The Waldo Moment

I recently started watching some episodes of Black Mirror, which is a show on Netflix where each episode takes place in a different world and explores some aspect of the relationship between technology and society. The way each world is constructed and designed is so detailed and thoughtful, which makes the stories even more disquieting.

One of the episodes which aired in 2013, “The Waldo Moment”, is about a blue, animated bear that ends up running for political office. The bear’s coarse and non-PC language in contrast to the seasoned politician opposing him appeals to a public that is frustrated with politics. The episode has a lot of depth and interesting correlations to our recent election, and it’s kind of amazing how many times sci-fi and fiction have been able to articulate societal fears and be sort of prescient.

Another interesting example of this is how I, Robot, the original collection of books, devised the three laws of robotics in 1942 that are still largely looked at today.