actor connection between Black Mirror and NLMG

hi everyone! some of you may have heard me talking about this in class the other day, but I still think it's really cool (and a little freaky) so I'm posting it here too. the actor who plays Ash in Black Mirror is the same actor that plays Rodney in the Never Let Me Go movie. coincidence? not a coincidence? you decide!

The actor's name is Domhnall Gleeson. Some of you may recognize him from the Harry Potter movies (he plays Bill Weasley).

Here's the link to the Never Let Me Go movie trailer, in case you don't believe me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXiRZhDEo8A

The Matched Trilogy

Below is a link to a book review of my favorite book collections.  "Matched", by Ally Condie is a trilogy about a dystopian society, where officials decide the entire life a person will live.  Officials of the Society determine their occupation, their spouse, their diets, and when they will die.  The main character, Cassia, believes completely in the society until her grandfather "dies".  She then begins to realize flaws in the system of the Society once her match is chosen for her.  In connection to "Never Let Me Go", Cassia has her entire life mapped out for her, similar to the clones, yet she decides to find more flaws in the system and continues to go against it in her own small ways.  The Society is all Cassie ever knew, just as the donation system was all Kathy ever knew about.  Kathy never thought of going against donations or running away, but once she saw Tommy and her had the possibility for a life together she decided she would attempt to get a deferral.  In both situations, the loss of a loved one triggered an attempt at rejecting what they were meant to do, or in the cases of the donors, what they were made to do.  In many scenarios throughout life we see people doing anything for the ones they love, even if it means going against all they know. 

https://www.bookbrowse.com/bb_briefs/detail/index.cfm/ezine_preview_number/5691/Matched

Black Mirror

Black Mirror makes a statement about humanity similar to Never Let me Go.  They each address what makes us human but they use different mediums.  Never Let me Go uses a dystopian society filled with clones that aren't quite human.  However, the clones have memories and experiences that give them humanity.  With Never Let me Go, it depicts a Utopian society with perfect technology.  When a robot born form this perfect era tries to emulate a human, it can't.  It lacks the memories to identify as a human.  Each shows the importance of memory to humanity by showing two different sides of the story.

What is Black Mirror saying about technology?

Of course Black Mirror sees technology as flawed and imperfect (what with the cyborg Ash not representing real Ash, them being addictive, etc.) but many times it shows it's beauty and advancement, like the drawing board that Martha uses. I think that in this sense, Black Mirror acknowledges the beauty of advanced technology, but also shows it's downfall in the sense that it cannot truly replace the elegant yet imperfect design of a human being.

The Science of Nostalgia

As I was thinking about my thesis for my essay on Never Let Me Go, I began to question what the science behind nostalgia was. Why do some people have more or less nostalgia, and why do we feel nostalgia for certain moments rather than others? According to Alan R. Hirsh, author of "Nostalgia: a Neuropsychiatric Understanding," nostalgia is not an emotional state, it is "a longing for a sanitized impression of the past." From this article, I learned that nostalgia comes from a sort of filtered memory, where we choose to rid our brains of certain negative parts of a moment and remember it as being entirely positive, or sometimes perfect. One other interesting fact from the article is that nostalgia has not always been viewed as a good thing. In the 17th century, a Swiss physician named Johannes Hofer used the term nostalgia to describe yearning for the past; he considered it to be a cerebral disease. I would suggest reading the article if this at all interests you! It is a very interesting read.

Telling Stories/Narration

This entire book of Never Let Me Go is just Kathy remembering what has happened in her life, separated into three parts: she tells the reader first about her time at Hailsham, then at the Cottages, and then what has happened during her time as a carer. This is similar to many other books, the one that I'm thinking of being one of my favorites, Looking For Alaska by John Green. The format of that book is unique because there are not chapters exactly, just sections with labels like "thirty days before" or "five days after" (which are centered around the pivotal event in the book.) There is a difference though, in how they approach this story telling. In LFA the narrator, Pudge, mostly sticks to telling the reader about what happened at that time, like normal chronological stories, however occasionally he will mention a regret that he now has about something that happened. In NLMG Kathy often jumps around in time or references something that she hasn't fully told the reader about yet. I usually prefer to read something chronologically, like LFA, because when something happens it makes more sense because I have already read about all the past events that have led up to and affected it. However, it can also be interesting to read a book written like NLMG, because at first I'm confused until the narrator explains something that they mention, but if I reread the book then I understand the references and make more connections about what caused certain events.
P.S. Looking For Alaska is a good book and I would highly recommend it

Below is the link to the trailer of divergent. In this movie their are many connections to Never Let Me Go. In Divergent all of the characters are separated into different factions just like the different schools, such as Hailsham. Each faction has designated jobs and roles in society just like the jobs of the clones like being a carer. Also in divergent they have no control over their life, and in Never Let Me Go the clones have no control of their life. I think this a major connection between the two of these stories becuase both of the main characters try to do, or do the unexpected. Kathy tries to get a deferal, and Beatrice Prior, the main character of Divergent joins a new faction different than the one her family is in. This means that Batrice is no longer aloud to see her family on a daily basis, and has to rely on the people around her for help and support because she is different than them. This is much like Tommy in Never Let Me Go because at the beginning it is clear that Tommy is a little different than the rest of the clones because he lacks creativity. Tommy also does not have family with him, and needs to look for support from the people around him like his guardians and friends. Also the main character in Divergent is very curious just like Kathy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sutgWjz10sM