Am I the only person who IMMEDIATELY knew that Kenny was into little kids? To me it was seriously evident from the moment he like wistfully looked after the little girl, and then staring longingly at the drawing on the placemat. Seriously it wasn't a shock for me at all, and usually I'm really bad at figuring out twists before they happen. However, that being said, I loved this episode!!
shareI also thought "pedophile" the moment the interaction with the girl happened - not assuming he was one, necessarily, but acknowledging that it could be interpreted that way. However, I forgot all about it until later.
On the other hand, did not remotely begin to enjoy this episode.
I enjoyed it a lot! True to Black Mirror form, very bleak.
shareYeah I guessed it too. When movies and shows focus on something like that, it almost always has significance.
shareI read it as intended for first time viewers I guess. I figured he liked kids because he felt socially isolated around his peers. Kids represented an innocence and kindness he didn't feel in everyday life.
It could still be that way...just with an uncomfortable layer on top of it.
I also interpreted it as Kenny finding comfort (an *innocent* comfort) in children because they did not judge or mock him. And I'm glad I didn't see anything more to the interaction with the girl and his mother in the restaurant because it made the shock of the later reveal all the more intense. I think some people are just more suspicious of any interaction with children, which is unfortunate since not every single person who smiles or interacts with a cute child is a predator. And I'm certain the writers didn't intend for the secret to come out at that point. If it was so, the young mother would have been creeped out by this guy being a little too smiley with her daughter.
I still can't get this story out of my mind. And I'm particularly disturbed about how Kenny's mother and sister will deal with it. I feel so sorry for them. It seemed like such an innocent family -- awkward kid, sibling that won't keep her hands off of his things, mother who is trying to get by who loves her children dearly. And then their lives are forever changed because of this sick fetish on the part of the son. Messed up.
I thought the same thing - Kenny was a socially isolated kid who was just trying to be nice.
I was always left wondering why he was so afraid of being caught masturbating to a video. It's something embarrassing, but everyone gets over it.
The only thing that made me not jump to that conclusion was that he was young right? Wasn't he in high school or something? Threw me off that pedophile thing
shareYeah, he was young, which is why I didn't think it was as big of a deal. Not like the grown pedophile he had to fight to the death.
shareI sort of agree. He seemed to be about 17 and clearly too awkward to express his sexuality yet, so it didn't feel like such a huge deal. Not to mention, he still looked like a child himself. If he already had a healthy sex life with girls his age and wasn't ostracized by his peers, I would have been more disturbed by his perversion.
shareyeah this threw me off as well but it totally makes sense why he'd be so adamant about not wanting his friends to see him jag off. The whole time im just like "why would you go through all this just because you jag off" never realize that he was a pedofile
Also, what was the deal with the black guy who delivered the package to him. What did "they" have on him?
"Sure, we'll help you, just sit down and wait for Detective LIKE-I-GIVE-A-DAMN!" ~Chief Wiggum
Also, what was the deal with the black guy who delivered the package to him. What did "they" have on him?
I think the black guy was a pedophiles too. The woman was yelling at him calling him a sick pervert.
shareThis is somewhat accurate. Most child pornographers start at a young age.
shareI think it was pretty obvious as well - nobody would be THAT bothered about a video of themselves masturbating being made public, unless there was more to hide. With what he goes through during the course of the episode, it was obvious there was a pretty big "secret" to make him do all those bad things.
That said, I still thought this was the best episode - it was quite harrowing to watch. When he had the fight to the death and when all in all it resulted in his shameful secret STILL being revealed it was very dark. No redemption at all.
In some ways, it was more powerful that I knew the truth early on and yet still managed to feel some sympathy for him. He made me feel sick and yet I still thought his punishment extremely harsh. I'd like to think that makes me not one of the extremists that Black Mirror has shown in several episodes - those pushing the people to do bad things in this episode or those revelling in the torture of the woman in White Bear.
I think it was pretty obvious as well - nobody would be THAT bothered about a video of themselves masturbating being made public, unless there was more to hide.
he seemed isolated but not to the point of committing suicide or robbing a bank so people don't seem him masturbate. he seemed of pretty sound mind and i dont think most kids would risk going jail for years if it was just a normal masturbation video.
shareSure I think kids are under all sorts of new pressures these days and you could tell her was someone who didn't "fit in",however to bear someone to death just to stop you self from being embarrassed seems a stretch - suicide is one thing because it's your own life to end but to kill someone else there'd surely be a good reason. That (and watching earlier Black Mirror episodes) was what made me suspect that all was not as straightforward as it seemed
shareAgreed, actually! I didn't even think about that, but now that you mention it, I felt sympathy for him too even though I had an inkling as to his true self. I think it was a super powerful episode in terms of evoking so many emotions
shareI didn't have a clue that Kenny was 'into' little kids. When he was sweet to that little girl and gave her back her toy, I honestly never thought a thing of it except for thinking Kenny was a really nice person.
Same! When I saw that scene I thought it was the writers' way of demonstrating that Kenny was a genuinely good person.
Besides, he seemed to get turned on by the adult woman in that music video he was watching with his sister, so I assumed he had the same sexual preferences as most other teenage boys.
I didn't see that twist coming either. I thought the restaurant scene was to show how nice he is; the kid causes a big spillage and he has to clean it up, yet is still kind enough to give her the toy she forgets.
I have a question though. How did the hackers show what he was looking at while jerking off? When they showed a shot of his room being filmed right after he downloaded the virus, did we see it through his desktop?
Probably split screen or something.
share
The interaction with the little girl did seem kind of odd, but I didn't assume he was a pedophile.
I kind of thought he might be autistic. What a bleak and harrowing episode, but I loved it! There was a palpable sense of dread throughout. They made those people do all those things, and they still ruined their lives by releasing the videos. What bastards!
This is a great series. I give it a 9/10, at least for the three episodes I've watched so far.
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