MovieChat Forums > Black Mirror (2011) Discussion > Shut up and Dance - Whoa! (Spoilers)

Shut up and Dance - Whoa! (Spoilers)

posted 8 years ago by NitaNitaBoBeeta
13 replies | jump to latest

I recently discovered Black Mirror, and all the episodes I've seen so far are great... but Shut up and Dance was remarkable!

The writers take us on a this journey with this awkward teenager and force us to feel sorry for him the whole time.

It wasn't until the very end of the episode (when his mother called him) that I was finally convinced that Kenny was indeed a pedophile.

I figured the hackers wanted Kenny with the guy at the end because Kenny had the gun, I had no idea it wasn't loaded. I thought they were using him to commit murder of a pedo but jeez, that plot twist I sure wasn't expecting.

It now makes so much sense why he so blindly followed the orders of the hackers!

-Makes me wonder about the Hackers and how many other people they have exposed. I would be interested to see a movie or tv series from the POV of the hackers... hmmmm

I had to take a break from Black Mirror for a little... Shut up and Dance blew my MIND!

[–] vjfoogie 8 years ago

White Bear was the episode that really made me take a step back and question a lot of things. Shut up and Dance is amazing as well. I remember watching it and being like "ummmmm, yeah just release the video of me jerking off...I'm not robbing a bank!" then you find out he WASNT just jerking off....it was to children. I don't feel bad for those types of sickos and he is going to have a rough time in jail.

[–] NitaNitaBoBeeta 8 years ago

White Bear was another one that shocked me to life! Another ending I definitely was not expecting...Again, the writers make you sympathize with the character all the way until the very END! Great writing and the acting is phenomenal!

It's just something about Shut up and Dance that makes me so very uncomfortable.

I'm a woman in my thirties, and I wouldn't have even followed the first instruction of sending them my number. Ha...might as well release the video of me masturbating....

Kenny is a special character because he doesn't "look" like a pedophile - which goes back to that old saying "Never judge a book by its cover"

Great episode!

-Side bar - I knew Kenny was a little weird when he smelled his fingers after he rubbed one out... Ew.

[–] vjfoogie 8 years ago

What does a pedophile look like exactly? It is like a serial killer....they just look like normal people. They are the neighbor you thought was a cool guy.

That is how you are supposed to feel about the video. The whole time I was like "DUDE EVERYBODY JERKS OFF! JUST LET THEM LEAK THE VIDEO!" Then you find out he wasn't just jerking off.....

[–] Marky_Mularkey 8 years ago

There was a clue right at the beginning when he smiled just slightly too much at the little girl who dropped her toy.

[–] vjfoogie 8 years ago

You only think that is weird because of the ending. Nobody gave that scene the time of day till the reveal. It is normal to be really nice to a child....

[–] laplante-co-672-297856 8 years ago

Exactly this. Initially that scene with the little girl convinces you that this kid is likable.

Once the big reveal took place I thought:
"Nothing in the story suggests this kid is pedophile...
(pause)
oh wait a minute!"

Good ep... unsettling as hell.

[–] B-J-C 8 years ago

I agree with vjfoogie. Just being nice to a child doesn't make one a paedophile. You can't take a harmless and innocent interaction between an adult and child and say that indicated the adult was a paedo just because you've just found out that they are. There was nothing inappropriate about his interaction with the kid in the restaurant.

You might begin to wonder what thoughts were going through Kenny's mind when he was talking to the little girl, but that's a whole other matter.

[–] laplante-co-672-297856 8 years ago

I agree with vjfoogie. Just being nice to a child doesn't make one a paedophile.

I agree. I'm only talking about this story. In the context of THIS episode, the earlier scene takes on a different significance because we eventually learn of Kenny's unhealthy predilections.

Had we not seen that scene, the final reveal would have had us asking: "Wait, he's a pedophile? Show me where they told us that..."

[–] B-J-C 8 years ago

I suppose, but to me, there was no prior indication that Kenny was a paedophile, with or without the interaction with the little girl. And I don't think there needed to be clues. I like the fact that the episode had me sympathising with Kenny right until the end. I certainly wouldn't have sympathised with him if he'd shown paedophile behaviour. And the episode does well to paint paedophiles as normal people with their own otherwise normal lives, and not as the savage demons the media depicts them as.

[–] laurendorward-990-190608 8 years ago

There's a very small indication when he stares at the child's colouring in that is a little odd

[–] alexander-lovmand 8 years ago

I didn't see the clues either, but I watched a lot of scenes again after seeing it, and I felt that it was actually really obvious that he was doing something sinister:

- the situation with the girl
- he can't relate to his other male co-workers
- he shows no interest in his attractive collegue, even though she seems to like him
- he's overly protective of his computer, and even installs a lock after his sister stole it
- there's a folder on his computer that says "Kenny's" and he has emails from some guy saying "check this out" and stuff like that.
- when the guy that drives him (the guy from GoT) says "they copied my hard drive" he gets a nervous breakdown worse than ever before it seems
- he's willing to rob a bank and piss his pants to not be busted in wanking

I know all of these can be logically explained, but I'd at least call this indication that there was something wrong with Kenny.

[–] joestainke 8 years ago

You'd think he would've at least had a password on his laptop to keep his sister off it.

[–] Naphthous 8 years ago

I don't think a twist alone makes a good episode. And I don't understand the love for this one. The whole thing is unrelenting, bleak cruelty. There's no deeper question to ponder, at least not in the Black Mirror vein. It's one of my least favorites. I'm having a hard time understand why it seems to be well liked.