Black Mirror and Misfits

Misfits and Black Mirror are both produced by channel 4. The shows are similar in that they are both based on a future world and therefore come under a science fiction/ supernatural and dystopian genre. Both look at how society's future could be in jeopardy if over ruled by supernatural powers as seen in Misfits and overuse and dependency of technology in Black Mirror.

 The narratives of the two TV shows differ in that Misfits has more or less the same cast in each episode of one series. Misfits focuses on a group of young offenders and these characters are recurring throughout each episode. Alternatively, Black Mirror has a new narrative each episode. For example the first episode is about the power of technology and the internet on blackmailing the Prime Minister,  whereas the second episode has a whole new narrative about a talent show and the 'price of fame'. A similarity between the two shows is that each episode - whether or not linking on from the previous one - follows a unique plot line and one which therefore aids its genre of science fiction. I think this makes the shows stand out against regular dramas and makes them more appealing. They offer the viewer an exciting and alternative view on the world we live in. I think Misfits is aimed at a younger audience to Black Mirror as it is centred around a group of teenagers to whom a teen audience could relate. Whereas, Black Mirror to be targeted at an older audience due to some of the harsher and more disturbing scenes such as the ones seen in the first episode. 

Misfits mainly represents youth culture as it is about a group of young people. Youths are represented negatively from the beginning as the group of teenagers are young offenders on community service and have therefore committed crimes. The representation of Kelly, a character of low social class, is for her to be a stereotypical 'chav' with lots of jewellery, lots of makeup and her hair in a high pony tail. She is also shown to have bad language and a bad attitude. The representation of the teens does however change throughout each episode as the viewer begins to learn why each person committed their crime and then begins to represent them as the misunderstood teenagers they are. On the other hand, Black Mirror represents normal people being exploited. For example, the character of Abi in the episode '15 million merits.' The world is powered by people cycling on exercise bikes and character Bing sees an opportunity for Abi to escape this world of 'black mirrors' by auditioning for a talent show. She is represent as an authentic and normal human being with a talent for singing, however due to society's dependency on technology and this particular talent show she 'goes through a filter until nothing natural is left'.