Tracee Ellis Ross and Rashida Jones are back together in the new season of Netflix’s Black Mirror.
Ross and Jones told Blavity/Shadow and Act Managing Editor Trey Mangum about working together again after previously starring as sisters on black-ish.
“This is another stop on the Tracee-Rashida journey. Another, another stop on the train,” said Jones.
“Hopefully there’s more. It was really great,” Jones added. “I love working with friends and it was great for Rashida and me. It’s an opportunity for us to catch up.”
What is the “Common People” episode of ‘Black Mirror’ about? Tracee Ellis Ross and Rashida Jones break it down
The first episode of the seventh season, “Common People,” stars Jones as Amanda, a teacher who has a medical emergency that leaves her near death. Her husband soon learns of a new tech system, Rivermind, that could help keep Amanda alive. Ross also stars as Gaynor, a Rivermind patient and representative who refers Amanda’s husband to the program.
Jones and Ross said the episode opens up conversations about how commodified society has become, especially with subscription services covering nearly every aspect of daily life.
“To me, this is the end result. I mean, this is the peak of capitalism,” said Jones. “You know, the subscription model is just the kind of higher tech, more complicated version of everything that capitalism is. Capitalism [promotes the idea that] if you have the money to do it, we’re gonna make it possible for you. We’re gonna make you feel special if you have the money. If you don’t have the money, we’re gonna make you feel bad about it. There’s gonna be something to aspire to.”
“I mean, I think the positive spin on it is like everything’s possible with capitalism and all you got to do is work hard, then you too can be in the highest tier,” Jones continued. “I mean, we know all of that is not true. But [Rivermind] doesn’t feel any different from the whole model. It’s just the late-stage version. The extreme version.”
Tracee Ellis Ross and Rashida Jones reflect on technology and society’s Pressures
Ross also said the episode analyzes how people must remember to question society’s expectations of them.
“I think for me the episode really made me think about what happens when technology and medicine and science kind of move past humanity. Where does that leave us? And what are the choices that you have to make and which are the good choices? And just because it makes something easier or gets you what you want. Is that the right choice?” Ross said.
“I think we keep getting faced with that over and over. Just because people are posting on social media, does that mean I need to? And then all of a sudden you’re doing that just because everyone’s posting, I don’t know, twerking videos, does that mean I need to post twerking videos? Whatever those things are that we as humans start to fall in line so easily without asking ourselves that question of ‘Does this work for me? Is this right for me? What does this mean in the long term?'”
Watch the full interviews with Black Mirror cast members above. Black Mirror Season 7 is now streaming on Netflix.