A radical reckoning: a Black woman’s racial revenge in Black Mirror’s “Black Museum”

Abstract

ABSTRACT “Black Museum,” the final installment of season four of the original series Black Mirror, incorporates many of the episodes that have come before it, creating an apotheosis episode that critiques the technophilia of the series. A Black woman administers justice and brings forth a rare, onscreen vision of a white man being held accountable for his racist violence. Told in three parts, with sci-fi elements that are reminiscent of the work of afrofuturist visionary Octavia Butler and borrow directly from famed illusionist Penn Jillette, “Black Museum” offers a welcome departure from the standard Hollywood tropes of magical negroes, white saviors, and Black victimhood. This British production and cast make the redress narrative possible, building on another yet unsubverted trope of Black British actors portraying Black Americans. It inspires viewers to consider the role of the museum, an institution that has long served as a compendium of technology and racialized gendered violence.