Black Mirror: 10 Character Fates Worse Than Death
8. White Christmas - Enslaved To Yourself
Christmas specials for a TV show are meant to elicit feelings of warmth, comfort and happiness during the festive season. In Black Mirror's case, this ninety-minute special consisting of three darkly tales is both a great break away from the conventional norm, and one of the most disturbing specials to watch when snacking on a box of Celebrations.
None of the three main characters in White Christmas walk away unscathed, but while Matt (Jon Hamm) does get a rough deal of never being able to socialise with anyone ever again, it's Oona Chaplin's Greta in the second story that gets a harsher sentence.
We don't think about it much when we call out commands to our Alexa's or Google Homes; but the idea of a conscious entity performing meaningless and superficial tasks for us would make us feel uneasy if we imagined a conscious entity carrying out those chores either against their will- or because there is literally nothing else to do.
Matt's "training" of the Cookie Greta is made all the more sinister as Jon Hamm casually chomps on a slice of toast as he slows down time by weeks and then months just to break the Cookie Greta.
The real-life Greta (probably) couldn't care less about a conscious version of herself making her house automated, but when we see the Cookie Greta's expressionless stare as she prepares breakfast and organizes a Christmas calendar, we know that this digital clone is just a shell of its former self.