"Joan Is Awful"
Black Mirror episode
Promotional poster
Episode no.Series 6
Episode 1
Directed byAlly Pankiw
Written byCharlie Brooker
Featured music"Tap In" by Saweetie
Original air date15 June 2023 (2023-06-15)
Running time56 minutes
Guest appearances
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"Joan Is Awful" is the first episode of the sixth series of the anthology series Black Mirror. Written by series creator Charlie Brooker and directed by Ally Pankiw, the episode was released on Netflix on 15 June 2023.

The plot follows a tech executive (Annie Murphy) who discovers that her life is being adapted into a series by the Streamberry corporation and starring Salma Hayek as Joan. The episode foreshadows an era of "automatically generated entertainment" and gained recognition during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike for its themes regarding virtual actors.

Plot

Joan Tait (Annie Murphy) wakes up, eats breakfast made by her fiancé Krish (Avi Nash) and drives to work while lip syncing to "Tap In". Under instruction from the board of directors, she fires an employee, Sandy (Ayo Edebiri), who worked to reduce the company's carbon emissions. In therapy, Joan contrasts Krish's blandness with her ex-boyfriend Mac (Rob Delaney), who is messaging her. She meets Mac for dinner and they kiss.

At home, Joan and Krish discover a show on Streamberry titled Joan Is Awful. Played by Salma Hayek, the unlikeable, fictionalised Joan plays out the events of Joan's day. Krish leaves after seeing the fictionalised Mac (Ben Barnes) kissing Hayek's Joan. The programme shows Hayek's Joan discovering Joan Is Awful, where Joan is portrayed by Cate Blanchett, and being left by Himesh Patel's Krish.

Joan is fired due to the show and told by a lawyer (Lolly Adefope) that Streamberry's actions are legal due to their terms and conditions. The show is made by a quantum computer using computer-generated imagery (CGI) and real-time data gathered from Joan's devices.

To get a reaction from Hayek, Joan dresses as a cheerleader with a penis drawn on her forehead and defecates in a church, interrupting a wedding. After this is depicted in Joan Is Awful, Hayek meets with a lawyer who says that Streamberry can use her likeness this way as she has licensed it to them. Hayek and Joan plot to destroy the quantum computer.

Hayek convinces a receptionist to allow her into Streamberry's office and lets Joan in. They pass the CEO Mona Javadi (Leila Farzad), who explains to the journalist Fatima (Danielle Vitalis) that Streamberry plans to offer personalised, computer-generated content to all users. Joan was chosen as she is completely average, whilst the Is Awful brand maximises engagement.

Joan and Hayek reach a technician, Beppe (Michael Cera), who reveals that they are in a simulated reality where Joan is a likeness of Annie Murphy. She is based on a Source Joan (Kayla Lorette). Javadi arrives and begs Joan not to destroy the quantum computer, which would destroy all realities below theirs. Joan realises Source Joan already decided to smash the computer and follows suit.

In the source reality, Source Joan and Annie Murphy celebrate and become friends, though they are placed on house arrest. Source Joan starts a coffee shop, a dream of hers that she shared with her therapist. In a post-credits scene, Source Joan defecates in a church.

Production

Netflix announced that a sixth Black Mirror series was in development in May 2022, three years since the previous series was released.[1] The screenwriter for "Joan Is Awful" was Charlie Brooker, and the director was Ally Pankiw.[2] Brooker said it was the only episode of the sixth series to feel like a traditional installment.[3]

Initial ideas featured news networks using deepfakes of politicians or saw Joan as the subject of newspaper headlines over petty colleague complaints. Brooker was later inspired by the miniseries The Dropout (2022), which depicted the creation and downfall of disgraced tech startup Theranos, as it seemed to be making drama from "things that happened ten minutes ago".[3][4] Brooker described the episode as one of the "most overtly comic" of the programme.[5] Filming finished before ChatGPT was released, making the episode "eerily timely" according to Esquire's Emma Stefansky. Brooker commented that the entertainment industry was considering a future of "automatically generated entertainment that is endlessly targeted directly at individuals" and what this would mean for writers.[3]

Casting and filming

An April 2023 casting announcement included Annie Murphy, Salma Hayek, Michael Cera, Himesh Patel, Rob Delaney, and Ben Barnes,[6] who were linked to the episode "Joan Is Awful" the following month.[2] Brooker picked Murphy after watching Schitt's Creek during the COVID-19 pandemic, feeling she had the comedic timing for the role of Joan while being "likeable yet relatable, goofy, and flawed". He also noted director Ally Pankiw was the best fit to work with Murphy given she had worked on said show as a story editor. While always considering a well-known movie star for the show-within-a-show Joan, when Hayek was eventually brought up Brooker was unsure she would accept, only for her to be knowledgeable about Black Mirror and intrigued by the episode's premise.[7]

On playing herself in the episode, Hayek said that it gave her opportunity to "explore the concepts and clichés people have about me and be self-deprecating" and have "permission" to do "the most disgusting, grotesque things", though one such thing in the script made her question, "Do I really want to do this?"[8] Brooker said that Hayek wanted her dialogue to be "more outrageous" than the "more tame" lines they had written so as not to "scare her off".[4] Hayek also said it would help to include personal facts about her in the script, leading to the scene where Hayek says she is dyslexic and Roman Catholic.[7] Murphy said of the scene where her character defecates in a church: "I couldn't be more excited about it and I could picture it".[9]

The filming location for Joan's house was a bungalow in Crowthorne.[10] The soundtrack was composed by Ames Bessada and released on 21 July 2023.[11]

Reception

On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the episode holds an approval rating of 93% based on 15 reviews.[12] The Independent rated it three stars out of five;[13] The Daily Telegraph rated it two stars.[14]

The episode gained renewed attention near the start of the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, after the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) made a proposal which SAG-AFTRA's chief negotiator claimed would call for background performers "to be scanned, get one day's pay, and their companies should own that scan, their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity on any project they want, with no consent and no compensation".[15] An anonymous SAG-AFTRA member told Deadline that "actors see Black Mirror's 'Joan Is Awful' as a documentary of the future, with their likenesses sold off and used any way producers and studios want".[16] After the AMPTP proposal was revealed, The Guardian called the episode "every striking actor's worst nightmare".[17]

See also

Further reading

References

  1. ^ Ravindran, Manori (16 May 2022). "Black Mirror Returns: New Series in the Works at Netflix (Exclusive)". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  2. ^ a b May 11, Christian Holub (11 May 2023). "Black Mirror season 6 reveals episode details, new photos". Entertainment Weekly. Dotdash Meredith. Archived from the original on 15 June 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.((cite magazine)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ a b c Stefansky, Emma (15 June 2023). "Black Mirror Season 6: Charlie Brooker Breaks Down Every Episode". Esquire. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  4. ^ a b Flood, Alex (16 June 2023). "Black Mirror season six post-watch guide: trivia, set secrets and more". NME. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  5. ^ Griffin, Louise; Cormack, Morgan (15 June 2023). "Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker explains 'Red Mirror' label". Radio Times. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  6. ^ Strause, Jackie (26 April 2023). "Black Mirror Sets Season 6 Return, Reveals Cast and Teaser Trailer". The Hollywood Reporter. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 May 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b Cleal, Sam (16 June 2023). "Here Are 17 Interesting Black Mirror Season Six Facts We Learned In Conversation With Charlie Brooker". Buzzfeed News.
  8. ^ Edwards, Chris (16 June 2023). "Salma Hayek was worried Black Mirror role would get her 'in trouble'". NME. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  9. ^ Rowan, Iona (16 June 2023). "Black Mirror's 'Joan Is Awful' star on filming 'gross' scene". Digital Spy. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  10. ^ Johnston, Jennifer (17 February 2023). "Netflix Shoot at American Bungalow in Berkshire". Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  11. ^ "Soundtrack Album for 'Black Mirror' Episode 'Joan Is Awful' Released". Film Music Reporter. 20 July 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Joan Is Awful". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  13. ^ Hilton, Nick (15 June 2023). "Black Mirror season six review: Charlie Brooker's sci-fi mishmash needs to stop messing with a winning formula". The Independent. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  14. ^ Power, Ed (15 June 2023). "'Joan is Awful' is Black Mirror at its most self-satisfied – and makes for a tiresome opener". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
  15. ^ Webster, Andrew (13 July 2023). "Actors say Hollywood studios want their AI replicas — for free, forever". The Verge. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  16. ^ Patten, Dominic (11 July 2023). "SAG-AFTRA Strike Could Hinge On AI; Deep Divisions Remain Between Actors & Studios In Final Hours Of Talks". Deadline. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
  17. ^ Heritage, Stuart (13 July 2023). "'Joan Is Awful': Black Mirror episode is every striking actor's worst nightmare". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 July 2023.

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