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Netflix fans left mindblown after discovering where Black Mirror gets its name from

Home> Entertainment> Netflix

Updated 15:58 4 Dec 2023 GMTPublished 15:59 4 Dec 2023 GMT

Netflix fans left mindblown after discovering where Black Mirror gets its name from

The name Black Mirror refers to something specific

Joe Harker

Joe Harker

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Some Black Mirror fans are only just learning what the show's name actually means, though the ideas they had weren't too far off the truth either.

The incredibly successful Netflix show sounds like it's been renewed for a seventh season, though exactly when is a bit of a mystery.

Still, it'll be good to get another batch of dystopian tales to watch especially as the latest offerings were welcomed as some of the best in the show's history.

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The show has become so popular that you could say it's just like Black Mirror and basically everyone would get what you meant.

However, there are some fans who only just learned what the show's name actually means, and many thought it meant something else.

Black Mirror, cool name, but what does it really mean?
Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker has explained in the past that the titular black mirror is a screen when it's switched off.

"What I took it to mean was when a screen is off - when a screen is off it looks like a black mirror," Brooker said to Channel 4.

"Because any TV, any LCD, any iPhone, any iPad - something like that - if you just stare at it, it looks like a black mirror, and there's something cold and horrifying about that.

"And it was such a fitting title for the show. I mean I don't know what else we would've called it - Spooky Technology Time? It would've been rubbish.

"I quite like the fact that people are watching it on their TV or on their laptop, or their smartphone or whatever and then as the end credits start running and the screen cuts to black, they see themselves reflected."

This bit of trivia often does the rounds online and the latest bunch to learn it said they were 'today years old when I found out' what Black Mirror means.

One person said they 'thought it just sounded spooky', while another commented that they 'did some learning today'.

Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker explained that the show's title is based off a screen when it goes off.
Joe Maher/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA

Others pointed out that beyond the original meaning of the show's name Black Mirror it could also mean 'a dark reflection of society'.

Someone else wrote that a black mirror was also known as a 'scrying mirror', a fortune telling tool which was supposed to give a person the ability to glimpse into the future.

In essence the show does both of these things, as creator Charlie Brooker says it's more about how 'people are f**ked up' than saying 'technology is bad'.

On top of that, a number of the things depicted in Black Mirror have ended up becoming very real indeed, so even if we manage to avoid doing the messed up bits of the show some of the futuristic technology in there is pretty close to what we've got now.

Brooker's intention for the show's name also reinforces his intention for it to be about people and not technology, if you're staring into that black mirror that is your phone screen then you're not really looking at your phone, you're looking at yourself.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: TV and Film, Netflix, Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker

Joe Harker
Joe Harker

Joe graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Journalism and worked for Reach before joining the LADbible Group. When not writing he enjoys the nerdier things in life like painting wargaming miniatures and chatting with other nerds on the internet. He's also spent a few years coaching fencing. Contact him via [email protected]

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@MrJoeHarker

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