Who runs the (fictional, futuristic, tech-driven) world? Girls.
We'd like to commend Black Mirror creator and writer Charlie Brooker for many things, but chief among them is his development of female leads for the show's just-released third season. Don't tell us you were too busy being freaked out/deleting all your apps/covering your web cam with duct tape to notice.
Of the six new episodes, three had female leads. "Playtest," "Shut Up and Dance," and "Men Against Fire" had male leads, but still presented women in positions of power. In "Playtest," Cooper's love interest, Sonja, is an ambitious tech journalist who schools him on singularity. He then meets with Wunmi Mosaku's Katie, who is less of a girl Friday to game guru Shou and more of his right-hand woman.
"Shut Up and Dance" is more subtle, but it didn't go unnoticed that Kenny's boss at the restaurant is a woman. And the powerful CEO targeted by cyber-vigilantes? Also a woman.
"Men Against Fire," meanwhile, featured two very strong female characters. Stripe's no-nonsense commander Medina was played by Sarah Snook, while the stereotypical macho soldier role of Raiman went to Madeline Brewer.
Even the "bit players" had bite. Now let's take a closer look at those female leads.
"Nosedive"
Just because Bryce Dallas Howard's approval-craving Lacie isn't 5.0-perfect doesn't mean she's not without certain strengths. She's overcome an eating disorder. She's career-minded. She's ambitious and goal-oriented. She's set her sights on being a #girlboss with the white picket fence and hot boyfriend, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Pictured: Bryce Dallas Howard as Lacie
Image: Courtesy of Netflix.
"San Junipero"
We don't get too much information about Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) and Kelly's (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) backgrounds. Did they have careers? Did Yorkie go to college? Did Kelly vote for Hillary? Regardless, what we do know is that it's super-refreshing to see a loving lesbian romance depicted in such a tender way. Anywhere else, they would have had a hot fling, then eventually paired off with Wes and that arcade-obsessed nerd.
Pictured: Mackenzie Davis and Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Image: Courtesy of Netflix.
"Hated in the Nation"
This episode is basically an ad for "Run the World (Girls)." Kelly Macdonald is lead detective on the nation's biggest case, with Faye Marsay as her tech genius "shadow," Blue. What's more, Esther Hall plays the bigwig at Granular, the company responsible for those pesky ADIs. Way to represent.
Pictured: Faye Marsay, Jonas Karlsson, Esther Hall, and Kelly Macdonald
Image: Courtesy of Netflix.Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
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