White Bear

 White Bear was an interesting episode of Black Mirror about a woman and a punishment. The episode follows a young lady's terrifying new life. Her crime was recording a young girl's death with her cell phone, her punishment is to be tortured on daily basis while others record. Her memory is erased of course so she suffers through the same confusion of events and submission to help that the poor girl probably felt. This episode raised one main question in the classroom.

Did she deserve that punishment?

In my opinion no not really...at least not in the mindset that she was in. I understand the thought "If she was left in her regular mindset she wouldn't be apologizing out of understanding, she would apologize just to make it all stop." That's fair, I get it I do, but if you erase a person's mind and force them to relive that event over and over only to announce that it was all fake and that they are murderers doesn't really set well. The would understand how the girl felt, of course, but would she really remember the murder?

I know last time I said that the mindset didn't really matter because you would still be you under all the layers. But it is just something cruel to have your mind painfully wiped daily until you're a compliant pile of fear. I know that without the memory wash the woman was bound disobey the rules of the game and not play along, but at least that way she would understand her crime.

Why make all of her flashbacks sweet? Why let her believe that she had a great relationship with the child? You succeeded with the things you've already had. I don't agree with the video at the end to rely the message that she helped in a murder, like why drag it out so long. What people have so much time that they can just sit around all day waiting for an accomplice in a murder to run by so that they could get three seconds of make believe footage. I think the best why to have handled it would have been the first run when she's out of the house and then people are recording her and then straight to the glass wall thing where they throw there rotten tomatoes. Leave the brain washing hanging up in the closet, that way she could actually learn from her mistakes.