Arkangel: Parental Control: What If It Happens in Eastern?

For some people, Arkangel was not an outstanding Black Mirror episode from season 4. However, the plot does deserve some love for its mention of a contemporary issue - parental control.

The episode is the one of Black Mirror which was first produced by the woman, and the first to have a powerful emphasis upon the family. ' Arkangel, ' however, was received in mixed terms and was compared with an indie movie.

Written by Charlie Brooker, the episode was designed to make helicopter parenting sympathetic.

[Black Mirror creator reveals what Jodie Foster changed in 'Arkangel']

Brooker was inspired by how he“reprogrammed" as a follow up of kids who made it more protective. Annabel Jones, coproducing the series, said that the concept of Arkangel was a result of implants that had been created by microchips to recognize animals that were also con when they were written.

"We wanted to think what the updated version of that and find a really good idea of how that could go terribly wrong"

(Annabel Jones 2017)

"Momma's gonna keep you right here under her wing."

Now apparently parental control is necessary for every kid. Oh, kids, they don't grow up and mature on their own. The world, especially with the development of the Internet and mobile devices that connect us all, is dangerous. Pretty sure everyone has at least once can refer to memes such as "enough Internet for today" or "what has been seen cannot be unseen". It's understandable why Ultron decides to destroy the world only after 3 minutes of being "giving birth" to by Tony Stark.

To protect the very innocent blank sheet, parents have to get control of what their kids exposed to.

To protect the very innocent blank sheet, parents have to get control of what their kids exposed to. That's why when being offered the chip, Marie, Sarah's mom is not very hesitant before grabbing the chance to censor everything she supposes that will harm the development of her daughter.

'Acting out is a normal part of human behavior, it preaches, and parents who deny their children the freedom to experiment will end up losing them. '

(Sophie Gilbertt 2017)

The story's background is a Western country, but what if, it happens in an Eastern country? Asian parents are famous for strict control towards their children and of course, high expectations for the kids.

'In theory and research of parenting, the term "control" is often used to refer to parental intrusiveness, pressure, or domination, with the inverse being parental support of autonomy'

(The Role of Parental Control in Children's Development in Western and East Asian Countries)

"Momma's gonna keep you right here under her wing."

Will there be another incident?

Most researches focus on psychological control, which is frequently contrasted with behavioural control. As from the name, psychological control is the parents' regulations for children's feelings and thoughts, while behavioural control only consists of parental guidance, monitoring, and rule setting. Therefore, behavioural control has positive effects on children's psychological development.

In the episode, Marie makes us all scare with her notion to control Sarah as if the daughter is just simply her possession. Her paranoia is more important than Sarah's well being, despite sometimes she does show herself as a balanced and rational parent. Eventually, the maternal relationship is no longer the most important thing - her control over Sarah won the place. Little Sarah grows up with the negative effects, and even though she seems like a functional adult, the question is still there: Will there be another incident?

Imagine how many Asian parents will sign up for this device once it actually comes to real life. There is no longer one specific case of Sarah, but instead a 'Sarah

generation'.

If given the chance to parenting like that, will you take the risk?