San Junipero initial discussion and allegorical perspectives

Initial discussion

Themes of simulation and simulacra are often explored in sci-fi texts

• Presents ideas of humans constructing or simulating their own afterlife. Therefore, the episode simultaneously deals with themes of simulation and also religion. 
• There are many texts which are absolute simulation and virtuality, including Ready Player One, Assassin’s Creed, The Matrix. This is a popular subgenre of science fiction
• The representations of the queer protagonists are largely positive, complex, and do not feel forced. This was constructed through the casual nature of Yorkie and Kelly’s relationship, and the complex nature of their sexuality (Kelly is explicitly bisexual, and refuses to engage in any deep conversation about sexuality)
• The ending is arguably a cop out. Kelly’s decision to enter the simulation completely contradicts everything she has been describing throughout the episode, and makes her character unrelatable and two-dimensional.
• However, Kelly jumping in to the simulation is also predictable and cliched. Her sudden change of heart essentially sets up a feel-good ending where Kelly and Yorkie can dance and have sex forever…
• Themes of utopia and dystopia are balanced throughout the episode. The notion of utopia is encoded through a bright colourful aesthetic, and a colourful broadly bubblegum pop soundtrack, and themes of partying, sex and drugs. However, this potentially presents a shallow and hegemonically situated version of fun. This normative and stereotypical view of what fun actually is clearly could not be shared by everybody 
• The alternative to Tucker’s ‘heavenly’ yet bland representation is The Quagmire, a borderline demonic club where everyone is drinking and taking drugs to excess. Conversely, in Tuckers, nobody is actually drunk, and everybody is behaving in a completely sober way
• The science fiction elements for the first two acts of the narrative are particularly absent, and therefore the episode is highly unconventional of the science fiction genre. The final act contains many science fiction elements however including the elements of simulation, which are encoded through the MES of wires being plugged in to heads and flickering lights in the technologically advanced facility. 
• The ‘present’ (actually the future!!!) is constructed through particularly bland MES, which constructs a particularly pronounced binary opposition between meatspace and the simulation. However, in spite of being ‘not real’, the San Junipero simulation feels far more real to the audience that n the diegetically situated meatspace. We spend far more time in San Junipero than the ‘real world’, and the real world bares little relation to our own world. As an audience, we are therefore guided in to a false and confusing sense of reality
• Yet in spite of the deep philosophical implications of the episode, there are many interesting and more straightforward aspects. The non-linear (yet also linear!!) narrative is filled with hermeneutic codes. Additionally the episode makes extensive use of traditional narrative theory, especially the disruption of the equilibrium. Therefore the narrative is engaging, exciting, inclusive, and thought provoking 
• The relationship between Kelley and Yorkie is forced and rushed. There is no establishment of relationship, and we jump forward in terms of relationship very quickly. Yet Yorkie is a classic obsessive archetype, and Kelly is exploitive and uses Yorkie for sex before ghosting her. Ultimately, Yorkie manipulates Kelly in to suicide so they can spend their lives dancing and having sex forever. This suggests a toxic relationship
• The final song ‘Heaven is a Place on Earth’ comes to have a profound meaning that goes beyond a mere trashy pop song. It gives the ending and ugly and dystopian address
• The utopia constructed in San Junipero is completely predicated on capitalist ideologies. While no money ever changed hands, the ‘fantasy’, that is hanging out in clubs, playing video games and driving a nice car before having sex in a big house, are all materialistic dreams that reinforce a hegemonically situated worldview based upon the acquisition and expenditure of capital. Theoretically, San Junipero could be anything. It could have Kelly and Yorkie flying through space to explore new worlds, taking on the role of new species, and experiencing pleasures that would not be possible on earth. Yet everything that they accomplish in San Junipero (the clean Tuckers, the gritty rock club, literally a real place called Electrowerkz you can go to in Angel, the fancy beach, the retro arcade cabinets… these are all things that can be easily accessed for many people with access to moderator economic resources!
• The soundtrack constructs a highly nostalgic mode of address, especially to a middle aged target audience. Furthermore, this is diegetically explicated within the narrative: San Junipero is a form of therapy for an older demographic. This also confirms the episode is set in the not too distant future, although none of this is made completely clear
• There is a range of very specific lexis used in this episode which hints at it's status as sci fi. Black Mirror is an unconventional science fiction show which constantly breaks the rules. Yet this episode uses multiple proairetic codes that hint at a genre switch. Examples of these proairetics include the droning diegetic sound of machinery, the theme of cutting off at 12 midnight, the discussion of different time periods, reference to death, “don’t make me red light you”, being in the cloud, “golden age, huh?”, “this was the best of it’s time”, “this isn’t your time period”, “85% of them are dead”.
• Proairetics and foreshadowing: Yorkie is inexplicably scared of a racing game
• The MES of the white doves symbolise a peaceful death, and reinforce a clear ideology that euthanasia is an appropriate way for some people to end their lives . For certain religious people, this episode may be particularly controversial, as it clearly paints euthanasia in a favourable light
• There is an inferred wealth gap that exists between the characters in San Jun and those taking care of them. This raises the hermeneutic question: is this simulation available to everyone? And iof not, what are the implications? What are the implications of removing death? Do the characters cease to live in the moment? What have they to live for? What if heaven existed, but t was flat, boring and pointless?
• Immortality can be construed as a curse! And San Junipero isn’t even particularly exciting. It resembles real life, and not even a particularly exciting real life
• It is notable that the character’s avatars resemble themselves. Even in this escapist fantast, the characters can only roleplay as themselves at a very specific age 
• Both Kelly and Yorkie are ‘playing’ San Junipero in completely different ways. Kelly chooses to sleep with as many people as possible. Yorkie plans to fall in love. Yet Yorkie emotionally manipulates Kelly in to committing suicide and go against her beliefs in order to dance in a crappy club for all eternity. This is the very definition of a toxic relationship???

San Junipero as allegory

Stuart Hall argued that different audiences negotiate media products in different ways. However, for audiences who want something deeper, there are many ways that San Jun can function as an allegory. 

• The afterlife and the existence of life after death. ‘Heaven is a place on earth’. 
• San Jun could be an allegory of social media. Many young people feel significant anxiety about presenting perfectly online, or that real life does not live up to the perfection of social media hyperreality 
• Homophobia. Yorkie’s family were homophobic, and while no homophobia exists in San Jun, arguably it instigates all of the events of this episode 
• Heaven and Hell. The version of heaven constructed in this episode is highly subjective 
• Euthanasia arguments for and against
• Videogames as a metanarrative. 
• Queer relationships in the year 2018
• Queer relationships full stop
• Death and it’s certainty
• Our dependence on technology
• Escapism and our belief systems
• Videogames!
• Nostalgia
• Religion 
• Euthanasia 
• Heaven and hell 
• Sexual orientation sexuality is a spectrum 
• Utopia and dystopia
• Uncertainty about the future 
• Capitalism as utopia