Society's Nosedive
What are social ratings and why are they important? It’s a system in which we consciously or subconsciously rate each other on our looks, personality, social status, etc. It’s beneficial because putting ourselves and the people around us into boxes helps us comprehend the world in a quick and easy way, but we’re constantly judging whether we match up to each other’s standards. Everyone loves to be liked, and that sensation has never been more accessible or quantifiable than with social media. We give our approval in the form of likes to people who we deem to be aesthetic, and yet, with it comes the exaggerated absence and temporariness of that sensation.
As ‘Nosedive,’ a 2016 episode of the popular show Black Mirror, suggests, there’s an underlying human need for approval that’s been exploited by Big Tech companies and social media platforms. ‘Nosedive’ depicts a utopian society where perfection is expected and people’s lives revolve around their social ratings (on a scale of one to five). You are rewarded for being ‘perfect,’ or rather, society’s definition of it, by gaining access to exclusive offers, events, and fast track services. People attempt to out-nice each other to bump up their ratings with an almost aggressive cheeriness. The main character, Lacie Pound, is obsessed with achieving a high rating - she wants to achieve a high four - not only because she wants the respect and admiration of those around her, but also because being a high four comes with its privileges. Lacie spends almost all of her time practicing happy faces in the mirror, composing aesthetic photos for her timeline, and brandishing goodwill at people in the service industry, rating them five stars and then visibly crumbling in relief when they rate her back. When she goes to check out her expensive dream home, a realtor informs her that there’s a twenty percent off the rent if she can get her rating above a four-point five. Then, an old friend from middle school who’s become a social-media star asks Lacie to be the maid of honor at her upcoming wedding, teasing the fact that there will be dozens of influencers there who can rate her and boost her ranking. Lacie jumps at the opportunity and sets out to achieve this. The title of the episode is a conclusive giveaway that all doesn’t go according to plan. Lacie’s brother hates how fake she’s become and gives her one star after an argument, as does a cab driver whom she keeps waiting. When her rating plummets, her flight to the wedding is canceled, as an airline representative can no longer book her on another flight because her number is too low. This is when we see Lacie’s worst fears unfold - she’s being escorted out by guards, her best friend doesn’t want her to attend the wedding anymore, and her ratings have taken a nosedive.
The opening scene not only provides context for the rest of the episode but also shows the act that Lacie puts on every day. The scene shows Lacie rating the people she meets on her phone based on her current interaction with them and then cuts to a close-up shot of her in the bathroom. She is practicing her laughs in the mirror, trying to choose one that seems the most authentic; she is trying to emote with an almost creepy disconnect. She effortlessly turns it on and off, laughing loudly one second and a flattened expression the next. This early moment grabs the audience’s attention; something’s clearly not right because she has mastered the ability to put on a mask. Something seems to have degraded her humanity. This scene sets up an expectation for the plot - it seems likely that this character will pivot or undergo a dramatic transformation as the episode progresses. But the familiarity and relatability of presenting a certain image of yourself or the way you’d like to be perceived makes the audience grow an odd fondness towards Lacie. However, the story is somewhat predictable as it follows the familiar tropes of the dangers of social media and the obsession with perfection. The intense background music accompanying this scene further helps to dramatize the scene and its importance. Additionally, the soft pastel color scheme is extremely noticeable; it’s a clear reflection of a status quo that revolves around inoffensiveness. The director's sharp photography and immaculate compositions add to the impression that people's lives are overly controlled. The toned-down colors also depict the lack of uniqueness in society; no one stands out and no one wants to. This seems to be a very intentional choice by the director because if everyone was wearing monotone colors like black and white, it would give the impression that society is gloomy and dark, and no one is happy. However, the pastel helps to portray false liveliness. Even though these early scenes present this society as a utopia - everyone looks happy, well-dressed, and put together - the episode creates an insidious underlying dystopia that is meant to warn the audience of this type of future.
The system of rating that’s depicted isn’t entirely unfamiliar; we do that on a daily basis with Uber drivers, restaurant delivery persons, etc. While we may not rate as often as every interaction we have with an individual, we do it indirectly on social media as well by deciding which content to like and dislike. It’s the basis of how current algorithms of social media platforms work - the more popular your content is, the more it’s bumped up on the platform. The more ‘perfect’ or aesthetic you appear to be, the more likes you have, the greater social standing you have, which gives you access to exclusive privileges and a feeling of superiority. It links back to people seeking a temporary serotonin boost (or instant gratification); people in the real world do that when they crave likes and people in ‘Nosedive’ do that by seeking high approval ratings. This is demonstrated by what Hansen, a consultant that analyses people’s social media activity and recommends ways to improve their rankings, says to Lacie in the episode, “Most of your interactions are confined to your inner circle and they're largely, pardon the term, mid-to low-range folks. So in terms of quality, you could use a punch up right there. Ideally, that's upvotes from quality people. High fours. Impress those up-scale folks, you'll gain velocity on your arc and there's your boost.” Hence, it is visibly obvious that there is a hierarchical system of sorts at play. It’s why we see most influencers hang out with other influencers - it’s mutually beneficial popularity by association. The alarming similarity is that in both worlds, real and imagined, we rate based on how much we liked the person or the interaction. It’s almost like a modern-day caste system; we’re silently ranking on social media.
Interestingly, ratings are used as a form of trust in the episode. You admire the ones with higher ratings and avoid those with lower ratings. We use credit scores, give approval ratings for jobs, and China even has a social rating system. In China, behaviors such as bad driving, spreading misinformation online, smoking in non-smoking zones are deemed infractions and punished in different ways such as travel bans, slow internet, etc. Similar to ‘Nosedive,’ China also rewards good behavior by offering rewards such as discounted rates on rent and better interest rates (Ma, 2021). The episode also explores how societies could punish people simply for being unpleasant. Lacie’s coworker, blacklisted by colleagues after a breakup, can’t physically enter his office after his rating drops below three point five, or below the permissible threshold. People refused to hear his side of the story and encouraged each other to rate him down as they deemed him to be an outcast. While we may not exclude based on social media ratings in today’s society, we do consider other kinds of status, such as homeless people or even people with felony records. The belief is that once a felon has been convicted, incarcerated, theoretically rehabilitated, and released, they are free to rejoin society, having served their time. The reality is that there are overwhelming barriers to those who have served their time becoming useful parts of society again, from an inability to get employment to felony disenfranchisement laws that prevent them from taking part in society. Their situational context is almost never considered; the blind belief in the system makes people believe that these people simply don’t belong and never will. An emphasis on perfection could hamper personal and societal growth. The thought that the system may be flawed never comes to mind. Hence, what the episode portrays isn’t far from reality; it is partially our reality.
Lacie always strived to be perfect because she believed the system was, till she met a truck driver who had an abysmally low rating but solid reasoning. The truck driver explained that she used to care about her rating until her husband was passed over for vital cancer treatment because their scores were deemed not high enough. Now, she doesn’t pay attention to ratings and feels much freer without obsessing over them. Here, Lacie’s stereotypes and understandings are challenged. She becomes the person she earlier ostracized and realizes that society was focused on achieving the wrong thing. It represents the journey of a young, strong female as she experiences extreme dissonance. The early version of Lacie is almost annoying but it still draws the audience to her; there’s an underlying hope that she will be the one to create change.
But the question this episode explores is: Does this system of rating lead to a happier, more functional society? Firstly, the most obvious flaw to the system, aside from its pressure to be perfect, is its lack of inclusivity. The people most likely to have an advantage are the majority demographic that’s favored - rich, white, straight, male. It furthers its exclusion by not accounting for mental health struggles. If someone has anxiety, depression, or is neuroatypical in any way, they will be disadvantaged because they cannot have ‘normal’ or ‘perfect’ interactions. Secondly, there’s a difference between achieving perfection as a society and perfection as individuals. Nosedive’s mistake is naively believing that perfect individuals form perfect societies.
Towards the end of the episode, we see Lacie deliver an anger-fueled, drunken speech at her best friend’s wedding, which sees her robbed of her phone and arrested. We see her spectacular downfall here - she seems angry, frustrated, confused and the episode ends with her screaming at the stranger across her prison cell. It's the familiar elements of her experience that sting: feeling left out, unloved, devalued, and labeled as a second-class citizen. She’s a mess - her hair is all over the place, her face and clothes muddy, tears streaming down her face. Yet, we see her laugh. And this time, it’s genuine. She removes her clothes symbolizing that she has finally let go. The colors switch to darker grey tones and the camera switches to a central position, with Lacie on one side, the stranger on the other. This exaggerates the audience’s realization - Lacie is finally fighting back. She isn’t putting her head down anymore, she’s saying what she thinks. The last few seconds are extreme close-up shots that are edited so that her face and the stranger’s overlap as they yell “Fuck you!” to each other. Lacie’s frustrated face changes to a smile. It seems as though she feels free; ironically, a prison for her symbolizes freedom. One of the writers of the show, Rashida Jones, said in an interview that when she goes on social media, she has to remind herself, “these are not real people, these are real people pretending to be other people.” (Dry, 2019) It seems that Lacie has finally realized this about herself and others. While this may have been the episode’s ending, it seemed to be the beginning of Lacie’s journey of self-discovery. Her feelings are mixed - she’s angry at herself, at society, frustrated, confused but also relieved. The episode ends on a hopeful note; we are left longing to witness her transformation.
Even so, this leads us to wonder: Is it her obsession that led to her downfall? How much can you truly blame her if she was just trying to play to society’s rules? She was not given the opportunity to explore her identity, rather, it seems she was encouraged not to have one. Fitting in was the norm and deviating from it was punished. The society in ‘Nosedive’ doesn’t really punish people who do bad things or alienate bad people, but rather it just punishes people for not living up to a universal standard. These less-familiar dystopias serve a greater purpose than satisfying our imagination, they are useful comparisons to our current society. Having strict rules in these dystopian societies makes the distinction between right and wrong easier. As previously established, the real world is just an extension of the society portrayed. If the true purpose of creating societies is to maximize efficiency and promote wellbeing, is our current society fulfilling that objective? Because if it were, would it not be more helpful to have an increased amount of people with stable jobs and housing? Would it not be best to provide the resources to re-integrate these people into our society instead of punishing them forever? The reason we don’t notice these flaws is because we focus on the fact that society is functional. While most systems may appear to be functional, the truth is that they are selectively so, as seen in “Nosedive.” Being better than yesterday does not mean we shouldn’t try to be better tomorrow. Hence, while most people wonder, “how soon will this be us?,” the less obvious but more relevant question that this episode asks is - Is it time to rethink how society is structured?
Works Cited
Dry, J. “Rashida Jones Links 'Black Mirror' Episode She Wrote to Her Social Media Anxiety.” IndieWire. 2 May 2019, https://www.indiewire.com/2019/05/rashida-jones-black-mirror-social-media-1202130483.
Ma, A. “China's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy.” Business Insider. 9 May 2021, https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4.
“Nosedive”, Black Mirror, written by Charlie Brooke, directed by Joe Wright, Netflix, 21 Oct. 2016.
