#Kerblam isn’t pro capitalism

[oreo102]

Saying kerblam is pro capitalism is fucking dumb and you’re wrong. I usually try to avoid telling people their takes of an episode is dumb and wrong(at least to their faces) but this time it is. And I’ll prove it.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s anti-capitalism, but to say it’s pro isn’t right either. Kerblam is pretty obviously a stand in for any big corporation, and since Amazon is, well, Amazon, I’m using it in my comparisons.

We learn early on that kerblam is on a moon and it’s heavily implied that the human workers stay there year round (Dan saying he splurges twice a year to see his daughter) but this isn’t framed as a good thing- there’s no way to frame that as a good thing. It’s framed very obviously as sad, he’s sad he can’t see his kid any more because he has to work.

There’s also a very high unemployment rate, as stated by multiple characters, which again: it’s shown as a bad thing. Hell- Charlie says as much. It’s bad, it’s terrible, it shouldn’t be. And no one argues with him- the doctor agrees! It is terrible that so many people are unemployed, but it’s not the AI’s fault

That’s the moral. AI is not responsible for the people who use it for wrong (please note for this next part: how it is right now, I am not pro-AI, this is from a strictly scifi perspective where the AI has a conscious(?)). AI could be an incredibly helpful tool, but how it’s being used irl and in the epsiode, it’s not good.

Where real life and Dr who depart is that the AI in kerblam is- if not sentient, close enough that it knows to send for help so innocent people don’t die. Which is what would’ve happened! Charlie had a good goal. But how he went about it- the way he decided to try and fix the issue was to kill countless people.

This episode isn’t saying Kerblam is good. It isn’t saying the practices of big companies like Kerblam or Amazon is good. It actively discourages it, actually. It’s saying that AI is not at fault for how people use it, that to make a problem better you shouldn’t murder a bunch of innocent people. It’s not pro-capitalism. Stop it.

And if you have an actual argument with evidence from the episode I’d be happy to hear it! But only if it includes actual evidence :)

[beetlemancy]

everybody is losing their shit over Kerblam because they perceive it as pro-capitalism, meanwhile as someone who is constantly defending use of technology, I ADORED this episode. and yeah - you could read it as capitalism, but because most of the episode was focused on robotics and computers, to me it seemed far more like pro-technology.

the technology isn’t the problem, its how you use it. telling people their phones or computers are a waste of time is Bad because so much good can be done with them, especially for disabled people like me. I get so so tired of TV shows made by people who just hop on-board the current fad train of ‘technology bad, fire scary’ without stopping for a moment and acknowledging the HUMAN responsibility innate in technology use. do you waste your time and avoid responsibility by being on your phone? that is your problem. do you troll people and punch down and bully people online? that is yOUR problem. and sure - there are problems with Amazon, big ones, ones that need to be fixed or destroyed or otherwise, but is there a problem with giving people easier access to home delivery goods? Is there a problem innate in AI systems like Alexa that can help the elderly and neurodiverse and yes even neurotypicals on a bad day remember to do things and have easier access to information? No. the problem is with the corrupt PEOPLE abusing those systems. The problem is the Jeff Bezos of the world. Capitalism isn’t technology - capitalism is human greed. 

and is it strange that the human was the terrorist? that the activist was the bad guy? no. the doctor said it - that’s not activism. its not activism when you rage about technology and refuse to hear what good it can do. its not activism when you judge people based on their technology use - or rather what they say their technology use is. its not activism when you take away something from someone that they need or that makes their life better just because you want to feel superior to them in some way, or because you personally don’t use it that way. (see; the straw debacle). its just plain, simple virtue signalling. 

[nellie-elizabeth]

Doctor Who: Kerblam! (11x07)

This was a great episode! Take that, Jeff Bezos!

Cons:

The Doctor has this great moment where she says that the evil isn't in technology - it's in the people who exploit the technology and the systems therein. That's what hurts people. I loved that. Very true. Unfortunately, for all that this episode was clearly poking at the inhumanity of mega-corporations like Amazon, I didn't really get a sense of what had happened to this society as a result. We're told that most of the world's jobs are automated now. But are people living in poverty? The people with jobs are grateful to have them. But if most of the world is unemployed, are we in a total poverty hellscape, or is there socialized welfare, or what? I wanted a few more glimpses as to what the outside world looked like, so I could understand the stakes.

Pros:

Honestly, though, the above complaint is really just me wanting a bit more of what we already got. This episode was golden. The take-down of capitalism is lovely, of course, but there's so much more to the episode than just that.

This is maybe the first time that I've fully appreciated what a more ensemble cast can do for Doctor Who. We see how the Doctor having multiple companions is an asset in her mission, but also an asset in storytelling. The Doctor and Ryan end up in one part of Kerblam, while Yaz goes to another, and Graham another. Each location introduces a different character, and each character is well developed and instantly likable. I really felt the sense of the inner lives of each of them. You've got poor Dan, who unfortunately loses his life shortly after Yaz meets him. He's a dad trying to make things up to his daughter, and he's willing to help the new girl out, no questions asked. You've got Kira, an adorably optimistic girl who Ryan and the Doctor befriend. She tries to see the value in her manual labor job, as she imagines people opening their packages, and how happy it makes them. Finally, Graham meets Charlie, a shy guy who works in maintenance, and ends up being the episode's sort-of villain, in a genuinely surprising twist. Each of them felt like fully developed people to me, and that's great!

I should take a moment to appreciate the call-backs. We got a callback to Smith, with the Doctor receiving a fez that she ostensibly ordered for herself back a few lifetimes ago. We also got one to Tennant, what with the mention of Agatha Christie. I was just talking in last week's review about how I could use some material connecting this Doctor with previous ones, and then I get it here! Excellent!

Doctor Who has always been pretty good at taking something mundane and turning it into something scary. Here, the weapon of choice ends up being bubble wrap. Sure, the episode is much more about the people and the system and all of that, but I still appreciated how something so innocently fun was turned into the stuff of nightmares. Well done!

I loved the early prototype robot drone thing. It had so much personality and there were so many funny jokes! It was just so confused by the future, and kept trying to sell the Doctor stuff, since that's all it knew how to do. Adorable.

I mentioned above that I might have needed just a touch more context for what this world is like, so I could appreciate the harm that the system was doing. But taking what we did get, I really admired how technology wasn't the bad guy, and how it was people doing bad things that got Charlie into a situation so desperate that he was willing to do even worse things. That's very clearly the message here. Sure, the robots look a little creepy, and as humans we have a natural fear of being replaced by automation. But the system is the thing asking the Doctor for help, because the system is in trouble. And maybe that system is no good, and needs to be rebooted, but none of that is the fault of the robots.

That's what I've got for now. This was another excellent episode. I liked the references to past Doctors, I liked the ensemble feel, the Amazon satire, the creativity, and the spooky bubble wrap. I'm ready for more!

9/10

[oreo102]

Genuinely, thank you. Kerblam isn’t one of my favorite episodes by far, and my original post was mostly made out of annoyance with people saying shit and then not backing it up with anything more than an out of context quote, or speculation.

Having it put out like this? I can totally understand why people don’t like this episode and why they call it pro capitalism and also realized things I should’ve realized originally, so- thanks, genuinely liked reading that and now I have a better understanding of stuff

Saying kerblam is pro capitalism is fucking dumb and you’re wrong. I usually try to avoid telling people their takes of an episode is dumb and wrong(at least to their faces) but this time it is. And I’ll prove it.

I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s anti-capitalism, but to say it’s pro isn’t right either. Kerblam is pretty obviously a stand in for any big corporation, and since Amazon is, well, Amazon, I’m using it in my comparisons.

We learn early on that kerblam is on a moon and it’s heavily implied that the human workers stay there year round (Dan saying he splurges twice a year to see his daughter) but this isn’t framed as a good thing- there’s no way to frame that as a good thing. It’s framed very obviously as sad, he’s sad he can’t see his kid any more because he has to work.

There’s also a very high unemployment rate, as stated by multiple characters, which again: it’s shown as a bad thing. Hell- Charlie says as much. It’s bad, it’s terrible, it shouldn’t be. And no one argues with him- the doctor agrees! It is terrible that so many people are unemployed, but it’s not the AI’s fault

That’s the moral. AI is not responsible for the people who use it for wrong (please note for this next part: how it is right now, I am not pro-AI, this is from a strictly scifi perspective where the AI has a conscious(?)). AI could be an incredibly helpful tool, but how it’s being used irl and in the epsiode, it’s not good.

Where real life and Dr who depart is that the AI in kerblam is- if not sentient, close enough that it knows to send for help so innocent people don’t die. Which is what would’ve happened! Charlie had a good goal. But how he went about it- the way he decided to try and fix the issue was to kill countless people.

This episode isn’t saying Kerblam is good. It isn’t saying the practices of big companies like Kerblam or Amazon is good. It actively discourages it, actually. It’s saying that AI is not at fault for how people use it, that to make a problem better you shouldn’t murder a bunch of innocent people. It’s not pro-capitalism. Stop it.

And if you have an actual argument with evidence from the episode I’d be happy to hear it! But only if it includes actual evidence :)