If Brave New World Were A TV Show

Looking back at Brave New World, I realized that the caste system with the Gammas, Betas, and Alphas remind me of an episode of a TV anthology series. The series is called Black Mirror, and its three seasons are still up on Netflix. The whole series is filled with dramatical satire about technology and the society that surrounds us in the real world. One episode, in particular, is really similar to the different levels in Brave New World.

In the episode titled "Nosedive" (Season 3, Episode 1), it takes place in a world where everyone has a rating. Every time you come in touch with another person or view a person's picture online, you have the ability to rate them. However, there's a twist. Your life depends on the ratings you get, and having a low score can lead to a bad turn. Real estate, car rentals, and other things can be affected due to your ratings. Every move you make will affect your ratings; plus, every disturbance you create around security can lead to a high-cost temporary drop in your ratings. Not only will it affect your housing and transportation, it could also affect your social life. With low ratings, no one will ever talk or even make eye contact with you.

Now, I find this similar to Brave New World simply because every level has its own state. There are the smart Alphas and Alpha Plus, and then you have the Gammas and the Epsilons. Both sides as children wouldn't play with each other, and when they grow older they wouldn't even make friends with their opposite. This is similar to the ratings, as the Alphas are the 4 stars and above, while the others are the rejected 3 stars.

On social media, we have ratings and likes on our social media accounts. Would you think that ratings online affect us as people in real life? Do the number of likes we get define our popularity or superiority?

- Genesis Alvarez