Talk:White Bear (Black Mirror)

Critical reception upped to "very well received"
(Writing this here as it's too long to fit in the edit summary.) In this edit, I have changed the summary of the episode's critical reception from "mainly well received" to "very well received". My reasoning is that the majority of reviews have been overwhelmingly positive towards the episode. On the flip side, the Vulture review is wholly negative (but this is one paragraph-long review out of many), some reviews are mixed (but even those in the "mixed feelings" paragraph seem mainly positive e.g. IBTimes), some critics disliked Crichlow's performance/role (but others praised it) and some rankings of BM episodes don't put "White Bear" at the top (but that's specifically about quality relative to the series rather than quality relative to how a critic would normally review an episode). Overall, I think the weight of positive reviews makes "very well received" an accurate description. — Bilorv(talk)(c)(e) 22:06, 8 June 2017 (UTC)

Contradictory information on filming location
The article suggests Brooker was inspired to partially rewrite the episode based on something he saw at a former US Air Force base. One of the references backs this up, but another says it was an RAF base, which makes more sense given that this is a British production. It's possible he was "scouting" at one for inspiration and filmed at the other, but it would be good if we could address this apparent discrepancy. --BDD (talk) 17:54, 4 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Yes, so it looks like Variety report it was a "former U.S. Air Force base" whereas Brooker is quoted as having said it was an "RAF base" in The Independent, and HuffPost call it a "Royal Air Force base". What do we normally do in this situation—note the discrepancy in prose or a footnote? I think it's significantly more likely to be an RAF base but it's not conclusive (I think it's no coincidence that the American source says U.S. Air Force and the British sources say RAF). — Bilorv(c)(talk) 18:43, 4 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I completely forgot about this; I've changed it now to a footnote, with assumption of RAF in prose. — Bilorv(c)(talk) 02:32, 5 May 2018 (UTC)
 * Is it possible the location is a former US Air Force base that is now a RAF base? Jonpatterns (talk) 15:03, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
 * I've seen a suggestion, on social media, that it was RAF Daws Hill. Martinevans123 (talk) 15:08, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
 * That would match up, RAF owed and has been used by US Air Force. Unfortunately, I can not find a source, that would meet Wikipedia's standards, to add the information to the article. Jonpatterns (talk) 21:24, 27 July 2018 (UTC)
 * Same here, alas. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:29, 27 July 2018 (UTC)


 * Just a note to anyone reading this section: in fact the base was used by the U.S. Air Force; since this discussion, Inside Black Mirror was released and it clarified where "White Bear" was filmed. — Bilorv (he/him) (talk) 12:49, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

Missing the point.
Not too sure how to put this, but most of the stuff here misses the point of the script. It is not the switcheroo at the end, amusing though it is. It is that the 'real' audience were entirely happy to behave like the 'White Beared' passive observers. Sheesh. Greglocock (talk) 03:47, 13 July 2019 (UTC)

Well, except the “real audience” is very aware this is a tv show. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 222.153.111.229 (talk) 04:07, 6 November 2021 (UTC)


 * We say what reliable sources say. I don't recall Brooker ever saying that that's the point of the episode and it's not a recurring point made by reviewers. And on a moment of personal analysis, I'd say that your interpretation is valid but not a common one—instead, what you say is much more commonly said about "The National Anthem", and I think it misses many of the thing that Brooker has said the episode is about to conclude that this is another episode whose main point is that the audience should think critically about what they are enjoying. — Bilorv (he/him) (talk) 07:20, 13 July 2019 (UTC)