BLACK MIRROR, “Striking Vipers”, and Sexual Identity

The Many Colors of Black Mirror

Is sexual desire a big or small part of identity in Black Mirror? Or, to get more specific, does the show take a big or little swing in the episode “Striking Vipers”?

With a new season announced, Black Mirror is set to keep its status as one of the most groundbreaking television shows streaming today. Creator Charlie Brooker says the show deliberately tests the limits of how technology alters us as a society and as individuals, but it wasn’t until the outstanding episode “Striking Vipers” that the show so powerfully interrogated gender and sexual identity.

In case you can’t tell, there are massive spoilers below for the entire episode “Striking Vipers.” It stars Anthony Mackie as Danny and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Karl. The episode was directed by Owen Harris, who also made the stunning prior season queer-focused episode “San Junipero.”

In “Striking Vipers,” Danny and Karl are two otherwise seemingly heterosexual men who find themselves attracted to each other—but only when they’re in a VR setup that gives one of them the form of a woman. By the end of the episode, Danny and Karl have made a deal—not just with each other, but with Danny’s wife—to once a year use the VR game as a kind of cooperative pornography. While having sex with each other in the real world doesn’t feel right, when in their VR bodies, having sex with each other is ecstasy.

In an earlier interview, series creator Charlie Brooker said, “there is something homoerotic about this arena in which you’re physically grappling with your friends on the screen. There’s something weirdly primal about it… [Anthony Mackie] found it interesting to…play an older guy who didn’t have the same virility and physicality of his youth, but also going into a VR world where there’s such sexual fluidity and there are question marks over the gender. Is he having a relationship with a woman when ultimately the person is his friend and a man?”

It's a complex show and an even more complex episode. And so to crack this egg—err, mirror—a number of media professionals joined us for an exclusive chat with Script Magazine to discuss Black Mirror, "Striking Vipers", and sexual identity.

To start us off, we asked our contributors: Would the two leads in “Striking Vipers” have had the same feelings in the real world if they’d had the same bodies as in the video game?

“There was a lot to unpack,” said media critic Alvin Borum. “Karl and Danny met in real life and kissed, noting that they felt nothing. Karl attempted to engage in sexual activity in the games sans Danny, but admitted it wasn't the same. Danny and [his wife] Theo admitted that they loved each other but had sexual desires that the other couldn't meet, leading to an arrangement that we're led to believe worked for them, at least short term. However, I don't think they did much more than a passing reference to how sexual desire can be (and in my opinion is) a huge part of identity, and how sometimes people can put their identities in a box because of external pressures.”

Horror legend Jeffrey Reddick added, “That’s part of the ambiguity of the episode that’s good for conversation starting. But just my personal feeling is that if they had been in the bodies in the video game, they would have absolutely been sexually compatible in real life. I think that the game allowed them to be free. But they were obviously heterosexual characters in the game, so it feels like it was kind of reinforcing that it allowed them to broaden their sexual horizons as sexual beings, but it didn’t really change their identity. If they met as they were in the game, they definitely would have had sex if they weren’t married. I think they would have had a flame.”

Singer, songwriter, and music producer Ekela Pendetta said, “I felt like their connection had nothing to do with anything other than the way the sex felt. I think that’s important when we talk about sex. The reason it operates on such a wide spectrum is because when you take away all the aspects of it [that] we think matter—they don’t. I think these two people are sexually attracted to having orgasms.”

Steve Hugh Westenra, a trans author of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror, focused on the empowering nature of the episode’s ambiguity, saying, “What really resonated with me—and what I imagine will resonate with a lot of other queer people—is the ambiguous heartbreak of this deep relationship with a straight friend that veers into less-than-straight territory. While there's the implication at the end that Karl is (sort of) straight himself, there's this overwhelming sense of loss that I couldn't help feeling in terms of how things shake out.”

Steve expanded on his answer, saying, “During the scene in the rain when Danny and Karl attempt to kiss in the physical world, I got the sense from Mackie's tone and expression that Danny legitimately did feel a spark but was agreeing with Karl out of embarrassment and fear. I was quite surprised to read later that the idea was that both characters were relieved.”

Alvin Borum followed up by saying, “I think that's where it gets muddy and interesting for me… Karl explicitly states that he tried to engage sexually with other people virtually (and [through] various other bodies/objects) and it didn't work. So I think it was bigger than the body. I think it was something about Danny specifically that Karl connected with that made sex particularly enjoyable. However, I do think that there were likely things limiting that experience for them both. For Danny, I think those things were pretty on the nose. He was a walking example of societal expectations for a 40-year-old male. I also think that Karl was much less aligned with societal norms and that's why his character was much more willing to at least explore... But then I do think there's something about taboos and sexual experience for many, so maybe I'm overcomplicating it and the video thing just heightened pleasure because it flew in the face of what they were ‘supposed’ to be doing.”

On the power of roleplay as a way to explore limits beyond what’s socially acceptable, Steve Westenra added, “Of course, there's a powerful gendered element here too that I think will resonate with a lot of trans people. As a young person (and throughout my adulthood), roleplay has served as an outlet for gender expression and exploration. I felt most at home in my body as a teenager when I was inhabited by one of the male characters I roleplayed with my friends. There's a reading of 'Striking Vipers' that might suggest Karl is in love with Danny, but that it's Karl the woman who feels that connection. At the end, Karl is still somewhat isolated, and so there's an element of tragedy that he (or she) is only able to find fulfillment during these fleeting encounters.”

Jeffrey Reddick added, “What I would say after watching all the episodes is that Black Mirror plays more into identity and how we see ourselves than it does sexual desire. There’s so many episodes where people have lost a loved one and they replace them with an android, and it seems the show’s really focused on emotional identity and emotional connections. Sex is in there, but I don’t think it plays as big a part as a lot of other shows would have it play.

“When I first watched 'Striking Vipers', I thought it was playing things way too safe and took a little swing at sexual identity, but I had done some research into all the episodes, as I usually do, and I’ve noticed that a lot of their ‘gay’ episodes started off as other episodes with straight characters. And then during the development process, they decided at the end of the day to make them lesbian, or gay, or questionable sexuality. I do find that refreshing in a way because that ties into the show, talking about human themes of identity, and not forcing sexuality into it. But on the other hand, I do think it can make for some very safe TV. Just for my personal preference, I would love to see them take all that smart writing and really focus it on our community. Whereas right now, I feel like through the development process, they’ll start off with a straight couple and then decide later to have two women or two men.”

Jeffrey Reddick finished by saying, “One other thing that’s interesting about this episode is there’s this lack of acceptance in the Black community for gay people. I’m biracial, and I’ve certainly seen how that has given me some privilege, but it’s also let me see my brothers and sisters of color be discriminated against doubly by that community through racism from other communities. So I thought it was interesting that for ['Striking Vipers'], they cast two Black actors. And so 'Striking Vipers’ allows for a conversation in a community where there’s not a lot of conversations about it. I do think again for a show, it’s cutting edge, and it’s a show where it would be nice to see them really deep dive in our LGBTQ+ community on some of the issues they kind of skirt around.”