History Fridge / BlackMirrorWhiteBear

* How has Victoria not collapsed or broken down from pure exhaustion at this point? She spends her days in a state of constant stress and terror while she's chased, threatened, abused and even occasionally tased if she gets too out of control, and her nights being brutally tortured, with no chance for any proper food, fluids or real sleep. Even if she were being fed intravenously when she's unconscious in the period between her mind being wiped and waking up to restart the cycle, her body could only take so much before it gave up, especially after having to go through this for at least eighteen days already (and implicitly a ''lot'' more, given how well established the park is). She also could be suffering from brain damage/trauma by this stage, depending on the havoc the mind-wipe device inflicts on her each time it's used; judging by her agonised screams, it isn't doing her temporal lobe any favours.

** Yes, that's the point, she's being slowly tortured to death. Her memory reset only takes 30 minutes and then restarts immediately. The "days" marked off on the calendar are memory-wipe cycles, not actual days, spaced 30 minutes apart for the reset. Depending on how long the travel-time is, she's only been dealing with this for a few days at most.

* How has Victoria not collapsed or broken down from pure exhaustion at this point? She spends her days in a state of constant stress and terror while she's chased, threatened, abused and even occasionally tased, and her nights being brutally tortured, with no chance for any proper food, fluids or real sleep. Even if she were being fed intravenously when she's unconscious in the period between her mind being wiped and waking up to restart the cycle, her body could only take so much before it gave up, especially after having to go through this for at least eighteen days already (and implicitly a ''lot'' more, given how well established the park is). She also could be suffering from brain damage/trauma by this stage, depending on the havoc the mind-wipe device inflicts on her each time it's used; judging by her agonised screams, it isn't doing her temporal lobe any favours.

* How has Victoria not collapsed or broken down from pure exhaustion at this point? She spends her days in a state of constant stress and terror while she's chased, threatened, abused and even occasionally tased, and her nights being brutally tortured, with no chance for any proper food, fluids or real sleep. Even if she were being fed intravenously when she's unconscious in the period between her mind being wiped and waking up to restart the cycle, her body could only take so much before it gave up, especially after having to go through this for at least eighteen days already (and implicitly a ''lot'' more, given how well established the park is). She also could be suffering from brain damage/trauma by this stage, depending on the havoc the mind-wipe device inflicts on her each time it's used.

* How has Victoria not collapsed or broken down from exhaustion at this point? She spends her days in a state of constant stress and terror while she's chased, threatened, abused and even occasionally tased, and her nights being brutally tortured, with no chance for any proper food, fluids or real sleep. Even if she were being fed intravenously when she's unconscious in the period between her mind being wiped and waking up to restart the cycle, her body could only take so much before it gave up, especially after having to go through this for at least eighteen days already (and implicitly a lot more, given how well established the park is).

* How has Victoria not collapsed or broken down from exhaustion at this point? She spends her days in a state of constant stress and terror while she's chased, threatened and abused, and her nights being brutally tortured, with no chance for any proper food, fluids or real sleep. Even if she were being fed intravenously when she's unconscious in the period between her mind being wiped and waking up to restart the cycle, her body could only take so much before it gave up, especially after having to go through this for at least eighteen days already (and implicitly a lot more, given how well established the park is).

* How has Victoria not collapsed or broken down from exhaustion at this point? She spends her days in a state of constant stress and terror, being chased, threatened and abused, and her nights being brutally tortured, with no chance for any proper food, fluids or real sleep. Even if she were being fed intravenously when she's unconscious in the period between her mind being wiped and waking up to restart the cycle, her body could only take so much before it gave up, especially after having to go through this at least eighteen times already.

** How has Victoria not collapsed or broken down from exhaustion at this point? She spends her days in a state of constant stress and terror, being chased, threatened and abused, and her nights being brutally tortured, with no chance for any proper food, fluids or real sleep. Even if she were being fed intravenously when she's unconscious in the period between her mind being wiped and waking up to restart the cycle, her body could only take so much before it gave up, especially after having to go through this at least eighteen times already.

* FridgeHorror: In the stinger, the sign outside the Justice Park says "advance bookings essential". Advance bookings are only ever considered essential if something is ''incredibly'' popular. And in the introduction Baxter and Jem give to the visitors, there are at least five pre-adolescent children. In this universe, White Bear Justice Park is apparently the equivalent of a day out at a normal theme park.

** In-universe, we can possibly argue that it's a TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture-style scenario wherein there's been some kind of drastic political and social upheavals which have rendered the above legal obstacles moot, or an AlternateHistory where such legislation does not exist. Out-of-universe, it's an UpToEleven satire of the kind of not so different mindset that tends to emerge whenever something horrible happens like a child-murderer being discovered and arrested, and there's usually a lot of 'hanging's-too-good-for-them' style rhetoric from pundits on the sidelines (both in the media and outside of it) and conversations which tend to quickly get consumed with all the kinds of nasty things that ''should'' happen to them instead of just going to jail. Brooker's constructing what is, acknowledged, a fairly exaggerated scenario to suggest that, ultimately, this kind of mindset is just as abhorrent as the kind of mindset that would find amusement in torturing a little girl to death, except it's masking a similar kind of sadistic desire to do unspeakable harm (whether physical or psychological) to another human being in a cloak of smug self-righteousness and the belief that 'justice' would be done. He's raising the question that [[PayEvilUntoEvil if you were to sadistically torture a sadistic torturer]], even if your motives were 'good', [[HeWhoFightsMonsters wouldn't you ultimately end up being just as bad as the torturer?]]

** In-universe, we can possibly argue that it's a TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture-style scenario wherein there's been some kind of drastic political and social upheavals which have rendered the above legal obstacles moot, or an AlternateHistory where such legislation does not exist. Out-of-universe, it's an UpToEleven satire of the kind of NotSoDifferent mindset that tends to emerge whenever something horrible happens like a child-murderer being discovered and arrested, and there's usually a lot of 'hanging's-too-good-for-them' style rhetoric from pundits on the sidelines (both in the media and outside of it) and conversations which tend to quickly get consumed with all the kinds of nasty things that ''should'' happen to them instead of just going to jail. Brooker's constructing what is, acknowledged, a fairly exaggerated scenario to suggest that, ultimately, this kind of mindset is just as abhorrent as the kind of mindset that would find amusement in torturing a little girl to death, except it's masking a similar kind of sadistic desire to do unspeakable harm (whether physical or psychological) to another human being in a cloak of smug self-righteousness and the belief that 'justice' would be done. He's raising the question that [[PayEvilUntoEvil if you were to sadistically torture a sadistic torturer]], even if your motives were 'good', [[HeWhoFightsMonsters wouldn't you ultimately end up being just as bad as the torturer?]]

* FridgeHorror: In the stinger, the sign outside the Justice Park says "advance bookings essential". Advance bookings are only ever considered essential if something is ''incredibly'' popular. And in the introduction Baxter and Jem give to the visitors, there are at least five pre-adolescent children. In this universe, White Bear Justice Park is apparently the equivalent of a day out at a normal theme park...
** The presence of those children caused some major fridge logic for this troper. What kind of criminally negligent parent takes their kid to stand ''ten feet away'' from a convicted child-murderer? Who can pick up kitchen knives, gasoline and a lighter, any number of blunt objects... Even if there's never a technical glitch that brings back memories of her former life, she could easily decide to lash out at the 'zombies' filming her. Taking your kid there honestly sounds like a fair reason to terminate your parental rights. Not to mention the question of why the park is willing to assume that insane level of legal liability if anything goes wrong.
*** Well, during the "pre-show talk", either Baxter or Jem (can't remember which) ''does'' say to keep well away from Victoria since they can't predict every move she'll make, and that if anything unexpected does happen, they'll immediately shut down the park and "reset". Throughout the entire experience, the actors and the staff are the ones with all the power here. And judging by the TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture style of the thing, it's probably considered no more dangerous than letting a kid wander around a zoo or something.
*** I'm fairly certain that all the child Observers were indoors, where Victoria couldn't reach them.
*** Nope. At least one older kid (seemingly unattended) decided to run outside and snap a pic peeking around a fence.
** Actually, the fact they're letting people freely wander around a dangerous criminal raises all kinds of questions. What if a spectator smuggles in a weapon to kill her, either to get 'justice' for the victim or as a MercyKill to end the torture? There seem to be far more spectators than staff and guards; if they coordinated their attacks, they could probably take over the whole park.
*** In the same way, a coordinated attack by an animal rights group could probably take over a zoo, temporarily. But escape would be near impossible, and ending up in prison would be an almost certain outcome. It's not impossible, but neither is it that big a threat.

* The idea of otherwise ordinary people mocking and jeering a condemned criminal undergoing torture arguably worse than the crime committed [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens already has precedent in history]], and they didn't need advanced technology to do so either.

* The idea of otherwise ordinary people mocking and jeering a condemned criminal undergoing torture arguably worse than the crime committed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens already has precedent in history]], and they didn't need advanced technology to do so either.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens The idea of ordinary people mocking and jeering a condemned criminal]] undergoing torture arguably worse than the crime committed]] already has precedent in history, and they didn't need advanced technology to do so either.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens The idea of ordinary people mocking and jeering a condemned criminal undergoing torture arguably worse than the crime committed has precedent in history, and they didn't need the advanced technology of Black Mirror to do so either.]]

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert-Fran%C3%A7ois_Damiens The idea of ordinary people laughing and jeering a condemned criminal undergoing torture arguably worse than the crime committed has precedent in history.]]

* The white bear was a symbol for Jemima's disappearance. It's also the name of the Justice Park where Victoria is imprisoned. Judging by these two facts, it's likely that Victoria and her fiancée's crime was the inspiration for the Park's existence in the first place.

* FridgeBrilliance time (and crosses into FridgeHorror as per this show's norm): in ''The White Bear'', the Observers are initially set up as brainwashed masses who do nothing but give the "hunters" an audience under the influence of some malignant signal. After the reveal, it's made clear that the "observers" are just extras from the public put there to enhance the terrifying experience for the condemned as well as, which is outlined in the last few minutes, to "have fun." Meaning they are there willingly doing pretty much what their characters are doing; the only difference is they have free will and are doing it ''[[ForTheEvulz for fun]].'' This makes the already blunt TakeThat of the Observers that little bit more sinister.
* Fridge Logic: In the UK (where, judging by the accents, we assume the ''White Bear'' episode is set), the government actually signed the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which would forbid them practising torture of this calibre. If they broke the convention, its subsequent nations would intervene very, very swiftly, meaning the White Bear Justice Park wouldn't exist without serious argument with other countries...

* From "White Bear": The white bear was a symbol for Jemima's disappearance. It's also the name of the Justice Park where Victoria is imprisoned. Judging by these two facts, it's likely that Victoria and her fiancée's crime was the inspiration for the Park's existence in the first place.
* At the end of "White Bear", Baxter says it will take about half an hour to erase Victoria's memory of the day. She apparently spends the entire half hour in excruciating pain. If around 12 hours have passed since she woke up (which seems a reasonable estimate), then the device takes roughly an hour to erase 24 hours' worth of memories. Based on that ratio, Victoria may have spent over a ''year'' in agony having her twenty-something (or more) years wiped ''before her sentence even began''.
* FridgeHorror: In the stinger for White Bear, the sign outside the Justice Park says "advance bookings essential". Advance bookings are only ever considered essential if something is ''incredibly'' popular. And in the introduction Baxter and Jem give to the visitors, there are at least five pre-adolescent children. In this universe, White Bear Justice Park is apparently the equivalent of a day out at a normal theme park...

* FridgeBrilliance time (and crosses into FridgeHorror as per this show's norm): in ''The White Bear'', the Observers are initially set up as brainwashed masses who do nothing but give the "hunters" an audience under the influence of some malignant signal. [[spoiler:After the reveal, it's made clear that the "observers" are just extras from the public put there to enhance the terrifying experience for the condemned as well as, which is outlined in the last few minutes, to "have fun." Meaning they are there willingly doing pretty much what their characters are doing; the only difference is they have free will and are doing it ''[[ForTheEvulz for fun]].'']] This makes the already blunt TakeThat of the Observers that little bit more sinister.

** In-universe, we can possibly argue that it's a TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture-style scenario wherein there's been some kind of drastic political and social upheavals which have rendered the above legal obstacles moot, or an AlternateHistory where such legislation does not exist. Out-of-universe, it's an UpToEleven satire of the kind of NotSoDifferent mindset that tends to emerge whenever something horrible happens like a child-murderer being discovered and arrested, and there's usually a lot of 'hanging's-too-good-for-them' style rhetoric from pundits on the sidelines (both in the media and outside of it) and conversations which tend to quickly get consumed with all the kinds of nasty things that ''should'' happen to them instead of just going to jail. Brooker's constructing what is, acknowledged, a fairly exaggerated scenario to suggest that, ultimately, this kind of mindset is just as abhorrent as the kind of mindset that would find amusement in [[spoiler:torturing a little girl to death]], except it's masking a similar kind of sadistic desire to do unspeakable harm (whether physical or psychological) to another human being in a cloak of smug self-righteousness and the belief that 'justice' would be done. He's raising the question that [[PayEvilUntoEvil if you were to sadistically torture a sadistic torturer]], even if your motives were 'good', [[HeWhoFightsMonsters wouldn't you ultimately end up being just as bad as the torturer?]]

* From "White Bear": [[spoiler:The white bear was a symbol for Jemima's disappearance. It's also the name of the Justice Park where Victoria is imprisoned. Judging by these two facts, it's likely that Victoria and her fiancée's crime was the inspiration for the Park's existence in the first place.]]

* FridgeHorror: In the stinger for White Bear, the sign outside the [[spoiler:Justice Park says "advance bookings essential". Advance bookings are only ever considered essential if something is ''incredibly'' popular. And in the introduction Baxter and Jem give to the visitors, there are at least five pre-adolescent children. In this universe, White Bear Justice Park is apparently the equivalent of a day out at a normal theme park...]]
** The presence of those children caused some major fridge logic for this troper. What kind of criminally negligent parent takes their kid to stand ''ten feet away'' from a [[spoiler:convicted child-murderer]]? Who can pick up kitchen knives, gasoline and a lighter, any number of blunt objects... Even if there's never a technical glitch that brings back memories of her former life, she could easily decide to lash out at the 'zombies' filming her. Taking your kid there honestly sounds like a fair reason to terminate your parental rights. Not to mention the question of why the park is willing to assume that insane level of legal liability if anything goes wrong.
*** Well, [[spoiler:during the "pre-show talk", either Baxter or Jem (can't remember which) ''does'' say to keep well away from Victoria since they can't predict every move she'll make, and that if anything unexpected does happen, they'll immediately shut down the park and "reset". Throughout the entire experience, the actors and the staff are the ones with all the power here.]] And judging by the TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture style of the thing, it's probably considered no more dangerous than letting a kid wander around a zoo or something.