Jack Erwin
Professor McLoughlin
English 2367.02
27 April 2018
Blog Post Assignment
https://www.netflix.com/title/70264888
“San Junipero” is the title of the fourth episode of the 3rd season of Black Mirror. Like all episodes of this series, this utopian reality is set in a not too distant future. It tells the story of two women falling in love “living” in the nostalgic decade of the 80s. I quoted the “living” because this whole plot is taken place inside a virtual simulation. Shy Yorkie is visiting the popular town when she meets Kelly, another San Junipero visitor and total party girl. The two began to flirt and eventually fall in love and begin an intimate relationship. This seemingly simple love story is presented with a huge twist when it is revealed that San Junipero is actually a simulated virtual reality where elderly people can visit, and the deceased can go to live permanently. However, while in this simulation, they inhabit a younger version of themselves, one that is not sick or in pain and cannot die.
Back in the real world, elderly Kelly meets an elderly Yorkie, who has been on life support for nearly 40 years after running her car off the road the night her parents rejected her for coming out as lesbian. Yorkie very badly wants to die so she can go to San Junipero forever, but her family won’t agree to self-termination or euthanasia because of their religious beliefs. Kelly offers to marry Yorkie so she can make it her choice to decide Yorkie’s end-of-life plans, and Yorkie goes to live in San Junipero forever. Unfortunately, things become a bit more complicated for Kelly. She’s bisexual and has planned to die without her consciousness being uploaded to the San Junipero cloud. She always had this plan because both her husband and daughter had passed away before it even existed. Eventually, Kelly’s real-life health deteriorated, and she ended up choosing to be euthanized, having her physical body buried with her family and her consciousness uploaded to the San Junipero cloud so she could “live” with Yorkie for the rest of their “lives”.
This is a rather interesting take on a beautiful story of two women falling in love. It successfully blends this love story together with some important themes such as end-of-life decisions, ideas of the “afterlife”, and having more than one true love. The complexity of Kelly’s love life is the aspect that I think gives this story such a powerful message. She had lived most her life only showing the straight side of who she was, while locking away her intimate attraction to other females. It wasn’t until the end of her life, that she decided to finally let go of that lock she put on herself and could explore what it meant to truly be herself for the first time in the entirety of her life. San Junipero provided her with the opportunity to start a new life, one without limitations, not even death. Endless amount of memories and endless love she could spread, a perfect ending to this “forbidden love” story.
The element of this alternate afterlife is also as aspect I found to be very intriguing. It’s a version of the afterlife that I think is actually plausible. The technology-based simulated afterlife something that could make sense. With our steady advancements in technology over the years, who’s to say we won’t one day be able to create virtual realities that look and feel like reality? I think it’s certainly possible and might even go as far as saying it’s probable. However, some religious issues certainly come into play when considering this technology. Some could say this is performing the act of God, defying his word and breaking the cycle of life and death. Additionally, this would basically cause people to pick sides. You either stay with your faith and don’t get uploaded to the cloud upon death, or you take matters in your own hands and upload yourself to the cloud to guarantee your life in “heaven” by living in San Junipero. There is no right or wrong answer to this pressing question, but it definitely will make more people question their faith if this science-fiction technology ends up becoming real tech.