Is There a Way Out? Physical and Structural Prostitution in the Dystopian World of Black Mirror ’s Episode “Fifteen Million Merits”

This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the episode “Fifteen Million Merits” (1x02), from the TV Series Black Mirror (2011). By combining formal cinematic and narratological analysis, the main purpose is to assess how the pornography business and prostitution affect the behavior of the people inhabiting the futurist dystopia displayed in this episode. The analysis focuses on the oppressive technological system of prostitution and mainstream pornography, with the aim of assessing its role within our contemporary socio-cultural parameters. The female protagonist and three members of the jury of a television contest are selected to explore these issues more deeply. The former embodies the harshness and soulless business of mainstream heteropatriarchal pornography and prostitution, whereas the latter structurally represents how this industry cunningly affects everyone belonging to that community

Art · Astrophysics · Dystopia · Literature · Physics · Crime and Detective Fiction Studies