Put down your phone, especially before watching Black Mirror's "Nosedive" (but don't put down your phone if you're reading this article and watching the above video on your phone).
In the first episode of Black Mirror season three, fans are introduced to Bryce Dallas Howards' Lacie Pound, a woman utterly devoted to social media and the five-star ratings people hand out and receive. Well, the whole world is devoted to the rating system thanks to phones and smart lenses. The obsession with reaching a perfect (or as close to perfect) rating sends Lacie on a tailspin, eventually finding herself in jail, technology-free and finally saying what she wants to say.
Howard read the script for "Nosedive" roughly two weeks after joining social media.
"It was like my salvation, probably. Because I was feeling all kinds of anxiety and I wasn't quite sure what my goal was for social media and then when I read this I was like, ‘Oh there is no goal, it's designed to take us down,'" she said. "I'm being sarcastic there, there are so many benefits, but you can so, so easily go into a very negative place with social media and I think just reading this it helped make me aware of my own emotions that would come out of it."
The world of "Nosedive" does have its perks—Howard wants all those succulents—but ultimately, the main takeaway is, "Be kind on social media," Alice Eve said. "Seriously though…Kindness is really important with all this stuff that's going on."
"And not put so much value on [social media]," Howard said.
How would they rate our interview? Watch the video up top for more.
Black Mirror season three is streaming now on Netflix.