The National Anthem (2011) Summary & Review

My friends and I just watched The National Anthem (2011), the first episode of Black Mirror.

The story this episode tells verges on the absurd. At 4 a.m., the Prime Minister is woken up by a disturbing phone call and informed that the people’s princess has been kidnapped by an unknown person; the kidnapper threatens to kill the princess if the Prime Minister does not have sex with a pig on live television. Such a requirement is just like a black sick joke!

The Prime Minister is in a dilemma: his own dignity versus another person’s life. At first, the majority of people support the Prime Minister. However, when a video about the princess being harmed is shown on Youtube, the public and the media begin to ask the Prime Minister to abandon his dignity and save the princess. The Prime Minister finally gives in to public pressure.

What makes the episode more absurd is that the princess suffers no damage and has been released before the live TV show. It is all is just a test created by the kidnapper. The nature of humanity is shown vividly in the test.

In fact, the Prime Minister is the person who has been kidnapped; he has been kidnapped by morals and public opinions.

It reminds me that many celebrities in China are also caught in a series of kidnappings. For example, celebrities are often forced to make donations.

Notes:

"Borders on the absurd" is the collocation (words that usually go together and sound "right" to the native English speaker's ear) in English.

A "black joke" usually means a joke about black people. "Black humor" refers to jokes about things that are considered taboo. The phrase "(something) must be a sick joke" is often used to mean that the speaker hopes that it is just a bad joke (like a type of black humor), but is afraid that it isn't.