Pigs, Prime Ministers, and the Dangers of Technology

I was warned about the first episode of Black Mirror; I was told the rest of the series wasn’t quite like the pilot. Being myself, I couldn’t stand to start a series on episode two, so I braced myself for episode 1: “National Anthem”. Even with a good “bracing”, I wasn’t prepared for what Black Mirror had in store for me.

Prior to watching the first episode, I was told that the premise of the show is to highlight the negative effects that soon-to-be-released technology would have on our society. While most of the episodes center around futuristic tech, the first episode starts off the series in the present day with technology that already exists. Princess Susannah of England’s Royal Family is kidnapped and held for ransom at the expense of the prime minister, who is ordered by the kidnapper to be filmed on live television having intercourse with a pig in exchange for the princess’ freedom. The following series of events may be one of the most stressful productions I’ve ever watched. “National Anthem” was a very dark episode, both in content and cinematography. The dialogue and scene composition were similar to the show House of Cards, which also depicts poorly illuminated scenes of people with political power wrestling over major issues. “National Anthem”, however, feels more in content like the show Designated Survivor in the sense that we watch a government do everything in its power to try and prevent a national crisis.

From what I can tell, Black Mirror seems to be very well produced and backed by a team of insightful writers. As silly as the premise of the first episode was, the culmination of all of its features built a credibility that makes the viewer feel terrible for the prime minister before the show is even over. At the end of the episode, the screen reads the director’s name, and then immediately jumps to post credit scenes to fill in all of the plot’s gaps. The story jumps to the one year anniversary of the incident and how the event had, in reality, little to no effect on the nation and its respect for its leaders. The incident did leave damage on the prime minister’s marriage, which seems to be permanent. At first, I was surprised and skeptical about the idea that a nation could get over such a catastrophic event in just one year, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that this could be the case. The fact that the plot of “National Anthem” is very possible in today’s world makes it a strong precedent for the rest of the series. If someone in today’s world could bend popular media to their will for evil, in what ways could the powerful technology of the future be abused?

As uncomfortable as the first episode of Black Mirror made me, I am still interested in watching the rest of the series. I have always been a sucker for shows about futuristic technology, and I’m impressed by the plausibility of the writing in the first episode. We are already living in the future, and today’s Black Mirror episode could be tomorrow’s reality.

Nailed It

For this week’s blog post I chose to watch the Netflix’s Original Nailed It. Which is a baking competition show where the contestants attempt to make professional like desserts. The series provides short thirty minute episodes. So these bakers are trying to “nail” the dessert that they are recreating. There are three total rounds of baking different kinds of desserts. At the end of each show, the winner receives 10,000 dollars as the cash prize. These at home bakers are generally not able to even come close to the desserts that they are replicating. In the first episode, they are making cake pops in different shapes. One of the bakers chose to make two different sets of lips on her cake pops, and the end product looked really nothing like lips at all. So it’s definitely entertaining to see the attempts that they make.

It really is the great amount of distance between the professional’s dessert and the contestants desserts that is the most entertaining part of the show. It also feels as if the contestants know they are going to fail, and really are just trying fail the least out of everyone else in the competition. Possibly though, the expectations are set too high and really only a professional baker would be able to accomplish such hard tasks. In all reality, the show probably wouldn’t be nearly as entertaining if they made it easier on the contestants. The best part of the show is seeing the contestants royally fail.

While watching Nailed It you definitely get the feeling that you could easily be on this show. The people are extremely amateur and are even given recipes to follow when baking in the competition. The judges are very kind and encouraging when the people don’t do very well which also makes me believe I could be on the show. The judges mainly just laugh at the desserts that contestants provide for them. It seems to be a very fun and relaxed environment. It definitely made me feel pretty good about my own baking as well. While watching I definitely felt like I could have done better than most of the contestants, but that is probably easier said than done.

Overall, this show is a very quick and easy watch. The hosts and judges are guaranteed to make you laugh, and i’m sure you will definitely enjoy it.

When We First Met

I think the Netflix Original When We First Met, directed by Ari Sandel, is a great movie. It is a romantic comedy starring Adam DeVine and Alexandra Daddario. Adam DeVine is one of my favorite comedic actors. He has come along way in his career from staring in his raunchy comedy, Workaholics, to starring in a great family show that has been nominated for many Golden Globes and Emmys, Modern Family.

Adam DeVine plays Noah Ashby and Alexandra Daddario plays Avery Martin. The movie starts of at Avery Martin’s engagement party. Noah remembers his first time meeting Avery at a Halloween party three years ago. He remembers how much he connected with her at the party. Noah and Avery had left the party together and went to a bar that Noah works at. They had a wonderful time together there. Noah played the piano and sang to her and then they took funny pictures in a photo booth. They go back to Avery’s house and have serial and the relationship doesn’t go further than that romantically. The next scene goes back to Avery’s engagement party where Noah is upset and gets very drunk because he wishes he was the one with Avery. Then Avery’s best friend, Carrie, takes Noah to the bar he works at to meet with his friend Max. At the bar, Noah gets into the same photo booth he was in with Avery three years ago. He wished that he could have another chance to go back to that Halloween party and have another shot at having a romantic relationship with Avery. This is where the movie starts to pick up. I liked that the backstory of the movie didn’t take to long and it gets into the action pretty quick.

Noah wakes up very confused. When he realizes that his wish came true, he makes it a mission to get in a romantic relationship with Avery. He goes to the Halloween party and uses everything he knows about Avery to make her fall in 

love with her. He was unsuccessful in that attempt so he went back to the magic photo booth and did the same thing again. He was unsuccessful again and was very frustrated. He had a deep conversation with Carrie and she said that Avery wants a guy who is secure, has a good job, and who is ready to settle down and have a family. Noah then goes back and time and wakes up and is a really successful VP of a company. He is very happy because he finds out that he is married to Avery. He then realizes that she isn’t happy with him. He is very upset by this. He talked to Carrie about how he just wanted Avery to be happy. During this conversation he realized how much he has loved talking to Carrie over all his time travel experiences. He goes back in time and tries to have a romantic relationship with Carrie. He didn’t get to be with her that night. He then woke up three years later and went to Avery’s engagement party. He asked Carrie on a date there and then the movie ended. During the credits at the after the movie ended, the audience sees pictures of Carrie and Noah in a relationship.



I really enjoyed this movie because it ended really well. I was confused during the movie because I didn’t think it would be a good way to fall in love with someone by going back in time and telling someone everything they want to hear just so they would fall in love with someone. I’m glad Noah fell in love with Carrie because they were really connecting all movie.

Is a Full House a Happy House?

This week, I decided to watch Fuller House. I didn’t grow up in what you would call a full house, but my house was indeed pretty chaotic. A family of four in a decently small house might not seem chaotic at the time, but trust me, we had our fair share of butting heads.


In Fuller House “Our Very First Show, Again”, the Tanner family reunites after D.J. loses her husband who was a firefighter. Joey returns to Las Vegas, Danny and Becky host a show in Los Angeles, and Jesse also goes back to Los Angeles to work as a music supervisor on General Hospital. They all overhear D.J. express her concern of being a single mom for three boys. Everyone offers to drop their lives to help out but then Stephanie tells them it is her turn to help out. In the middle of a divorce from her husband who was cheating on her, Kimmy decides to stay and play nanny even though she has a child of her own, Ramona.


Like I said before, unlike them, I did not grow up in a super full house, and neither did you but even though the house wasn’t full in the sense of physical bodies it was filled with warmth and love…. Until it’s not. We did fight a lot in the family. Maybe not specifically you and me but it seemed like everyday someone was butting heads with someone else, and it made for some tough times in the house. Just like in the show, though, everyone in our family would be willing to drop everything to help out when someone needs it.


Although I hope that it never happens, but there might be some time when something happens and I want you to know that I would drop everything in a heartbeat to help you or the family. No matter how many times we butt heads I know that you will always love me and that we have each other’s backs.

Extraordinary Mountain Livin'

I was certainly surprised when The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes popped up on my Netflix feed with a 99% match - none of the other shows I watch have anything to do with homes at all. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a shot, and I wasn’t disappointed. The intro immediately drew my attention with a montage of fly-by clips of gorgeous houses and a narration from a British pair of hosts. The first episode was labelled, “Mountain”, and so I waited in anticipation to see what homes the mountains had to offer.

Before formally introducing each house, the show focuses on hosts Piers and Caroline as they travel to the property, most likely as a way to exaggerate how far out of the way some of these places are. During this time, the hosts give background information on the house over teaser-clips of what the structure looks like. Once Piers and Caroline arrive, they show the house as a whole. The camera shots are stunning; many of them are aerial views of the house as a whole against the mountain it sits on. The cinematography doesn’t just stand out for the houses, however. The entire show uses an eye-catching modern composition. Everything from the clips of the houses to the conversations feels contemporary. Watching the interviews between the hosts and the house architects reminds me of watching Modern Family in the way that the camera is used. This style fits well with a show centering around newly built and unique architecture.

One other neat addition to The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes is the floor plan graphic that appears whenever Piers starts to talk about the house as a whole. The graphic style looks just like the kind used in HGTV shows. I find the graphics helpful, especially when Piers and Caroline showcase a home with a complicated structure or multiple separated living spaces, such as the airplane house.

My main complaint with the show is that I’m not always a fan of Caroline. She is a peppy British actress who was probably hired to contradict Piers’ calmer personality. Piers’ is also an architect, and he often has insightful things to point out about the different houses they visit. Caroline is more outgoing, but she doesn’t have much to say about architecture besides whether or not something is pretty. When she doesn’t like a house, she makes a big deal out of the little things. For example, Caroline decided that she didn’t like the desert house simply because she couldn’t figure out how to open the front door on her own. Caroline did, however, make a good point about the stone walkway at the desert house being hazardous to some older people.

The first episode of The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes was really entertaining. I’m amazed that people have the money to build homes like the ones shown. I don’t know how Netflix knew it would be such a good match for me, but I will definitely be watching more of this extraordinary series.

I Need It to Study

Take Your Pill, is a Netflix documentary that focuses on Adderall on college campuses. It starts off with actual college students giving their take on Adderall and their experiences with it. None of the students say whether they believe it is a good or bad thing but they talk about what they have seen in their time at college. One student recalls her parents telling her that she needed to get a lock box for her pills before going to college and she did not understand why. Another student says that he has seen people openly selling Adderall on public platforms and says, "I almost forget that it is illegal." It then has students who talk about why they do it and to give their explanation of how it makes them feel. They all express that it is helpful to them, whether it is for school work or for playing video games. All that you hear at the beginning of this film is positive. The film then switches to interviewing professors and how they see Adderall. One professor jokes that when he went to college students did drugs to check out, this generation does drugs to check in. This film is great because it starts off with real people just talking about their experiences, which kind of hooks you. In between portions of the interviews, they put in little facts to start to build a case on Adderall. The film also gives the backstory as to how amphetamine was created. We then get a walk through of history to see where different portions of history amphetamines has had an affect on. We see that amphetamine has had affects on jazz, colleges, military, and many other cultural influences. The documentary uses a bunch of different visuals to keep your attention and make it more interesting. They also do not just focus on people from one college, they interview professors, doctors, students, and athletes from all different schools. Some of the interviews were formal and others were very casual. There were two types of people interviewed, who take Adderall, those who had a prescription and those who did not. This gives a look into why everyone wants to do or thing that they need to do it. The documentary then starts to turn towards the negative effects of the drug, they show its relation to methamphetamine. What is great about this documentary is it does not just start off by talking about the negatives of Adderall because it might keep people from watching it through. It draws you in from the beginning, and keeps you focused until the end in order to show people the dangers of this drug.   As the documentary progresses, the people being interviewed then start to reveal the negative consequences of the drug. Parents are then interviewed about them putting their kids on prescription pills. The two different parents interviewed express that they have no regrets of putting their children on it, because their children needed it. Their children both grew up and have became successful and they believe that the medication is partially responsible for it. This documentary seems to have a pretty unbiased view, it leaves it up to the viewed to build their own opinion.

A Different Sort of Western: Godless Episodes 1 and 2

This week’s Netflix original is called Godless. It is a Western that centers on the people around a conflict between violent outlaw Frank Griffith and the man he sees as the son who betrayed him named Roy Goode. The setting of the show is a town that is almost entirely run by women. These women all lost their husbands in a mine accident, which resulted in the town losing almost all income. At times, it feels like a town full of women is the whole gimmick of the show, with not much other substance. However, there is enough stuff to interest viewers, but there are also some things that may discourage viewers.

Something that may not jive with the audience is the villain, Frank Griffith. In one scene, he comes across a family of Norwegian immigrants. The whole scene was filled with tension, the viewer constantly wonders if he will murder the families. I was begging him not to, but not because I didn’t want to see these characters die. Throughout the show, Frank has been nothing but your standard evil villain. It would be a mark of a well developed character if he showed that he does have some idea of morality that doesn’t seek out punishment of all. While he fortunately decides to not kill the family, he does commit other crimes in regards to them. I would have given him a sense of justice where he would have just left the family alone. As it is, he is no better than any number of mustache-twirling villains with no depth of character.

One aspect of the show I enjoyed was Michelle Dockery as Alice Fletcher. Having not enjoyed her performance in Downton Abbey, I was pleasantly surprised with her many-layered portrayal as a woman alienated from society. Most of the women in the series can be described in a single trope, such as tomboy or pure hearted harlot. However, Alice Fletcher is somewhat harder to classify. At most, you might call her a single mom, but I disagree with this classification. Most single mothers in media let their status define them, either as a way to excuse poor behavior or as a way that she’s a cut above her peers. Alice Fletcher doesn’t fit this designation; she is just trying to live her life in an unfavorable landscape.

That landscape is another part of the show that I enjoyed. From the few westerns I have watched, the landscape is almost a character in and of itself. The isolation and harshness of the landscape often remind us that the hero alone can act in this situation. While most of the surroundings fit this, Alice’s ranch is almost green and lush by comparison. However, this fits the trope. To Roy Goode, who is among the heroes of the story, Alice’s ranch is a haven where he doesn’t have to worry about Frank Griffith’s vengeance for right now. I am happy the show has decided to keep that hallmark of a Western as opposed to promoting violence against women or not examining the consequences of relying on gun-only justice. I think that Godless is a Western I can enjoy.

Polka Nots?

The Polka King is a recently released Netflix original that centers around the life of a Philadelphia poker star that is trying to make a rise. The main antagonist of the show is portrayed by Jack Black. The story follows the Polka player accidentally running a ponzi scheme. This starts by him taking investments. He brings in investors by pitching his name to the public. He promises that he will repay this money, with a higher interest than the banks. At first, he is not aware that his actions are illegal. He finds out the legality when approached by the FBI. He agrees to return the money and make things right. He doesn't have the money to return to the investors. Instead, he takes larger investments to increase revenue. He tells the FBI that he has paid the investors back and that everything is squared away. This starts the rising action of the movie, and leads to a surprising twist at the end.

The biggest draw to the movie was the cast. Jack Black is a favorite actor of mine, and I enjoy the way he takes on roles to the fullest. Black does an incredible job portraying a foreign individual for the movie. The accent that was used really stuck with the character. The quirkiness of Black adds to the comedic aspect of the movie. When watching Black perform in a movie, you can really tell the research he puts into his roles. I have the feeling that Black researched the individual this was based around extensively. The casting of Jack Black for the main role, was something that really gave this movie a personality. A personality that will draw an audience to view intently.

The story of this movie is a hard hitter. The movie is based around a real life event, which really adds to the suspense. The story starts really slow in the beginning, and it causes a lot of confusion. The ball quickly gets rolling when he lies to the FBI. From this point forth, the rising action is intense and leaves you on the edge of your seat. The movie was predictable in parts, but the ending was not expected. The ending is a scene that will leave your jaw wide open, being vague to avoid spoilers. A true story that is portrayed through the screen and the emotions provoked, is the best thing to take away from this movie.

A small thing that I particularly liked from the movie, was the soundtrack. The soundtrack of the movie was mainly Polka, which fits the movie idea and the time period. Most of the music in the movie, comes from Black’s Polka band when they play concerts. The other music that plays throughout the movie, is usually from Black’s band as well. The voice of Jack Black is very distinct, which allows me to pick out the music that is by him. I believe that the music from the movie, is actually played by Black himself. The reason I think it is him that plays, is because he has a successful rock band already. Tenacious D, is Black’s real life band that has full length albums on many platforms.

The Polka King is another solid original released by Netflix. This is one that I would recommend to fans of Jack Black and fans of Comedic films. The story of the film, is also something else that makes this movie stand out amongst others. Jack Black strikes yet again, on a powerful role. Netflix manages to amaze me again, with their original content.

Pushing Buttons

Dear Mom,

Recently, I watched a new reality show on Netflix called The Push. A mentalist named Darren Brown performs a social experiment to test how much people will conform to others. The subject is a man named Chris, who thinks he is attending a charity gala event. He starts by performing small tasks for people and eventually ends up helping move a dead body. Intense social pressure then pushes him to impersonate the dead man, manipulate the dead body, and edges him towards committing a murder. I won’t tell you if Chris decides to commit murder or not because I think you should watch it. I know you like shows with illusionists, so you will probably enjoy this one.

I think this social experiment is interesting and it is like nothing I have ever seen before. Darren Brown’s elaborate planning of this psychological scenario is what astounded me because of all that went into creating it. Nearly 70 actors were involved who helped orchestrate this, and even some celebrities got involved to make the charity event more believable. When the man who dies has what seems to be a heart attack, they replace his body with an extremely similar replica dummy that makes Chris believe he has really died. When it came to pushing the same man off the building, they had set up a contraption so that the man would not actually die, but the person who pushed him off the building would not be able to tell.

The Push is important for people to watch because it explores whether or not human beings are willing to commit terrible acts when they are told they have no other choice. The people involved in this experiment are much like the rest of society because they are easily swayed by others and will do anything to follow the norm. A lesson can be learned from this show because if we are aware of and understand how much we can be influenced and manipulated, we will be able to push back against those social pressures. It emphasizes how humans want to be liked by others and the extremes they will go to for social gratification or validation.

When I was growing up, you always taught me to stand out and to be my own person and I think this show is a great example of what happens when you let others manipulate you and conform to social influences. After watching this, I will be able to better recognize when I am letting myself conform to others and just following the crowd. This show brings to light a problem in our society that is very seldom talked about, but it is an extremely dangerous and prevalent one. In this case, the social pressures led the people involved to commit terrible acts, but this type of conforming happens every day. It is necessary to stand up for what you believe in, even if it goes against what everyone else believes.