How do Rashida Jones and Michael Schur portray the tension between authenticity and conformity in a dystopian future through the archetype of the ‘perfect person’ in the episode ‘Nosedive’?

"Nosedive" (written by Rashida Jones and Michael Schur) is an episode of Black Mirror (Season 3, Episode 1). It is set in a futuristic dystopian world where citizens use an unnamed social media application to rate people out of 5 stars, based on their interactions. Due to people wanting to boost their own rating, they often feel pressured to pretend to be nicer and happier than they really are. A central theme of this piece is people's aim to be authentic, whilst still conforming to societal conventions to fit in. This is significant as it serves as a reflection of social media and influencers, which are very prevalent in today's world. This demonstrates that authenticity and conformity go against each other, and whilst the struggle of trying to find a good balance is difficult, authenticity is more important.

One way which the characters are shown to suppress authenticity in the interest of conformity is via forced / faked positivity. This is when they pretend to have a positive attitude or be happy about something so that they don't come across negatively or worsen the quality of their rating-pending interaction. An example of where this has happened is when Lacie (the protagonist) was in the lift with Bethany (her former co-worker), and they say "-But for now it's OK. -For now, it's great. -For now, yes. Yes, it is.".¹ The overuse of positive words, such as "yes", "OK", and "great", combined with her arguably unhappy facial expression hint that she does not truly believe what she said, but considering she was interacting with a highly-rated person, it is implied that she did not want to seem negative in the interest of her rating. The fact that Lacie feels compelled to engage in this awkward small-talk goes to show that here she is prioritising conformity even when she must lie and feel marginally uncomfortable in the process. Another example of where the concept of false positivity is included is when Ryan (Lacie's brother) challenges it, with the quotation "No one is this happy. Not even a 2-year-old with a fucking balloon is this happy", regarding the façade of happiness shown by someone on the brochure cover of the housing estate Lacie wants to live in. Nosedive also portrays the tension between authenticity and conformity through the quotation "they are all fake smile jail cells", referring to the houses Lacie wants to live in. This is a metaphor, which makes the houses appear to be more relatable to the audience, and it also gives meaningful comparisons to them as they can view the houses as prison cells, which do not permit much expression of authenticity.

Rashida and Michael show a shortfall of authenticity through the quotation "It turned out a lot of my friends didn't care for honesty", when Susan describes how after her being more authentic she lost her friends. This links to the question as honesty and authenticity are linked, as in it is difficult to be authentic if you don't care about honesty, especially if that honesty is something different to what the community would expect you to think. Another quotation is "You seem -Normal? -Yeah. -Thank you, it took some effort". It should not take too much effort to be "normal". This emphasises the fact that "normality" is false as there is no one true "normal" person as everyone is individual, and the authors are attempting to highlight this. Another quotation is "You don't know me so you're not really sorry, you're just mainly awkward because I have sprung some cancer talk at you". In this moment, the protagonist is being called out for being inauthentic, as her words are not that sincere. This relates to the audience as it is a common practice to say "I'm sorry" in awkward situations in an attempt to give them comfort, however the use of this quotation in the piece brings attention to its inauthenticity and can make the audience question why this is the standard. This links back to the question, as Susans friends leave her because she was too honest (authentic) and does not demonstrate enough conformity for their liking (even though a 'good' society should arguably welcome and promote truthful personal expression).

In the episode, the impact on relationships that social media can have is shown to be negative as the society prioritise star ratings and being seen to be the archetype of a 'perfect person' over meaningful interpersonal connections. This is demonstrated when Lacie's brother says, "I am sorry but I miss the normal you, before this obsession when we had conversations, remember?". The use of a rhetorical question arguably serves as a prompt for Lacie to think about how she used to interact with her brother disregarding the rating system. As well as this, it can make the audience reflect on how social media can influence various aspects of life in negative ways. This tension is regarding her sacrifice of authenticity on the altar of conforming to the standard of being obsessed with creating a positive "image" of herself to boost her status for the rating system. Another way that the episode communications negative effects on social life is through the quotation "Anyways, I looked up to Naomi pretty much my entire life, which means she was looking down on me. Always with a smile, though". The use of a metaphor here shows that Naomi is so obsessed with her online persona and influencer status that she takes it too far as to start patronising and demeaning others, for example, Lacie, by "looking down on them". Additionally, the "smile" that goes with shows that she is still trying to pose as the archetype of a 'perfect person' by appearing positive, even though it is obvious to the audience that the smile is insincere and unfriendly. However, it is possible that Naomi felt the need to conform with the social expectation to smile and pretend to be friendly, coming at the expense of her demonstrating her true and authentic feelings, which in this case would be negative ones, not appropriate for the system.

Interestingly, at the end of the episode, Lacie and another man are in jail, yelling at each other, but it is authentic and they appear to be enjoying themselves. The juxtaposition that they feel more free to express this in a place which is conventionally condemning of subjectivity is rather interesting and thoughtprovoking.

In the episode 'Nosedive', the archetype of a 'perfect person' is demonstrated as someone who has a 5-star rating and who chronically masquerades as happy and positively-minded. However, despite people's efforts to flourish in this system by conforming with the ways of society (to the extent of forcing awkward situations in the hopes of seeming "nice"), people's social standing quickly falls and they fail in the social media system. This is twice shown as being due to excessive displays of honesty and authenticity, particularly when clashing with the unwritten social protocol. The title 'Nosedive' is an allusion to this as people's statuses rise as they try (arguably too hard) to boost it, however their status eventually plummets within a short space of time, like a literal nosedive.