Black Mirror's Charlie Brooker Won't Be Making An Elon Musk Episode Any Time Soon

"Black Mirror" returns with its sixth season, and with it comes five new episodes of technological and societal terror. The anthology series has made it a habit to hold up a mirror (no pun intended) to the darkest parts of humanity and show what might happen if people continue disassociating from what makes us all human. From social media to ever-present surveillance, "Black Mirror" has seemingly tackled it all, so it wouldn't be out of the question for a future episode to satirize a guy who's pretty much "Black Mirror" incarnate. 

Elon Musk is many things. He's one of the wealthiest people on the planet, CEO of Tesla, and CTO of Twitter. He has a lot of power linked to technological systems that are part of people's daily lives, so it wouldn't be out of the question for "Black Mirror" to have an episode examining a Musk copycat. However, it sounds like series creator Charlie Brooker isn't interested in taking that step. Brooker spoke with Financial Times about a potential Musk episode, and he claimed shows like "Succession" have already skewered the rich and powerful. He's also not a fan of Musk's brand of comedy due to how he "punches down." 

It's probably all for the best. Elon Musk is already busy bringing the world closer to "Black Mirror" in real life anyway. 

Given Elon Musk's influence, there are numerous directions an episode centered on a character like him could go. But it may be low-hanging fruit at this point, especially when considering that Musk may just bring "Black Mirror" into the real world. And that's not a hyperbole; Musk himself alluded to the TV series when discussing his Neuralink idea.

Musk's proposal is basically a memory backup drive where people could theoretically upload and revisit memories. During one event, Musk even stated, "I mean, this is obviously sounding increasingly like a 'Black Mirror' episode. But I guess they're pretty good at predicting." It's actually directly from a "Black Mirror" episode, namely "The Entire History of You." In that installment, a man becomes obsessed with his wife's friendship with another man, going back and replaying events via a neural implant to look for clues of infidelity. Like most "Black Mirror" episodes, it doesn't end well, so pitching a device that can lead to similar issues is a bit odd.

Musk once again evoked "Black Mirror" in 2022 after a news report broke about PayPal increasingly banning users from its platform. Musk is actually a co-founder of PayPal, and underneath someone sharing an article about it, he wrote, "PayPal has become a Black Mirror episode." All things considered, Elon Musk really doesn't need to be at the center of a "Black Mirror" episode; he's already living it.