Romantic Fault-lines; A Cultural Study of “Hang the DJ”

Abstract

 "Hang the DJ" is the fourth episode of the fourth series of the SF series Black Mirror wherein the dating world receives a Black-Mirror-ish treatment with a happy resolution. The episode takes place in a totalitarian environment in which couples are mechanically paired and unpaired by a high-tech agency named The System. However, the resolution reveals that The System is a Tinder-style App that runs a simulative experiment to determine the romantic compatibility between individuals. The present study aims to reveal how under the hegemony of The System dating and relationship are divested of their harmful properties in favor of a ‘smoothness’ that according to the South Korean cultural theorist Byung-Chul Han characterizes our age. It is my contention that under such circumstance, to follow on Zizek’s footsteps, the viewer is confronted with a concrete rendition of ‘dating without dating’ or ‘relationship without relationship’? Furthermore, I will argue that the happy ending obfuscates the contrary ideological positions that the episode assumes in relation to dating/romance. I will reason that through its course the episode presents a critical projection of the state of dating under the impact of our risk-averse ideological climate, but the dénouement reestablishes and perpetuates the very ideological position that the episode seemed to critique.