Joan Is Awful story
"Joan Is Awful" is the first episode of the sixth series of the anthology series Black Mirror. It was written by the series creator Charlie Brooker and directed by Ally Pankiw. Alongside the rest of the sixth series, it premiered on Netflix on 15 June 2023. It follows Joan as her life is adapted in real- time into a Streamberry television series starring Salma Hayek. Joan finds that the events of her day are being retold in near-real time in a television programme, Joan Is Awful. The streaming service Streamberry can do this as she signed their terms and conditions; a quantum computer produces the show using computer-generated imagery (CGI). She is portrayed by a virtual actor of Salma Hayek. To get Hayek's attention, Joan defecates in a church, dressed as a cheerleader. Joan and Hayek—unhappy with how her likeness is being used—break into Streamberry's office to destroy the quantum computer. They learn that they are in a simulated reality. Joan is a likeness of Annie Murphy based on a Source Joan; both destroy their quantum computers, destroying the simulated realities. Source Joan is placed on house arrest alongside the real Annie Murphy and starts her own coffee shop. Directed by: Ally Pankiw. Story by: Charlie Brooker.
23 total · 2 choice · 10 major · 11 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| invasion of privacy | choice | Joan turned to her lawyer for satisfaction after Streamberry started broadcasting her life in realtime. It turned out that Streamberry was surveilling Joan, and everyone, through smartphone and such like devices. |
| onerous user agreements | choice | Joan turned to her lawyer for satisfaction after Streamberry started broadcasting her life in realtime. It turned out she had, in fact, signed away her right to privacy in a lengthy user agreement no normal person would read before clicking through. |
| boss and employee | major | The first part of the story concerned Joan in her manager role and how she treated her underlings. |
| embarrassment | major | Joan was mortified when her life started being broadcast on a popular streaming service, Streamberry (a parody on Netflix). The Catholic actress Salma Hayek was likewise mortified when her CGI likeness took a dump on a church floor. |
| engaged couple | major | Krish left Joan once he found out she had a crush on her ex. |
| nested universe | major | There was a quantum computer "quamputer" that created worlds within worlds somehow. |
| personality rights | major | The viewer is made to ponder the limits to which the Streamberry streaming service should be allowed to go in using a CGI likeness of Salma Hayek in their productions, whether or not she had contractually agreed to sign over those rights. For instance, Salma had explicitly signed a contract making it permissible to depict her CGI likeness taking a dump on a church floor, but she was outraged when they did it. Personality rights ought to be inalienable to some extent. |
| romantic infidelity | major | Joan cavorted with her hunky old flame while still together with her "vanilla" fiancé. |
| romantic relationship issue | major | Joan met up with her ex, which whom she had previously had wild and passionate sex, in part because she felt unfulfilled in her relationship with her "vanilla" fiancé, Krish. |
| speculative virtual reality | major | There was a quantum computer "quamputer" that created worlds within worlds somehow. |