《黑鏡》系列
—— 科技對(duì)當(dāng)代生活的影響

∷宋云峰 編寫

一、《黑鏡》系列——探討新科技對(duì)當(dāng)代生活的影響

由查利·布魯克（Charlie Brooker）創(chuàng)作的英國(guó)科幻電視劇《黑鏡》（Black Mirror）著力審視新科技時(shí)代的西方社會(huì)，聚焦新科技對(duì)人們生活方方面面的影響。與傳統(tǒng)電視連續(xù)劇不同的是，《黑鏡》系列的每一集都是相對(duì)獨(dú)立的一個(gè)小故事，時(shí)間背景設(shè)定在不久的將來(lái)（the near future），其風(fēng)格是嘲諷和黑色幽默（satire and dark humour），有的劇集則具有實(shí)驗(yàn)（experimental）和輕松的成分。

《黑鏡》實(shí)際上是受到美國(guó)電視劇《迷離時(shí)空》（The Twilight Zone, 1959—1964）的啟發(fā)，旨在探討一些頗具爭(zhēng)議的當(dāng)代話題（controversial contemporary topics）而又避免受到媒體審查（censorship），尤其是探討人類越來(lái)越離不開科技的生活方式（the way we live now）。

《黑鏡》系列第一季和第二季分別于2011年12月和2013年2月在英國(guó)電視第四頻道（Channel 4）首播，引起了很大反響。2015年9月，美國(guó)的奈飛公司（Netf l ix）購(gòu)買了這兩季，并且投資拍攝了第三季和第四季，分別于2016年10月和2017年12月播出。

《黑鏡》系列自播出以來(lái)得到了很多業(yè)界的正面評(píng)價(jià)（positive reception），收獲了許多獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)和獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)提名（awards and nominations），在國(guó)際上也贏得了越來(lái)越多的觀眾（尤其是在奈飛公司收購(gòu)并投資該劇之后）。其中第三季的《圣朱尼佩洛》（San Junipero）和第四季的《卡利斯特號(hào)星艦》（USS Callister）斬獲多項(xiàng)艾美獎(jiǎng)（Emmy Awards）。

《黑鏡》的主題思想是新科技如何毀掉你的生活。如前所述，創(chuàng)作該劇時(shí)，布魯克受到了羅德·塞林（Rod Serling）主創(chuàng)的美國(guó)科幻/超現(xiàn)實(shí)電視劇《迷離時(shí)空》的啟發(fā)。塞林在劇中對(duì)當(dāng)代一些頗具爭(zhēng)議的社會(huì)問(wèn)題進(jìn)行探討，卻將時(shí)間設(shè)定在將來(lái)，以避免受到審查而禁映（美國(guó)到1968年才以分級(jí)制替代了電影審查制度）。布魯克意識(shí)到，他也可以用類似的方式對(duì)當(dāng)代問(wèn)題進(jìn)行評(píng)論，尤其是人類對(duì)科技的依賴（mankind's dependency on technology），這是他在制作另一部電視劇《看電視毀人生》（How TV Ruined Your Life）時(shí)就感受到的。

至于“黑鏡”的含義，則是指那些無(wú)處不在的黑科技產(chǎn)品（電視、電腦和手機(jī)）的黑色屏幕。布魯克將它們比喻成毒品，使人上癮，時(shí)刻也離不開：

“If technology is a drug（毒品）—and it does feel like a drug—then what, precisely, are the side effects?This area—between delight and discomfort—is where Black Mirror, my new drama series, is set. The ‘black mirror' of the title is the one you'll fi nd on every wall,on every desk, in the palm of every hand: the cold, shiny screen of a TV, a monitor, a smartphone.”

二、《全民大合唱》（The National Anthem，《黑鏡》第一季第一集）——推特時(shí)代的寓言

1. Story Synopsis（故事情節(jié)）

Princess Susannah, a member of the British royal family, has been kidnapped（綁架）. To return the Princess, the kidnapper demands that the country's Prime Minister, Michael Callow, does some disgraceful things on live television（電視直播）, otherwise he will kill her. Callow refuses to be blackmailed（敲詐）, but public opinion is gradually turning against him. Security forces are trying to locate the kidnapper, but every effort fails. Under pressure, Callow fi nally agrees to fulf i ll the demand. The British people gather in public places and watch the shocking broadcast, with no one realising that the kidnapper has already released the Princess thirty minutes ago. The kidnapper commits suicide by hanging and he is later revealed（披露）to be an artist,who planned the debacle（大災(zāi)難）in order to make a statement on people's obsession（著迷）with the media.One year later, Callow's approval ratings（支持率）have fully recovered, but his relationship with his wife has suffered a heavy blow.

2. 劇情分析

第四頻道將“全民大合唱”（原意為“國(guó)歌”，頗具諷刺意味）描述為“推特時(shí)代一個(gè)扭曲的寓言”（a twisted parable for the Twitter age）?！睹咳锗]報(bào)》（The Daily Telegraph）影評(píng)人邁克爾·霍根（Michael Hogan）高度贊揚(yáng)“全民大合唱”對(duì)當(dāng)代媒體特性令人震撼的、大膽并具有黑色喜劇性的揭示［“a shocking but ballsy（大膽的）, blackly comic study of the modern media”］。

一天晚上，英國(guó)首相在睡夢(mèng)中被電話鈴聲吵醒。下樓后他與政府要員們一起觀看了綁匪拍攝的綁架英國(guó)公主的網(wǎng)絡(luò)視頻。綁匪要求首相在次日下午四點(diǎn)時(shí)，在電視上直播做不雅的事，這樣才能把公主放了，否則就撕票。首相要求政府立即封鎖消息并禁止該視頻流出。然而，綁匪的視頻是在YouTube上發(fā)布的，其傳播速度比病毒還快，根本封不?。?/p>

Prime Minister (PM): This only exists in this room!

Assistant: It's already outside it.

PM: If there're hacks（唯命是從的工作人員）sniff i ng around（好奇或懷疑地看）, shut them down.

Cabinet Secretary (CS): This video came from YouTube.

PM: What! Well, get it off（下架，刪除）there!

CS: We did after nine minutes, long enough for it to be duplicated（復(fù)制）and spread.

《黑鏡》海報(bào)

PM: Spread? How many people have seen this?

CS: We take down one, six clones immediately pop up（冒出來(lái)）elsewhere.

PM: How many?

Assistant: 50,000. That's our current estimate. The newsroom（電視臺(tái)、電臺(tái)等的新聞編輯室）has got it.

PM: They are running it on air（播出）?

Assistant: No. We put a type fi ve D notice［指國(guó)防部（Defense Off i ce）以國(guó)家安全為理由禁止媒體報(bào)道發(fā)布某類信息的通知，分為五類，第五類是關(guān)于政府要職人員及其家人的信息］out and they are complying（遵從）, for now. It's trending（延伸，蔓延）on Twitter.

PM: Oh. So what's now? What's the play book（計(jì)劃）?

CS: This is virgin territory（第一次經(jīng)歷的事情）,Prime Minister. There's no play book.

接下來(lái)，公主被綁票和首相被要挾的事件在媒體與受眾間逐漸發(fā)酵。英國(guó)的每個(gè)人都在關(guān)注和議論此事，但由于政府的禁令，英國(guó)新聞電視臺(tái)（UKN）沒(méi)有進(jìn)行采訪和報(bào)道。然而，電視臺(tái)內(nèi)部卻發(fā)生了激烈的爭(zhēng)論——臺(tái)長(zhǎng)主張遵守政府的法規(guī)不予報(bào)道，而另一派則認(rèn)為這樣的突發(fā)新聞千載難逢，不利用它來(lái)占領(lǐng)媒體高地就可惜了。但當(dāng)?shù)弥渌麌?guó)家的電視臺(tái)都進(jìn)行了報(bào)道之后，英國(guó)新聞電視臺(tái)也守不住底線開始報(bào)道，并引起了英國(guó)全民的關(guān)注。民調(diào)顯示，雖然人們對(duì)公主充滿了同情和愛(ài)憐，但只有28%的人希望首相滿足綁匪的要求，而72%的受訪者不愿見(jiàn)到首相受辱。

但事件后來(lái)的發(fā)展卻急轉(zhuǎn)直下。首先，女王給首相打電話，要求政府不惜任何代價(jià)營(yíng)救公主，首相壓力倍增。首相的手下私自計(jì)劃找替身（替代首相）來(lái)滿足綁匪的要求，但被路人拍到。電視臺(tái)的女記者則通過(guò)出賣色相來(lái)?yè)Q取首相助手的內(nèi)部信息。與此同時(shí)，特警部門也找到了綁匪的“所在”，準(zhǔn)備突襲營(yíng)救。不幸的是，綁匪從網(wǎng)上得知了替身計(jì)劃，隨后電視臺(tái)收到了公主的斷指（severed fi nger）和她痛苦求救的U盤視頻。電視臺(tái)播出該視頻后，英國(guó)公眾對(duì)首相的同情轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)榕u(píng)和憤怒，民調(diào)的比例出現(xiàn)了逆轉(zhuǎn)：

UKN reporter: A few hours ago, public opinion was behind（支持）Prime Minister Callow, with only 28% of the public believing he should fulf i ll the bizarre（怪誕的）and illegal request. But in the wake of these images and the delivery of the princess's severed fi nger,the mood is shifting.

Interviewee 1: It'll be humiliating, but nothing compared to her suffering（與公主的痛苦相比這算不了什么）.

Interviewee 2: He's got to do it. What's the alternative?

Interviewee 3: You can easily get a Prime Minister,but we can't live without a princess. Of course he should do it.

Interviewee 4: If he doesn't get her released, he's fi nished（完蛋）, isn't he?

Reporter: Online polls suggest that 86% of voters now believe that the demand should be met.

由于特警抓捕綁匪和營(yíng)救公主的行動(dòng)失敗（中了綁匪的圈套），首相受到了公眾輿論、王室和執(zhí)政黨的多重壓力，看來(lái)真的是走投無(wú)路，別無(wú)選擇了。同時(shí)，首相夫婦之間也發(fā)生了激烈的爭(zhēng)吵，妻子極力勸阻，而丈夫卻有苦難言。首相的高級(jí)顧問(wèn)勸告首相滿足綁匪的要求——“不救公主的話你絕對(duì)完蛋，救的話你會(huì)獲得民心”：

PM: It's not going to happen.

Advisor: To the public, it would be one man of questionable popularity putting personal embarrassment over the life of a girl.

PM: He won't release her, and she's probably already dead.

Advisor: And if she isn't, he'll kill her and upload the video. Everyone will see it and the world will see it.The mood will border on insurrection（暴動(dòng)）and you'll be destroyed, I guarantee you, utterly destroyed. You won't just be a disgraced politician. You'll be a despised individual. The public, the Palace（白金漢宮，指王室）,the party insist on compliance（服從）.

...

Advisor: Refuse, I've been advised that we cannot guarantee your physical safety（人身安全）, or that of your family. I've made arrangement with the broadcast.

PM: But I can't...

Advisor: I'm sorry, Michael. It's out of your hands（你說(shuō)了不算）.

載著首相的專車出發(fā)去直播間了。倫敦城萬(wàn)人空巷，人們聚集在電視屏幕前看首相的笑話，首相夫人則焦慮地躲在自己房間里，黯然神傷。首相不知情的是，在直播前半個(gè)小時(shí)綁匪就釋放了公主，然后自己懸梁自盡了。

一年后首相夫婦露面，媒體稱其“顯然已經(jīng)擺脫了困擾”，公主也在懷孕后第一次露面。首相支持率比去年同期上升了三個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。最后一個(gè)鏡頭：首相夫婦進(jìn)了家門，夫人不搭理他獨(dú)自上樓，回了一個(gè)冷漠的眼神，首相無(wú)奈地沉默。

綁匪被證實(shí)是位曾獲得過(guò)特納獎(jiǎng)（Turner Award）的藝術(shù)家。據(jù)推測(cè)，他是想通過(guò)自己的“行為藝術(shù)”批判人們對(duì)于媒體的沉溺和自我的迷失。的確，通過(guò)因特網(wǎng)和現(xiàn)代社交媒體，英國(guó)全民都參與了公主綁架事件的進(jìn)程，最終掀起了一場(chǎng)暴露人性丑惡的大合唱。