Welcome to Dystopia

Shortly after switching off the very dark Black Mirror last night reality burst in. The C4 programme entitled “National Anthem,” set up the situation where a Royal Princess (think Kate Middleton) had been kidnapped. The person holding her hostage has a weird ransom demand. The Prime Minister, (think David Cameron), very credibly played by Rory Kinnear, has to have intercourse with a pig, live on tv at 4-00pm. The assessment of our media, the internet, politicians and ‘the public interest’ was provocative, well acted and credible. Billed as a satire it was a bleak reflection of the way our society operates. Hence the ‘Black Mirror.’

A few minutes later an online website reported on the following case from Kent.  A one month old baby boy had been raped and seriously injured - all his ribs had been broken and he was seriously ill in hospital. Yes, horrible but true, a one month old baby boy had been raped. Two adults had been arrested and then released on bail. A vigil had been held outside the baby’s home when the cry had gone up that the adults involved were at a house nearby. What had been a vigil swiftly became a mob. Windows were broken and the police were called to quell the violence. 

A grimly powerful drama had been overtaken by an even grimmer reality. 

Dystopia = an imaginary place where everything is as bad as it possibly can be; the opposite of utopia.