Black Mirror : Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

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Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I've sure been tricked by a woman that was a fantastic actress that acted sweet and innocent and that the world was (seemingly) taking advantage of. At least now she is doing it to rich men but she still acts as if she is the victim.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

The most stand out thing to me is Abi never did anything to earn her merits and sold herself so she wouldn't have to work for her dream. So she got what she earned. Taking whatever she was given. No saving necessary. End of story.

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Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

How could she ever redeem or 'cleanse' herself?

She's being kept there through the use of drugs. She may not even have the ability to remember what they're doing to her. Think White Bear.

Abi was frightened, pressured, and humiliated by what was her entire world, given a drug to make it easier for her to cave under the pressure and the humiliation. The one person who might have been able to help her resist--Bing--has already been dragged away. She's all alone out there.

I'm not even sure that your question is the right one to be asking--I know that sounds rude but it's sincerely not meant to--she can never leave it behind. Being made to have sex for Wraith is her new job, just like being on the bike used to be. We see a scroll that tells us she's done enough material for 47 volumes of Abi Khan. How can it stop haunting her when the clear implication is that she will never escape, unless she dies or is so physically damaged by what they are doing to her that her body can't stand the strain any longer and is otherwise disposed of. Do we ever see any old people in the world of 15 Million? Overweight people, yes. Elderly? I don't think so, though I might be wrong.

What really bothered me about the ep was this: after Abi sings for the judges--a truly beautiful, innocent, real moment in a world filled with nothing beautiful or real at all, they immediately take that innocence and sweetness away from her by making her feel ashamed about her self, her beauty. They punish her for being beautiful and innocent and real by humiliating her for those qualities, reducing her to T&A and the erections men get from watching her. Then they take her mind from her, and finally her body. They force her to become everything she is not--ugly, cheap, and hard. She never shows any pleasure in the brief moments we see of her as a Wraith Babe; only confusion and a disturbingly vague fear, as though she knows something is not quite right but can't put her finger on what it is. Horrifying.

Bing is perhaps the worst of all, IMO. He knowingly sells out, just so he can have a bigger, quieter, 'prettier' cage. He may have a penguin to remind him of Abi, but what is there to remember? The vacant shell she's become? A thing to be used? Bing makes me sick. I wanted him to kill one of them for what they did to Abi. Instead, he becomes just as ugly and false and grotesque as they are.

This was by far the bleakest episode for me, and the most frightening. I don't think the story would be better if Abi escaped--I don't think escape is possible in that awful world.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

@caree2020


Would it have been a better ending if, after her appearances on the porn show, Abi redeems or cleanses herself?
There’s a lot left to viewers’ imagination by the end of the episode IMHO.
If she leaves porn behind, will the experience of taking part in ´Wraith Babes´ ever stop haunting her or Bing?


I would have loved to see Abi save herself or someone save her. But the ending was far worse yet in a way more realistic. What a terrible future that Abi is going to be used and abused until her poor body wears out.

The first time we see porn (as Bing is cycling) the blonde woman is acting as if she is enjoying herself. However when we see Abi, she always looks upset, in pain, confused and about to burst into tears. I kind of wonder why Wraith and others kept her after the initial video as she clearly wasn't able to pretend she was enjoying it. Unless the public really didn't give a damn?

@Matther_Abbadon

I didn't like that Abi had to be "drugged" to go on the porn show. Wouldn't it have been more disturbing had she gone willingly? Bing fell in love with her because she was pretty and sung nicely without really knowing what she was like. It's not uncommon for men to fall in love with women thinking they're sweet and not like other trashy girls, only to end up brutally disappointed when the "sweet" girl turns out to be anything but.

Then again, the fact that Bing sold out without even having taken the drug could be seen as a hint that Abi didn't need the drug either
.

While Bing sold out, he was given his own show. He certainly wasn't offered porn. Abi was drugged and put under enormous pressure to give in. It's more disturbing that way. It would have been even more sad if she had earned the merits herself and yet still ended up in porn. However we are seeing it from Bing's point of view and he partially blames himself. But we only see suffering through his eyes ... I would have preferred to see things from Abi's point of view as well.

@gabby_bm

Agreed. Her resistance may have been down, but she was still capable of resisting flashing her titties. What they did do, drugged or not, was surrendered what little "real" they had left (found) in their lives in order to become marketable products instead, vended out to the masses.


Well there was much more pressure on her to agree to porn rather than just a one-off request. Still though I'd like to have seen her resist more to the audience chanting "do-it".


@jinx_malone

That was what hurt even worse than seeing Abi's caving to the crowd under the effect of the drug--seeing that number and seeing just how much they are using Abi's body. I didn't see the number 47 as being 47 weeks in--I took it as this is how much material they've compiled of Abi--so much that they're able to have a 47th special.

For some reason seeing that number also made me flash back to the moment when Wraith tells her 'Forget about all the shame and all that. We medicate against that. You'll have pleasure forever.' That phrase --'the shame and all that' flipped me out. I read it as an implication of pain but not wanting to come out and say it.

Certainly the first we see of her after Hot Shot makes it look like the sex will be rough and harmful to her at worst, degrading and unpleasant at 'best'. If you've ever listened to an interview with a porn star who's quit, they often talk about the horrible toll porn took on their bodies, because they're sometimes asked to do things that they know will hurt them.

IMO, Abi never looks anything other than confused and vaguely afraid in any of the shots we see of her in her new, fabulous life. I wonder if they erase her memory with the drugs too, or just make it so she can't feel pain?

Ugh, gross. This show always makes me think about *beep* I really, really do not want to think about.

Porn stars can quit, if they want.

Abi has no escape, ever. The most horrifying episode, for me.



Great post and I agree. The judges are terrible. They know they are offering her a horrible "job" as they say there are drugs to help with the shame. It's not as if they think it's great fun, they've done it themselves and they just can't see why she would have a problem with it. Abi constantly looks miserable and in pain every time we see her yet the powers that be make her continue.

QUESTION: The female judge seems to be wiping away a tear when Abi agrees to do porn...Does anyone think that this is real?

Re: The view being real:

I think Bing is just in a bigger cell with screens that look real as oppose to fake.

There is nothing real about that world.

They have effectively "zombified" Abi. They drugged her so it was never her choice to choose to do porn and they kept her in a drugged state to use her body as they please. She must be living in a nightmare where she can't wake up, only this is her reality.

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I'm not posh, I just like VB's clothes.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

@posh_babe thanks for joining the discussion

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Well thank you for starting this thread.

I was always more interested in what happened to Abi rather than Bing as he ended up in a better place.

Poor Abi was just turned into a blow up doll with a heart beat. I'm not trying to be cruel to her by saying she had no brain or mind but they took away her ability to fend for herself.

I still think she was a bit shallow to accept all of Bing's money though. She only knew him a day and even if she liked him she should have tried to earn at least some of the money herself. I also got the impression she had just started on the job i.e. the bike.

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I'm not posh, I just like VB's clothes.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

If she did not take his merits, there would have not been an episode. We do not know of the life before they got on the bikes. Maybe Abi wanted out so bad she took the merits. Maybe she was desperate to see her family (which she mentions). I am not sure how being thankful for a gift equals selfish anyway. It was a plot device and I think if she would have been pondering the morality of taking the merits, the show's pacing would be off.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I think there's the barest hint of a suggestion--very bare and very brief--that she may feel uncomfortable about what's being done to Abi. She seems to tear up at one point. I also thought she looked a tiny bit smug too. I had very ambivalent feelings about the female judge. The one person on the panel you'd expect to at least speak up against Abi going to work for Wraith doesn't do so.

I just thought of something that's unrelated, but still disturbing. After Abi goes to work for Wraith, we never hear her voice again. They use the recording of her audition over part of her first 'performance' for Wraith, which further cements her absolute degradation when you consider the lyrics of the song:

You can blame me
try to shame me
and still I’ll care for you
You can run around
even put me down
still I’ll be there for you

Well, they definitely shamed her, and put her down, and I don't think Abi cares about anything. She certainly doesn't have a voice any longer. I'm not sure if she even has a mind any more, with all the drugs they're giving her to help her with the 'shame' of it. She's effectively silenced, forever. Chilling.

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I think she was the worst of the judges.

She could have stood up for Abi but instead made some joke along with Judge Hope that "some of the girls may join you" meaning some girls may like to watch Abi doing porn. I suspect she did this just to suck up to him.

Another thing I didn't agree with about the show is that Judge Charity and the character Swift give Abi sort of bitchy looks when they see her. I wonder are the shows makers implying that women would be jealous of her or is just these characters? I could see the nasty judge having a grudge against her for being so pretty and talented but why did the other girl hate her? A rival for Bing's attention?

However I don't think all women would be like that.
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I'm not posh, I just like VB's clothes.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

"After Abi goes to work for Wraith, we never hear her voice again"

You can hear her singing faintly during her first scene with Wraith, when Bing is recoiling in horror and smashing his room up.

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Hitler was a dog person.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I wish we could see a sequel to this show. Like what happens Abi? Is she ever set free?

I suppose when the public grow tired of her and some new girls come along only then would she ever find release. But what would happen to her? Would she remain drugged or would she be dumped back on the bike because a society like that would make each and every single person earn their keep.

No old people were in this episode. What happens to them? What happens to people who aren't productive. Say the public get tired of Bing's show and Abi's porn? Do they become the cleaners who wear the yellow suits? Or something even more sinister?



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I'm not posh, I just like VB's clothes.

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Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I mentioned that:

"They use the recording of her audition over part of her first 'performance' for Wraith"

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

If you were replying to me, after that part...IIRC she is actually kind of faintly, pathetically singing while being had sex with. It's kind of hard to make out because Bing is trashing his room at the time.

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Hitler was a dog person.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Ha! I remember it as her initial audition tape, being played faintly. Maybe I should go back and watch!

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I liked how you have a David Lynch quote at the end of your post, Jinx. The episode reminded me of both Lost Highway and Mullholland Drive. Women having dreams and losing them horribly. Inland Empire is like that too. Even that music reminds me of the both scene in Mullholand Drive where the girl sings "16 Ways".

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Thanks! It's one of my favorite quotes from him, and (not trying to speak for anyone else or tell them how to view, I dislike that) for me it's the best way to experience his films. I enjoy letting them wash over me, the feeling that for two hours I am in a completely different world than the one I live in, alien and yet horribly familiar all at once. The scene in Mulholland Dr. where Betty and Rita see...someone's body on that bed in the apartment is one of the most horrifying things for me, and yet it feels familiar. That's not an easy thing to do, I don't think, and yet he manages that kind of strange and horrible familiarity in every film he's ever done, and seemingly with ease.

I think Lynch is one of my favorite filmmakers because he allows the viewer to interpret his films in any way they choose--he doesn't particularly like it when people try and assign hard and fast meaning to anything that happens in his films beyond a very general sense, and in doing so, I think he is the most adept at tapping into a sense of the unheimlich or the nightmarish that all of us have experienced at one point or another.

His insistence on what seems to me to be an near necessity to accept the ambiguous makes me feel as though he almost has a strange glimpse into, and knowledge of my own worst fears and terrors. His films manage to be both universal and incredibly intimate for each viewer, depending on the life experiences that we bring when we watch.

Combine that with the beautiful, transcendent visuals (the final shot of Fire Walk With Me being one of the most redemptive, beautiful things I've ever seen in any film) and to my way of thinking he is the greatest living filmmaker in the USA and a true national treasure. I've been lucky enough to speak with him in person, and he's also a very sweet man. There's nothing phony or put on about him at all.

I'm so happy that you mention INLAND EMPIRE as in many ways it's my favorite of all his films, and the most perfectly realized vision of what drives him as a filmmaker--though I wouldn't like to speak for him and say what that is! :)

I have a sort of constantly shifting set of favorites, though FWWM is always at the top--INLAND EMPIRE, Lost Highway, Mulholland Dr. and Blue Velvet. I love them all for different reasons, but they're all fabulous.

I think the greatest compliment I can give give him is that when I watch his films, I feel as though I'm dreaming with my eyes open.

Lynch is such an influential filmmaker, and I too see traces of him in this series, especially this episode and White Bear. Sorry that I wrote you a novel! It's nice to talk with friendly folk on imdb and happens all too rarely.

Have a great afternoon!

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"It's better not to know so much about what things mean." David Lynch

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

jinx_malone, I try to read an entire discussion before giving my important responses. This one is long enough that it is talking time for me to get through. As far as I can tell, your response is long but not relevant to the subject and I hope I did not miss anything relevant.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

The female judge was very clearly in favor of the "erotica". Anything indicating otherwise was very unclear.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I was just speaking out my mind when I wrote this post. After re-watching the episode, I realized there is no other possible ending. This ending meets Brooker´s style.
Your analysis is interesting.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

"Unbearably bleak" sounds right.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

"Unbearably bleak" sounds right.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Just watched this and figured I'd jump into this conversation vs start a new topic.

So when Abi goes to try out she doesn't have to wait. I'm wondering if(and I'm assuming the workers were monitored) the powers that be at Top Spot reviewed Abi and saw how the men reacted to her and had in mind from the get go that they'd coerce her into porn? Also the guy who rode the cycle next to Bing said "he'd like to ruin" Abi, now this could just be piggish talk or have there perhaps been Wraith girls like Abi before that came to him innocent and were "ruined" and that's a part of the porn world not as regularly seen as her type is more rare? Hence why unlike the other girls who were into it, she obviously wasn't.

I know there's a market for degrading porn; as in straight forward nasty abusive porn, so I'm thinking she never really had a chance even if they were looking for singers.

Completely depressing episode.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Your post got me thinking...is it like George Orwell's Big Brother where the population are being monitored?

Can these people be spied on through the screens?

I think they are being watched in their homes...like when Bing covers his eyes and he is told to resume viewing.

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I'm not posh, I just like VB's clothes.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I agree, they have already set a "career" for her in that waiting room, remember that the guy who picks them upon order said on the headphone: "Who? The pretty one?". She hasn't sung like the others rehearsing, she was picked up just for being good looking. I doubt they noticed her sooner, like that they were monitoring them in their cells or on their bikes, so that they might have heard what the guy said, since they have their hands full and you also need to work hard to buy the ticket.
I also agree that they picked her up precisely because of her timidity, as (ruining) innocence would sell very good among pervs. The judge on the right literally says it: "You've got this pure beauty, what seems to be a knockout figure, and this sort of interesting innocence going on.
That's something I think Rafe's erotica channels could really play with.
Absolutely.
That's what I thought the moment I saw you."

The irony is that she was freer driving a bike and having some social contact then "making it" and becoming a celebrity. Although everything on the screen feed them to think they're nothing compared to celebrities and that they should strive to become one by being a slave, pumping energy for the very screens that make their cage and feed them with bullshyte.

On other topics, the view in Bing's penthouse looks like a video recording played on screens. As to his "selling out", I don't think many people would do any other. His alternative was to kill someone or himself, either way he'd be dead.
Maybe the penguin is a hint of some kind of hope, him not giving up and making a plan, since he is obviously a bit smarter than the system supposes. But, then again, maybe not, and it's just a souvenir, a reminder of once being humane.

Bing got the same deal as the "exotic one"

When they choose Bing, it is the same deal...."get me someone exotic" and they do not care about his "talent" either. It is like how people picked actors in the 50s for charisma like James Dean, then showed him how to act, because he did not act well. Looks mattered more. And it has not changed into the future!

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I will say it again. She was told that women would resent her for being pretty so she must do erotica, as if the women would accept that and/or as if women would not accept her as a singer. Is that realistic? Do women not accept a woman that is pretty? Is that why Madonna, Lady Gagga and Miley Cyrus so successful? Must women hide within an extravagant costume to be successful? But why Abi? There are hundreds of others to choose from and they are not going for a small audience, they are going for the big audience.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Abi is definitely pretty but I sure don't understand why she would be their first pick for erotica. The woman that was the last to be chosen as a singer would be more interesting for erotica; she even showed a little cleavage. Note that a premise was that the judges were going for whatever the public supposedly wanted; they said that women would resent Abi for being a pretty singer so she should do erotica. Yes, that is what they said.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Abi was a dime a dozen
The episode is horrible to the protagonist because he thinks she is special
Everyone else sees her as nothing more than a piece of meat

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

In terms of being a pretty woman, there must be plenty more where she came from; her physical appearance did not make her special.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

This way of thinking is flawed, popular culture and movies have given everyone the belief that characters need closure or redemption. It's become a cliche. Not everything comes full circle, sometimes things just end.

My Spider-man page: http://kingjoeg.deviantart.com/#/d5fzqoj

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

There's no "leaving it behind". Bing essentially just got a bigger box to live in and maybe a few merits. Abi is probably being under the influence of that liquid drug for the rest of her (attractive-looking) days. I'm pretty sure none of the "Wraith Babes" are consenting or anything. They just live in a constant state of extasy/lust/highness at this point. It's almost like a glorified, "clean" version of hookers who're just on drugs all the time.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Interesting!

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?


There's no "leaving it behind". Bing essentially just got a bigger box to live in and maybe a few merits. Abi is probably being under the influence of that liquid drug for the rest of her (attractive-looking) days. I'm pretty sure none of the "Wraith Babes" are consenting or anything. They just live in a constant state of extasy/lust/highness at this point. It's almost like a glorified, "clean" version of hookers who're just on drugs all the time.


Some of them could at least pretend they were enjoying it - but Abi never did. That is what is so frightening about this nightmare.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

They don't need to have an expensive TV show to take advantage of pretty women.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I think some part of her tried to resist but I believe, Bing telling her that it's his dead brothers money and at that 15 Million Merits, made her accept the "offer". If it was her own money she would've probably told them they can screw themselves. But it was a lot of pressure. That episode was hard to watch, just the fact that everyone watched her getting raped daily is horrible.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

@amalzia19

Bing telling her that it's his dead brothers money and at that 15 Million Merits, made her accept the "offer".


That's a very good point. I never thought of that ... but she still did accept money from a guy she had only met.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

I interpreted the part about him making her do it (taking his points) as more of a humorous thing or an effort to make it clear he was totally sincere and really wanted her to have the points. He had absolutely no way to actually force her, right?

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

Why? The episode absolutely, 100% was NOT about her.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

What happens to Abi? Well most likely as others who are drugged and in the industry for a long time, not many good things. Addicts spiral down. And really the only way they can get out is some sort of revelation or more likely ppl that really care about them pull them out (which is really difficult). In this dystopia though, the system has gotten hold of her, and as can be seen there really is no escape (even if Bing got to her). So probably the same future as with old porn stars, well the ones who spiraled down and didnt become entrepreneurs/better themselves. And then replaced by another fresh face.

I think the ending what made it good. Its creators Charlie's vision, and the story stuck with us because of it.

Re: Fifteen Million Merits - What happens to Abi?

They don't tell us enough about the society this occurs in. We don't know how honest the system is. If the system were honest (and it does not seem honest) then she could say she was forced (or chosen) to do it. We don't know what the system does with people that have been taken down a path like that. Overcoming that lifestyle depends on what the system thinks of people that have done that. The judges imply that it is a highly acceptable thing to do and we don't know if that is the truth.

In modern society there is an abundance of jealous, judgmental people. Women that want to be free to be topless blame men for not allowing it, but there are many jealous, judgmental women that won't allow it and instead call it degrading. In the fictional story (this episode) we don't know what society thinks of erotica. Since they imply that many (most?) women would resent her for being pretty, there is a huge inconsistency with the implication (by the judges) that erotica is acceptable.

I see so many inconsistencies in the story that all I care about is how pretty Jessica Brown Findlay's (Abi's) voice is. Yes, she is a very pretty woman but I don't think about what she would be like in an adult video and I do look at adult videos that are the most explicit possible. As a Virgo, I am impressed at how wonderful another Virgo can be; based on myself, I thought that all Virgos are boring.

Yes it disgusts me that Abi was not given alternatives but I don't feel very much of that since I see so many inconsistencies.
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