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Analyse how the relationship between characters helped to illustrate one or more important themes. Relationship = Lacie and Naomi Theme(s) = If social media status is tied to real world success, people will be willing to act dishonestly to enhance their status. No honesty - both pretend to like each other to gain higher status. Video call (costume and dialogue), speech, “vintage bond” ‘Nosedive’, directed by Joe Wright, is an episode in the Black Mirror television series. The episode is set in the near future, in a dystopian world where people’s social media rankings affect their everyday lives in important ways. The relationship between Lacie, the protagonist, and her ex-best friend Naomi illustrates important themes about social media use and what happens when our social media status has a real impact on real world success. Lacie and Naomi’s mutual __dishonesty_shows how people may be willing to manipulate others in order to enhance their online status. Lacie and Naomi do not have a positive relationship , but both of them are willing to pretend that they do in order to gain ‘up-votes’. Lacie is obsessed with increasing her ranking and being more like the “high four” Naomi. Their first conversation in the film shows how good they both are at pretending to like each other, as they both squeal excitedly over Naomi’s engagement ring and Naomi tells Lacie that she wants “her oldest friend” as her maid of honour. At the end of their video conference, both women express their (non-existent) love for each other - “Love you Lace!”, “Love you Nae-Nae!” We know these emotions are not genuine as Lacie’s brother Ryan reminds her that Naomi “was always mean to you… she f*cked Greg.” Through this dialogue, Wright informs us of the real nature of their relationship and develops the theme of pretense and manipulation being used to increase online status. The difference in status between the two women is emphasised during this conversation by a number of contrasts. Wright has chosen to have Lacie wearing a shawl over her t-shirt to cover a stain, which symbolises that she wants to hide her lack of material success from Naomi and pretend her life is perfect. In contrast, Naomi reveals her toned figure in a bikini, which represents her desire to flaunt her perfect life to Lacie and make her feel insecure. The lack of equality in the relationship is also emphasised by the fact that Lacie stands still in her kitchen, in order to hide the messy house she shares with Ryan from Naomi’s judgement, whereas Naomi moves through her huge, pristine home in order to show off her success. Through these contrasts, Wright develops his message about manipulation, as insightful viewers can guess that Naomi must have a secret motive for suddenly contacting Lacie, who she surely does not see as an equal.

Lacie’s maid-of-honour speech is a powerful example of the dishonest foundation of this relationship. In the speech, which Lacie practices in front of a montage of childhood photos of her and Naomi, Lacie claims that Naomi “truly matters” to her, and wishes Naomi “all the happiness this stupid world can muster.” A close up shows that she is crying, but the effect is ruined when she suddenly asks Ryan, “is the tear too much?” This dialogue reminds us that she is only pretending to care about Naomi. Ryan asks her, “who even are you?” suggesting that he thinks his sister is taking the act too far. He knows, as viewers do, that Lacie is only interested in the “up votes” that she will get when she delivers the speech to the wedding guests, which will help her to secure a fancy apartment only available to those with a high ranking. The superficial nature of the feelings expressed by Lacie help to illustrate the Wright’s key themes of dishonesty and manipulation. However, near the end of the film, viewers learn that Naomi is using Lacie just as Lacie is using her. Lacie loses a lot of rating points and Naomi decides she no longer wants her at the wedding. Through the dialogue, “When I asked you to speak, you were a 4. 2, okay?” Wright shows that Naomi only wants to be associated with people with a certain ranking. She also admits she was using Lacie, who, as a “vintage bond low four” would make her look like a kind, genuine person in front of her guests. This shows that relationship never meant anything to Naomi and that, like Lacie, she was simply using her ex-friend to boost her rating. This illustrates Wright’s key message : when social media status becomes too important, some people will be willing to lie and manipulate in order to boost that status. Through the relationship between Lacie and Naomi, Wright prompts viewers to think about whether their own online ‘friendships’ are genuine or not, and about how we promote ourselves online - do we, like Lacie and Naomi, only want to show off the best ‘bits’ of our lives and give off a false impression of happiness and success? What does it mean for relationships when the image we create becomes more important than the real person? Lacie and Naomi’s lies are an extreme case, but should be taken as a warning.

success manipulate kind maid-of-honour warning false dishonest flaunt contrasts montage up-votes high-four perfect positive protagonist pretending vintage dialogue dishonesty close-up...