Introduction and Synopsis
In my time watching Black Mirror, I don't think I've ever been so stumped by an episode's message. Not because I didn't get it but because I had no idea who to side with. It really asks questions about whether the punishment fits the crime and whether or not criminals deserve a punishment that severe. I'm gonna attempt to find out who was the true villain in 'White Bear' by balancing their horrendous actions with what they're going through.
I should probably do a recap first to lay out the moral dilemma first. In the episode, a woman called Victoria Skillane (Lenora Crichlow) wakes up in a house with amnesia. She is being hunted by people in masks and everyone else is simply filming her via their phones. Another woman called Jem Tuppence Middleton) saves her and reveals that there was a signal known as 'white bear' that made most of the population 'observers' and the rest into homicidal maniacs. Only Victoria, Jem and another man called Damien (Ian Bonar) (who is killed by the masked people early on) are unaffected. Victoria and Jem soon meet another man called Baxter (Michael Smiley) who turns out to be a maniac to tries to torture and kill Victoria only for Jem to save her.
They get to the white bear tower only to be attacked again. Victoria tries to shoot one of the maniacs only for the gun to be made of confetti. The walls part to reveal an audience and Baxter and Jem strap her to a chair. It turns out that Victoria was an accomplice to the abduction, torture and murder of a young girl. Her boyfriend carried out the murder but he committed suicide in prison. She filmed it so she is still guilty. The 'white bear' was actually a teddy the girl owned and it has become the name of a theme park. The park in question is Victoria's punishment: She is to have her memories wiped every day and she is put through a fictional scenario designed to terrify and traumatise her. Baxter, Jem and Damien (who is still alive) are a part of it whilst the onlookers are simply visitors to the park who are allowed to film the scenario without being allowed to interfere.
Victoria is then paraded back to her house where her memories are wiped again as she is forced to watch the video of the girl's murder that she herself filmed. The episode ends with the routine starting again, this time from Baxter's point of view as he treats this as an amusement park designed for the enjoyment of men, women and children.
So yeah... I'm in a bit of a pickle here. On the one hand, Victoria deserves some punishment for her heinous actions but on the other hand, the punishment itself seems too harsh. Gahhh my brain! I might as well look at it from two sides: Victoria and Baxter.
The Case for Victoria Skillane
The majority of the episode is from her point of view and thus we are as confused as she is. The reveal that she is a criminal is a plot twist and she is terrified for the entire time. She is, after all, a human being subjected to terrible things. Granted for a good reason (I'll get to that later) but she is helpless and afraid the whole time.
As for the punishment itself. I can see it being justified for one day but this has been going on for a while and will continue to go on after the episode is over. At some point, it becomes overkill. The other characters are just outright cruel to her and she is clearly remorseful for her actions... granted that's because she doesn't remember them but the constant memory wiping is perhaps the cruellest part of the punishment as the procedure is shown to be painful. The part that stuck to me the most were Victoria's screams as she was being tortured. She deserves punishment but nothing this severe. Especially as her boyfriend, who actually committed the murder, didn't suffer the same fate as he ended up in jail. At some point, she just becomes the victim.
The Case for Baxter and the White Bear Justice Park
Victoria Skillane aided and abetted a murder. She filmed the murder without doing anything to intervene and she is guilty of a serious crime. She deserves to be punished in some way and given how high profile this case was, it was likely that the people demanded justice for Victoria's actions, especially as the murderer took the coward's way out. The White Bear Justice Park is a chance for the people to exact justice for the girl's murder.
Baxter set this up presumably because he was especially angry at the girl's murder. This was opportunity for him to get closure and justice whilst also making a profit out of it for good measure. He set up White Bear as a memorial of sorts to the victim and punishing Victoria is a good way to honor her memory. His methods may have been extreme but he believes that he is justified because he was punishing the wicked. Plus, he never caused serious harm to her as the guns never actually killed or hurt anyone. The only harm he caused her was the memory wipes and even then that was to stop her suspecting.
In his eyes, he is doing the right thing.
Verdict
I think what the episode is saying is that nobody's truly right in this scenario. Baxter may be punishing a criminal but he is doing so for his own enjoyment and is using a needlessly extreme scenario to do so. Victoria may be a victim but she deserved some form of punishment for doing a truly evil crime. They're both doing terrible things but at the same time, you understand their points of view.I guess the biggest question 'White Bear' poses is this: At what point is this punishment enough?
And that concludes this thought from an autistic mind. Where do you stand on the debate? Do you side with Victoria or Baxter? And is there really a right answer? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to like my Facebook page 'Joel Mole' for more content! Until the next time, fair thee well good people of the internet!
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