HYPERREALITY IN THE BLACK MIRROR EPISODE SHUT UP AND DANCE

Abstract

This research analyze how a Black Mirror episode entitled Shut Up and Dance explore the idea of simulation crisis in which the main character have to struggle with as the episode represents. This study uses Jean Baudrillard’s theory of Hyperreality and Baudrillard’s semiotic approach to scrutinize how in the episode signs and symbols dictate how an individual is treated by society  by means of their behaviors and purpose. The result shows that in Shut Up and Dance, the show creators presents the concept of Hyperreality by showing the audience the declines of the main character’s humanity, which eventually reduced to a mere symbol in the bigger picture, by delivering signs and symbols to the audience that indicates the process and symptoms of Hyperreality.