‘Black Mirror’ Stars Rashida Jones and Tracee Ellis Ross Say We’re ‘Creeping Towards’ the Tech Shown in ‘Common People’

Note: This story contains spoilers from “Black Mirror” Season 7, Episode 1, “Common People.”

“Black Mirror” Season 7 episode “Common People” introduces a horrifying healthcare scenario that features technology that stars Rashida Jones and Tracee Ellis Ross believe might be closer to reality than we think.

In “Common People,” middle class couple Amanda (Jones) and Mike (Chris O’Dowd), get trapped in a vicious cycle when a technological invention, titled Rivermind, saves Amanda from death, though demands a hefty subscription fee to continue supporting her vitality. While Amanda and Mike make sacrifices to make it work, they are pushed to their limits when their customer service representative, Gaynor (Ross) continually ups the monthly cost for living a satisfactory life.

“I think we’re a couple of innovations away from this being an actual possibility that people can buy into,” Jones told TheWrap, noting that she would hate if the tiers were structured as they were in the episode. “Parts of our bodies will probably be online because we’ve been almost on the verge of merging with technology for health reasons for many years.”

Jones noted there are many unanswered “philosophical” and “existential” questions about what a more bionic body means and “how much of you will be left when those two things merge.”

“Even the way your medical records are kept in a portal and telehealth appointments, we’re already creeping towards that,” Ross told TheWrap. “People used to go to the doctor’s office and your folder would come out, and now they’re looking at an iPad. All that information about who you are, your blood work and everything is already digitized.”

Though technological advancements do open the doors for these queries, Jones noted the “upside” she saw on display when she shadowed an ER nurse ahead of her time on “Parks and Recreation,” recalling the nurse saying, “It’s so crazy, because people used to come in here and we’d have to send them out for an X-ray, wait for the X-ray to be developed and now it’s all in house.”

As Rivermind continued to develop new, more expensive tiers while downgrading the lower plans, Mike pushed himself to the edge of his capabilities by constantly working extra shifts and seeking payouts on the dark web, while Amanda could barely stay awake during the daytime. After years of both Mike and Amanda wearing themselves into the ground, the couple ultimately decides together that it’s time to say goodbye, with Mike ending Amanda’s life in a heartbreaking moment while she recites a commercial, ensuring she isn’t conscious during her death.

While Jones recalled discussing the episode’s themes — including the “chokehold that technology has in our lives” and the “broken healthcare system in America” — with Brooker, she noted people with partners will be confronted by “the imminent moment of deciding how somebody gets to live, or how somebody gets to die.”

“It’s more about what happens when you’re at that intersection where technology and science and medicine all merge, and somebody is in a life or death situation, and their vulnerability and choice is gone,” Ross said. “What does that look like, and what are the ramifications of that in the long term?”

“Black Mirror” Season 7 is now streaming on Netflix.

The post ‘Black Mirror’ Stars Rashida Jones and Tracee Ellis Ross Say We’re ‘Creeping Towards’ the Tech Shown in ‘Common People’ appeared first on TheWrap.