Not Suprisingly, This Black Mirror Episode Mirrors Real Life

Black Mirror, the dystopian television show set in a future "ten minutes from now," presents as advertised: It's a dark mirror, reflecting a more macabre reality. The show takes the downside of technology and pushes it to the worst possible end. Usually, Black Mirror predicts the future; however, in an interview with Rolling Stone, creator Charlie Brooker suggested that the show is actually borrowing from reality. The first Season 3 episode, starring Bryce Dallas Howard, will feature an application that may sound familiar. Last October, news surfaced of a "Yelp for people" app called Peeple, and nobody was pleased. Even Chrissy Teigen agreed the application was creepy. Humans are not restaurants — so why do they need to be rated? Unfortunately, the app is still around, and Black Mirror may have framed an entire episode around it. Brooker says the episode will feature an application that functions just like Peeple. The fictional application forces characters to review every interaction with a one-to-five-star rating. Overall rating amounts to a social status or reputation. Brooker says he partially got the inspiration from Uber. "It wasn't until I took an Uber that I realized, 'Oh, there are ratings for drivers and customers? Hmm, what does this remind me of?" he says. He'd apparently been sitting on the idea for a few years, so Peeple couldn't have been the main inspiration. Still, the scenario sounds a lot like the totally unwanted "Yelp for people." (Vanity Fair)