Be careful how much time you spend on electronic devices the first hour of your day.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e setting your dopamine level; what you input into the system in that hour is going to dictate the rest of your day,鈥 says Rashida Jones, who stars in one of the Season Seven episodes of 鈥淏lack Mirror.鈥 In it, she plays a woman who gets a second shot at life聽鈥 but one that comes with a price tag.
In an Season 7 episode of "Black Mirror," Rashida Jones plays a teacher who spouts commercials to her class.
Tracee Ellis Ross plays the corporate representative who can give her those second chances, but only if Jones agrees to the company鈥檚 demands.
That control factor, Ross says, is why she takes social media off her phone on a regular basis 鈥 鈥渏ust to break the habit. When I start waking up and scrolling, I鈥檓 like, 鈥楾his is problematic,鈥欌 she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to check your voice, text and email. It鈥檚 another to go on to swipe.鈥
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Tracee Ellis Ross plays a sales representative for a company that offers life-saving opportunities in exchange for messaging in an episode of "Black Mirror."聽
The speed of electronic devices 鈥 like cellphones 鈥 can prompt unnecessary purchases, Jones says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the ease of being alive right now.鈥
When Jones鈥 character is rolled into an emergency room, her husband is given the option of signing up for 鈥淩ivermind,鈥 a high-tech system that will keep her alive. In exchange, she becomes a living commercial for any number of goods and services. Since she鈥檚 an elementary school teacher, that 鈥減roduct placement鈥 becomes a sticking point for her students.
In one scene, they hear her extol the virtues of a product and don鈥檛 know what she鈥檚 trying to teach them. For Jones, 鈥渢he tone has to be close enough where they鈥檙e like, 鈥極h, what she鈥檚 saying is something we should be learning right now鈥 and not just having a full-blown panic attack. My regular dialect and my ad dialogue had to be related enough to each other so that kids wouldn鈥檛 detect it.鈥
Even though those child actors knew she was playing a role, 鈥渒ids are such truth tellers,鈥 Jones says. 鈥淭hey can鈥檛 lie.鈥
Rashida Jones includes commercial messages to her students in a season 7 episode of "Black Mirror."
The land of half-truths is where Ross鈥檚 company makes its biggest moves. Each time she sells clients on an aspect of her business she鈥檚 leaving out what else could be involved.
For Ross, the episode reminded her of ones in the first season of 鈥淏lack Mirror.鈥 Ones that are eerily close to home are particularly surprising because 鈥測ou鈥檙e so invested in the people.鈥 Had her character just been a salesperson she might have been seen as a villain. Because she鈥檚 also a client, she has 鈥渁 sense of connection and a reality 鈥 like an intimacy to what she鈥檚 talking about and knowing.鈥
Both Jones and Ross say they might not mind having a 鈥渟etting鈥 on their life dials, if it could remove things like fear and anxiety and replace them with serenity. But the issues 鈥淏lack Mirror鈥 raises makes them cautious about electronic advances. The ability to watch a TV show and scroll at the same time may be intriguing but 鈥渟econd screen watching鈥 could be too much, Ross says.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a person who leaves the TV on,鈥 Ross says. 鈥淢y life has so much talking and noise-noise that I (embrace) the silence. Trees and birds make great music. It鈥檚 totally good for your nervous system.鈥
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鈥淏lack Mirror鈥 is now streaming on Netflix.
