened up about it.
Maybe, he hasn’t attacked or been agressive towards someone. So, he may receive some help.
What’s important to not forget is, some pedophiles are agressive, and do whatever it takes to satisfy themselves. Others, in the contrary are not.
They feel the urge, but resist… And honestly, I wouldn’t like to put myself on their shoes.
Some organisms can help those people, maybe they can help your friend…
Is it really so surprising that there are people with dark impulses in real life?
@@Mitsohumohashi Maybe that is why the person said it so they could be monitored
I’m confused why your channel doesn’t have more subscribers, I love your vibe and you seem like you’d be cool to chill and talk about shows with
Most firearms can used as blunt weapons without changing the way you're supposed to hold it. Meaning you can very easily pistol whip someone effectively without holding it backwards. In fact it would give you multiple points to strike with instead of one with the "hammer method". Not to mention much easier to control the way it was literally designed to be. . .I know, not at all important, just sayin...
🔫
I think this is where the titles protagonist and antagonist comes into play really well because they don’t refer to the moral position of the character they refer to the position of the story
In a world of reactions, actual film analysis is pretty sexy. Go you! Great work. Also yay for someone going "No, they're all bad."
Its kinda mad how people are so conditioned by watching stuff as a kid to think that they have to root for the protagonist. Kids TV shows and movies have very black and white good vs evil dynamics, and people carry that with them even while watching stuff like the Sopranos and Breaking Bad. So many people I know blindly support the protagonists in those shows
@@DiscGolfLeagueMVP You said it. We were conditioned to think that way.
Every time I hear “Unalive themselves” because of TH-cam’s stupid rules- I think of the book 1984 by George Orwell. Double plus ungood!
I count it interesting that hackers DID differentiate Hector and Kenny. Yeah they both faced consequences but Kenny’s is so much heavier: he prob have charge for pedo, robbing bank, AND killing the guy at the end. The guy at the end faces death for his action. Hector will probably divorces his wife, and possibly for the bank robbing, but the charge is probably lighter than Kenny.
What made it so stomach churning was how innocent and kind Kenny looked and acted. That to me is absolutely terrifying. The worst kinds of monsters don’t look like monsters at all…they look trustworthy and just plain normal. You would never think in a million years that he was a pedo….fucking CHILLING if you ask me
He is a bad person but not a monster
Brush he's not a monsters, is a ill men
@@glynphelps9027 I'd argue that not all pedophiles are monsters, but the ones who actually act on their thoughts (either by abusing real children or viewing CP) ARE monsters.
@@dumptruck_babs I think of it like how people buy dimands and shit Like they know it could come from a Congo boy slaving away in a mine but they buy it anyway or how in the Vietnamese war people allowed there government to bomb thousands of children and comit war crimes Openly supporting it I am not saying these people aren’t bad people or don’t deserve prison time in any way but monsters is a very extreme word
@@dumptruck_babsit depends, just pictures about them without clothes is harnless but still prono
I agree... San Junipero is just perfect.
What a special episode 🥹
This episode still shocks me every time I remember it
My favorite episode. Everything about it is perfect
Such a good choice for a favorite!
Thanks for revisiting these old episodes of Black Mirror. I appreciate you so much! 👊
I replied to the wrong comment, so sorry!
I agree with your final point.
People taking pleasure in torturing who they think “deserve it “ are monsters as-well.
People hide their twisted desires by claiming their victims “deserve it”.
I think Hector was supposed to meet with an underage girl. the name "Mindy" just sound young lol and he was for sure knew his wife would leave him if she finds out. also motorcycle guy too was watching underage kids. the way his family reacted
I didn’t realize he actually was looking at that stuff. I thought the hackers had like faked it to get him in trouble ☠️
Same here, I feel kinda pitty, that I didn't get to experience this big revelation for the first time.
It flew right over my head
lol same here
I think Kenny’s reaction to the situation and effort to amend the chaos was genuine to how wrong and morally disrupted his actions were, and not to the fact that he would get his life ruined and wanted to save his own ass. That said, I think he could *maybe* have been fixed with intense therapy. Though I do not look at him and think of a psychopath his actions still were unforgivable to some extent, even if he did not engage in anything, it would eventually lead to irreversible consequences. So at the end of the day, he might have gotten what he deserved because I doubt he would ever seek help if he didn’t suffer on his skin at the cost of his own actions
Unfortunately Hector could have been assumed to be associated with and potentially complicit in Kenny’s crimes considering he aided his efforts in robbing the bank which could presumably be perceived as helping him acquire wealth to leave the country after being caught … his photo was also taken on Kenny’s phone.
It's amazing how hackers are always Potrayed as gods in movies and tv shows.
This & White Bear always go back & forth for my favorite episode. Years later & still havent got over those endings
I still think the hackers are in the wrong, they kind of just forced Kenny to commit various other crimes which endangered many people.
I just noticed that the house was on fire in the crayon drawings
The episode perfectly shows the problems of vigilante justice
Exactly!
I hope they come out with a new season of black mirror soon
SAME
From what I've heard, Charlie was over making dark stories.
I wish they would
Im pretty sure they were green lit for a 6th season so i believe another is coming, but im thinking it’ll probably be mid to late next year.
Same and let's hope if they do that its better than the last, which was dog doo
“Stooooop nickin’ me Cokes!” This episode was the reason why me and so many of my friends covered the camera on our laptops with adhesive or electrical tape.
What u guys watching 👀
@@Zarathustr nothing. Just that hackers will mess with your computer no matter what, so take that extra precaution.
The entire episode is a literal troll, and I’m here for it.
Same
These Easter eggs are insane! The amount you have to slow down the episode and read into everything a number of times. So good
This is the perfect episode of Black Mirror for me. I used to live in Oxford and I’m pretty sure a lot of the shooting locations were in Oxford, the setting is so personally familiar, but the story, the twist, makes the show terrifying.
This one I never forget, especially the music at the ending. A perfectly executed BM episode.
Humans love to dehumanise other humans.
When somebody does something suitably egregious, they can justify advocating for, or actually doing something equally egregious it inhumane.
In this case and I noticed it in the film, Hard Candy, you're sympathetic to the person who is eventually revealed as the bad guy, even after the reveal.
It's like the case of James Bulger where people lined the streets to hurl abuse and try to physically attack the killers, even though the killers were ten year old children. They were angry about the attack on a child so they wanted to attack two children like that made these adults better people.
The blackmailers wanted to punish these people in ways that didn't make them better or make you feel significantly less for Kenny and co.
Also, the black guy was doing what Kenny was doing, hence the reason his family were calling him a pervert and calling him sick.
10:56 had you inserted a sponsor for a VPN service here, it would have been the greatest sponsor sketch ever.
Your analysis here sort of reminds me of a video I saw about predator catching channels (basically the sorts trying to mimic Chris Hansen)
Some of them seem to get off on torturing their catches, falsely imprisoning them and general stroking their own ego while doing ‘journalism’. There’s no sense of professionalism or justice, it’s just for their own entertainment and to feel superior, much like how the hackers in Shut Up and Dance seem to care more for the spectacle they’ve created.
That’s not to say there aren’t those types of channels that do good work or hackers that actually care about doing good, but rather that, like all human constructions, it’s possible to twist and pervert it to suit someone’s own ego.
“Say Drake, I heard you like em young, better never go to cell block one”
Sorry, couldn’t resist 😂
This is the first episode of black mirror I ever saw, my favorite as welll
Great choice for a favorite!
Totslly love this episode. Whoever directed it did an amazing job. By far my favourite in the black mirror universe.
I agree completely, the first time I watched it, I went out of my way not to try and guess what was happening, I wanted to be surprised... oh boy was I
I agree 100% with your analysis of the hackers also being the bad guys and that this episode, White Bear and Hated in the Nation are all arguing _against_ vigilante justice, even for the most heinous of crimes.
As for the fight, I thought the most probable answer was that the other man had been drinking, which would have slowed his responses and weakened his coordination. Kenny also walked away with a bloody face, and maybe he was walking so slowly because he had other injuries, which indicates that it was probably a close fight which could have gone either way.
This dude wouldnt die on the hill of the waldo moment alone that is one of TV's greatest episodes when I watched that episode I felt like it changed my life
Live courageously while facing your fear and shadow
Thanks dad
Though wouldn't call the group "heroes" because they nevertheless destroy the lives of the families of their target.
It really stinks that people use that concept/trope, a lot of people are only comfortable around safe humans (like family and kids) and animals but aren't predators. It's very common in autism
"unalive himself" Double Speak is our reality
It's not my preferred way of speaking, I'll tell you that
The interaction with the kid in the beginning tipped my off right away. Idk why. But I had a feeling he was a creep.
This is so detailed, including the dates of episode settings I would never have realized. Good job!
I assumed Kenny was a teenager, so his best chance at self-preservation would've been to just immediately come clean to his mum.
As a teenager, rather death than to confess to your mum.
The “shut up and dance” title’s meaning is alluded to with the monkey sticker on Kenny’s computer.
If the hacker want good for others then say "stop doing it or I will leak the video" will make more sense. But the hacker just want to torture someone so they just find an excuse to do so
this episode is the scariest because you dont have to be a bad person to be in kennys situation like the guy who helps him he did a bad thing but not at the level of kenny this could be anyone this could be you or me and we wont know until they get us
Tbh this reminds me something prominent that happened in my country years ago that some people found a way to punish street robbers beating them up and instead of calling the cops they let them naked and covered with foil while bystanders film them with their phones or take pictures to humilliate them online, it happened ad a "reaction" of the crime rates and feble action of the authorities on poorer cities
Moral of the story: just look up reviews about whatever app you want to install
I literally got the notification for this on top of the New Rockstars breakdown of Andor Episode 5, specifically on a frame of the same actor from this. He's great in Andor as well.
@kshamwhizzle Oh I totally forgot she was in Black Mirror too! I remembered her mostly from GoT and Doctor Who
I honestly was shaking the whole time watching this. My fever suddenly got up and my hands are frozen in place. The anxiety was just too much to swallow.
When I finally noticed the camera for sale shit… that’s so terracing. It’s weird how I went from feeling so bad for this kid to instantly now thinking he got everything he deserved..and still didn’t get enough.
Terrasing?
To think this all snowballed from his sister trying to watch pirated movies...
Narrator: "Well uh the glasses they gave him made him look less like a bank robber and more like a.... you know"
Me: uh Hunter S. Thompson?? 😏
HE WAS LOOKING AT KIDS I THOUGHT THEY WAS SAYING THAT JUST TO FUCK WITH HIM DAM YOU JUST OPENED MY EYES
bro. did you not watch the ending to the fucking episode.
@@jamaaldagreatest2748 I did but I probably missed that part when his mom called
@@iscott3187 No literally I thought they were like just trying to damage his reputation I didn’t catch on💀
@@jadehicks3651 so I am not crazy thanks
@@jadehicks3651 same, that's why the ending didn't have my jaw on the floor, it just made me sad. i do like the fact that he's a scumbag though, because too many of these episodes have injustice
Its a sick ending but i cant help but find kennys mum saying "kids kenny" hilarius. like its something about the way she is saying it just comes across and funny to me despite it actuly being in refrence to something dark.
I thought the episode was about an embarrassing moment caught and recorded by the hackers. I had no clue he was into children, even at the end where the mom confirms the photos were of kids. I THOUGHT THE HACKERS PUT THISE PHOTOS THERE. And thought the he was innocent the whole time
SAME!
omg i love the new video format! time to redo every single black mirror episode:D
Thank you, I'm finally making the kind of video that I've wanted to make for awhile now
I just watched Shut up and dance episode and I'm feeling numb! Ive never felt like this at the most horror movie or even a real life incident this terrifying than Black mirror! Im cold but I know even if the show is filmed but it felt so much real! Internet is a dark place and most importantly depressing!
This was probably the most depressing thing I've watched on screen for as long as I can remember. I hope no one ever encounters anything like this at any time in their lives.
One thing I’ve always wondered is if mindy (the prositute) was actually and underage girl too, everyone else that was being blackmailed was a pedo.
No another woman was racist
This was amazing...brutal and bleak and darkly cathartic
I can’t believe it…
£31.89 for a full tank of petrol…
something interesting as well is the fact they paired kenny up with a man who needed to keep his secret private to protect his kids/family. he forms this relationship with kenny, he helps him and probably feels quite sorry for him but then a few days later, on top of losing his family he finds out that the person he helped would be a huge danger to his own kids and that would probably be what could've possibly driven him over the edge
Great review/explanation! I had never considered the hackers had committing the same crimes they were “punishing”
Well yeah, I mean, technically speaking, they're distributing spreading CP. Vigilantes are in the most literal sense, criminals. They break laws to catch people who break laws.
In this case though, they're more than that. They're trolls. They're trolling. I would go as far as to say this isn't justice. Maybe mob justice, but not by legal definition justice.
Its just straight sadism. And also a lesson of what happens when you go along w out any questions asked. Those ppl made mistakes...but those mistakes were not for anyone on this Earth to judge. Only the man upstairs has that authority.
When I first saw this, I totally overlooked that content of those photos and simply thought he was recorded clearing his own pipe.
Such a video could be embarrassing, especially for a young man. The whole episode made sense as someone who was trying to protect their reputation.
I can't believe I overlooked the CONTENT of what he was looking at being the all-important fact and motivation for the hackers.
Wow...this series really goes deep and now I need to watch it again from top to bottom
“clearing his own pipe” omg i never heard that one before 🤣
I forgot how this ruined Walk The Moon for me for a little while. But we do need another season.
YESSS I love these deep dive videos so much!
More on the way! Always appreciate the support!
The gun was loaded, Kenny failed to rack it.