Evan’s Period F: Take on Black Mirror
Setting - in Charles’ apartment in LA
We are in Charles’ apartment. He is in a dark room only lit by the light from the computer screen. We see it’s messy and not well kept, with old food, dirty clothes, and other clutter covering the floor and surrounding surfaces. Charles himself has a pale complexion and dark circles under his eyes. His hair is a mess and he’s grown stubble. The viewer sees his hands typing Erin’s livestream link on a keyboard. He’s uneasy.
Charles: (panting, dripping with sweat)
“I don’t know if I should post this”
Bad Hologram:
“Do it. Erin used your relationship to advance her fame. She never loved you, and it is only right that you ruin her fame.”
“Good” Hologram:
“Posting this video will seriously put your future at risk. I would strongly caution you against it.”
Charles:
“But people need to see who she really is…”
“Good” Hologram:
“Going after an influencer comes with serious repercussions.”
Bad Hologram:
“The risks are well worth it. Sabotage the success that she has achieved because of you”
“Good” Hologram:
“You should know that if you go through with this that you will not be protected when they come for you”
Bad Hologram:
“You have a choice: Expose her and face the backlash or don’t expose her and live with the regret forever”
Charles:
“I’ve heard enough. I know what I have to do.”
:Falls asleep
We see Erin in her apartment from a phone camera, as if we’re one of the 700,000 viewers watching her live. Her walls are painted light pink, and her room has a canopy bed and a chandelier. She is a young brunette with green eyes. Her hair is in a claw clip, and she is wearing Lulu Orange leggings and a Murberry sweatshirt. She is giving her viewers a tour of what’s in her Louis Vuitton bag.
“Go like my new YouAGram picture and comment on a robot emoji so I know you came from my live!”
Suddenly, Erin’s phone is swarmed with notifications as it is revealed that we are really looking at Erin’s phone. Her comments begin flooding with the same question:
“Is that video real?”
She reads one of the messages overtaking her screen
“Breaking news: Erin’s rude encounter with a waitress - real or fake?”
Panicking, she abruptly ends her live and begins pacing her room. She begins to break down, overwhelmed by the threat to her fame. She approaches her mirror in an eerie manner. She wipes her melted mascara from under her eyes. Abruptly, she stops crying and begins smiling into the mirror. After a few deep breaths, we see her unlock her phone and restart her live as if nothing happened.
“Hey guys! Sorry about that - wifi cut out. That video is totally photoshopped, I would never do that! Some people will do anything for attention. Anyways, make sure to like and comment the robot emoji on my new YouAGram post! See you guys later!”
Comments flood in showering her in support.
She ends her live and the screen cuts to black.
We are transported back to Charles’ messy room, we see him twitching as he sleeps with a single pillow on the couch. As we zoom into his forehead, and we are put in the middle of his dream. Erin and Charles are in their apartment, Charles and Erin are on the couch looking at Erin’s growing YouAgram page with over 400,000 followers.
Charles:
“Wow,this is unbelievable! I’m proud of how far you’ve come!”
Excited about her new fame, Erin decides to post another YouAGram to attract even more followers. As Charles refreshes her page to see if her follower count has risen and notices she’s added a new post. He clicks on it to realize it’s a photo she’s cropped him out of.
Charles (angrily):
“Erin! Are you kidding me?! Did you really crop me ?!”
Erin is shocked at Charles for being upset with her
Erin :
“Oh my god! Relax, It’s not that serious.”
Charles:
“What were you thinking? Am I not good enough for you now? I can’t believe you!”
Erin:
“No! Don’t you see how well I'm doing? My fans like the content. I don't see why you have an issue with this.”
Charles:
“Don’t you hear yourself? This is wrong. You’re acting like I don’t matter now that you have followers!”
Erin:
“You really don’t support me? After all we've been through together? Isn’t all you care about also is getting followers??”
As the argument intensifies, we begin to hear a loud banging sound in between Erin and Charles’ banter.
Charles (Volume increasing):
I’m mad because we have gone through so much together. How could you think -after knowing me the way you do - that I would be ok with this? You clearly care more about followers than me. The influence you have now is changing you! It’s like you’re a different person! How am I supposed to trust you now?”
Erin (louder than Charles now):
You’re being selfish. Why can’t you be happy for me? I did this for US, if you can't see that then it's on you, not me. (long pause, she’s hestiating) And you know what? If this is such a dealbreaker why don’t you just leave! We’re done!”
Erin points to the door signaling her boyfriend to leave. Charles storms out of the apartment in shock. While exiting the door he mutters.
Charles: So you chose the influence over me in the end.
Abruptly, we hear an even louder bang as Charles shoots up from his dream and snaps back to reality. We see him in his dark, messy apartment. His laptop is still open, and the clock on reads 12:00 AM . Charles wakes up to a loud and aggressive knock on the door, the same banging he heard in his dream. Immediately, he begins sweating and is hyper aware of his surroundings.
“Who could it possibly be at 12AM?”
Charles goes to the door and looks
through the peephole but doesn’t see anything
and chalks the sound up to his imagination.
“I must be getting paranoid.”
Suddenly the door is broken through and three people enter the room all wearing masks with Erin’s smiling face on it. The one in front is a tall and husky man, and the one on the left is tall and gaunt. On the right is a woman who is holding something and is twitching uncontrollably. The three surround Charles and the leader moves forward and pushes him.
Charles:
“What the?!”
Charles falls on his butt looking up at the approaching invaders.
Husky man:
“You think you can get away with attacking Erin?!”
Charles:
“I only exposed the truth!”
Charles is very sweaty, and terrified.
Charles:
“She is obviously twisted! Why can’t you see that?!”
The three followers look at each other and begin to seethe with anger.
Gaunt Man:
“Shut up! Erin would never do that. Stop lying and confess that you made a fake video!”
Seeing the violent hatred in their eyes, Charles nervously fumbles for his laptop behind him.
Charles:
“Wait! Please wait a second! I have proof that the recording is real!”
Charles turns his back on the intruders and frantically searches his laptop. He opens up the video in an editing software and it reveals that the tape was not tampered with. As he turns around to show the evidence he sees the three start to breathe more heavily. The woman begins to violently shake her head while clawing at her scalp.
Twitchy Woman:
“That’s not real.”
She begins to murmur unintelligibly and starts flicking the object in her hand, rejecting the undeniable evidence.
Charles:
“What do you mean! This is undeniable evidence, why can’t you see it!”
The three intruders look at each other before scoffing as if dismissing his evidence.
Husky Man:
Why would we believe a nobody like you who is too ignorant to comprehend her influence?
Gaunt Man:
Erin would never lie to us! We have a bond as thick as blood, we’re family. No falsified recording could ever break that.
Twitchy Woman:
I would go to the ends of the earth for her! If she has a problem, I will gladly kill for her!
The woman lurches at Charles and stabs his thigh with a pen-like tool, injecting a liquid into him. We can hear Charles’ muffled panic and screams.
Charles:
What dID YoU dO tO Me?!
Invaders in unison:
You’ll appreciate Erin soon.
The three drag Charles by his legs as he slowly loses consciousness.
The fans take Charles somewhere and force him to watch Erin’s content for hours on end and slowly brainwash him.
Erin’s POV:
Erin turns on a livestream with a caption stating
Her boyfriend left her.
“He was so toxic, so it’s definitely for the better. I just wish he supported me like I supported him”
She begins to cry on stream and act depressed,
Blowing her nose and fanning her eyes.
“But you know, it’s still so hard when someone you love betrays you”
The chat unanimously supports her and antagonizes
The boyfriend who left her.
After turning off the stream, Erin
Sees her numbers rise even more. She gets contacted by a famous YouAgrammer.
Scene end
Erin goes to restaurant with John scene:
Erin walks down the street with a
Selfie-stick recording her as she vlogs the trip to her fans.
Erin(speaking to her fans): I’m going to my favorite restaurant in the world, it’s really fancy.
Erin approaches a high class restaurant with a door man who holds the door for her, promptly ignores him and enters the store.
A private room with a table and two chairs
Has the YouAgrammer John present. Erin goes to sit next to him.
Erin(Speaking to John): Hey John! How are you?
Erin and John go in for an embrace
John: I’m doing great! How are you holding up? I heard about you and Charles breaking up, and I just wanted to let you know, I’m sorry.
Erin(casually flicks hand): I’m better now. That little a**hole isn’t worth my time. But, I saw your YouAgramm and it looked huge! How many followers are you up to now?
John: I finally hit 10 million! I’m so happy to have so many supporters.
The two order the most expensive meals on the menu, and after some small talk, Erin and John are served their gourmet lunches by The waitress. The influencers pay her no mind in order to take out their phones and take pictures of the food. And proceed to keep talking.
Erin: “WOW, this looks so good!!”
John: “Yeah one of my subscribers is the owner of this place and made me a permanent VIP! He said it was an honor to have such an influential person dine at his establishment.”
Erin: “That’s amazing! I have to take a picture of this to show to my fans. Hopefully someone will give me special service too.”
They both post the pictures to their respective social media accounts, with the pictures receiving thousands of likes in an instant
John: “While I’m at it I’ll show my support for you in another post.”
John also posts a message of support for Erin after her breakup with Charles. It blows up with new sympathizers for Erin and haters for Charlies who write disturbing threats. Afterward, John hands Erin a business card.
John (Speaking to Erin): If Charles gives you any more trouble, you know who to call. He isn’t good enough for you if he can’t see how wonderful you are.
Erin: Thank you, it’s been rough since then but I am going to try to move on. I don’t want to be with someone who won’t accept the real me.
John reassuringly pats her on the shoulders before looking at his watch.
John: Well, will you look at the time. I need to get back to the studio, I can’t keep my fans waiting for a new video.
Erin: Of course! Thank you so much for inviting me today.
John pays the bill with no tip and kisses Erin’s hand before he leaves and ignores the staff who all see him off.
Waitress: Sir! There is no tip included in this bill!
John: Yeah, yeah, just ask my fans to pay for it, they'll do anything for me.
The waitress gasps at the response of John. Without the tip for such an expensive meal the price in making it wouldn’t allow the staff to be paid.
Erin likewise ignores the depressed waitress as she whips out her selfie stick and starts her vlog with a beaming smile.
Erin: Hey guys! My lunch with John was amazing. Thank you so much for letting me have this lifestyle! I could never be here without your support.
Comments flood in praising Erin and her greatness being appreciated. She stands up and leaves the table. She vlogs all the way out the restaurant and on her way home.
End scene:
Charles after being kidnapped scene:
Charles is blindfolded and handcuffed, he is in the back of a van and being driven somewhere. He hears muffled talking only making out a few words.
“Show him —-.”
“-- her greatness.”
“Angel —--.”
The van stops moving and he is picked up roughly by the fans and carried out.
Charles is moved to the inside of a building and strapped to a chair. His blindfold is removed by someone and there is only a tv in front of him. It is playing a video of Erin where she is laughing and smiling.
He sees the three kidnappers squatting down next to him engrossed in the film with a disturbing smile. He is
Visibly sluggish suggesting that he was dosed heavily with drugs.
The images of Erin begin to melt and a feeling of
euphoria washes over Charles. The rays of the screen warm him like a fire and the voice of Erin begins to soothe his soul.
The other spectators proceed to get on their knees
With their hands clasped and begin to pray to the screen.
In unison: “Let us spread this joy to the world. Her voice is our salvation and all others shall be blessed’.
Charle’s feels the urge to pray with them as
He basks in the glory of the divine experience given to him.
Charles: “I didn’t know that this is what she did for her fans.
She is a saint and I was unworthy of her.”
Charles(in a trance, head swaying from side to side): “I must reflect on my foolish actions.”
The leader of the fans happily unclasps the restraints on
Charles. The leader immediately returns to his formation with the others and slams his face on the ground to begin an
Even more extreme prayer form. And while crying screams.
Leader: “I WILL DEDICATE MY LIFE TO SPREAD YOUR MESSAGE!”
Charles slowly drops to his knees as tears stream
Down his face. His tears are a mix of happiness and regret.
“Oh Erin I’m so sorry that I doubted you. You were truly
Right and I attempted such sacrilledge as stopping the benevolence you were spreading!”
Charles, with snot and tears on his face, begins to repeatedly slam his face against the ground in an attempt to atone for his previous actions.
“I WAS A FOOL!”
SLAM
“PLEASE FORGIVE MY INSOLENCE!”
SLAM
“FORGIVE ME!
SLAM
“FORGIVE ME!!”
The camera zooms out slowly and exits through an open door that slowly shuts. The sounds of intermittent bangs can be heard as the door creaks to a close.
End
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