I watched an interesting programme on Channel 4 last night that I’d recommend catching up with if you missed it. “Blackout” was a one-off dramatization based upon the potential societal impact of a prolonged power cut (in this case created by terrorism motivated cyber-hacking of the National Grid).
Filmed in a partially documentary style, the programme included footage of genuine riots, looting, police/protestor confrontation, gridlock scenarios, government COBRA meetings etc. In addition statements were flashed up about institutional readiness, disaster management plans and the technical impacts of power outages. A number of central characters were followed throughout their trials and tribulations which added the human, soap-like engagement with ‘real’ people in ‘real’ situations – some of whom died, some surmounted great challenge and others who broke the law and/or went ‘native’. It’s emotional stuff and cleverly created – you get a good guy that ends up doing something shocking and then a suspicious, tagged offender that turns out to be a good guy.
I have to say that the programme was very well made and was compelling, convincing, gritty, realistic and frankly depressing. The central tenet was that the society we all know and treasure would start to come apart at the seams, and quite quickly too, if such an event occurred.
In the film, the initial blackouts were received with humour and with resilience but then as the outages continued, things just got worse and worse - fuel stopped being available, the nation’s ‘valued’ CCTV infrastructure failed, supermarkets were cleared of food, batteries became a trading commodity, mobile phone networks went down, water ran out, people’s food started to run out and then they became hungry and desperate. This desperation in turn led to violence, murder, opportunistic theft, destruction and spiralling chaos.
The portrayal was thought provoking but terribly bleak. If you’ve watched “28 days later”, “Blackout” has the same depressing impact. The suggestions being society is more fragile than you think; life is more fragile than you think; people will switch to a savage, self-preservation mode when threatened; and by inference people are naturally self-serving and aggressive and that ‘society’ is all that conditions the human being away from being just an intelligent animal.
Clearly the programme was designed to have an impact, to make viewers think and to scare and to shock. Being cynical, the programme supported the government agendas of challenging terrorism, suggesting that terrorism is a higher risk than ever before and justifying the investment in CCTV as part of the means to keep you safe.
What didn’t get suggested once was that communities would pull together and help members cope with change. In the 1940’s the blitz proved that the British bulldog spirit of strength through adversity existed and why would that have vanished in the decades since?
The last year or so has seen the country hugely embrace the Olympics and massively support the Queen’s diamond jubilee. To me, these events, with their street parties and celebrations, suggest that society/community has a stronger hold on us all than the ‘Blackout’ film makers portray.
Watch the programme if you haven’t already; it is a powerful and thought provoking film even if it is not comfortable viewing. But don’t just accept the film maker’s bias, that society is paper thin. And if Blackout upsets you, then I recommend you watch the Hairy Bikers and their ‘Meals on Wheels’ programmes – they’ll cheer you up for certain.
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Filmed in a partially documentary style, the programme included footage of genuine riots, looting, police/protestor confrontation, gridlock scenarios, government COBRA meetings etc. In addition statements were flashed up about institutional readiness, disaster management plans and the technical impacts of power outages. A number of central characters were followed throughout their trials and tribulations which added the human, soap-like engagement with ‘real’ people in ‘real’ situations – some of whom died, some surmounted great challenge and others who broke the law and/or went ‘native’. It’s emotional stuff and cleverly created – you get a good guy that ends up doing something shocking and then a suspicious, tagged offender that turns out to be a good guy.
I have to say that the programme was very well made and was compelling, convincing, gritty, realistic and frankly depressing. The central tenet was that the society we all know and treasure would start to come apart at the seams, and quite quickly too, if such an event occurred.
In the film, the initial blackouts were received with humour and with resilience but then as the outages continued, things just got worse and worse - fuel stopped being available, the nation’s ‘valued’ CCTV infrastructure failed, supermarkets were cleared of food, batteries became a trading commodity, mobile phone networks went down, water ran out, people’s food started to run out and then they became hungry and desperate. This desperation in turn led to violence, murder, opportunistic theft, destruction and spiralling chaos.
The portrayal was thought provoking but terribly bleak. If you’ve watched “28 days later”, “Blackout” has the same depressing impact. The suggestions being society is more fragile than you think; life is more fragile than you think; people will switch to a savage, self-preservation mode when threatened; and by inference people are naturally self-serving and aggressive and that ‘society’ is all that conditions the human being away from being just an intelligent animal.
Clearly the programme was designed to have an impact, to make viewers think and to scare and to shock. Being cynical, the programme supported the government agendas of challenging terrorism, suggesting that terrorism is a higher risk than ever before and justifying the investment in CCTV as part of the means to keep you safe.
What didn’t get suggested once was that communities would pull together and help members cope with change. In the 1940’s the blitz proved that the British bulldog spirit of strength through adversity existed and why would that have vanished in the decades since?
The last year or so has seen the country hugely embrace the Olympics and massively support the Queen’s diamond jubilee. To me, these events, with their street parties and celebrations, suggest that society/community has a stronger hold on us all than the ‘Blackout’ film makers portray.
Watch the programme if you haven’t already; it is a powerful and thought provoking film even if it is not comfortable viewing. But don’t just accept the film maker’s bias, that society is paper thin. And if Blackout upsets you, then I recommend you watch the Hairy Bikers and their ‘Meals on Wheels’ programmes – they’ll cheer you up for certain.
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