This one scared away the Americans.
So British...which is just one of the reasons this DIDN'T predict Donald Trump like everyone says - I hate the poster that Letterboxd has for this episode (it literally features a USA flag when this is clearly the most BRITISH episode Black Mirror has ever done).
The original idea came from the show Nathan Barley in 2005 so if anything it predicted Boris Johnson becoming mayor in 2008 (and later prime minister) after just being a public jokester on comedy talk shows. You could argue that Brooker deciding to redo the idea for this hit show in 2013 was a warning that the idea of a 'honest politician' winning votes just because of his character was only gonna get worse in the years to come, which it absolutely did predict, but I hate how people just draw this episode down to 'haha Trump won too' - I can't help but scorn at the irony of everybody saying this being the same people the entire episode is making fun of...
- The message is really a critique, or perhaps just a neutral observation (?), of the people's lack of awareness and understanding of why politicians are running and also on the dangerous modern fusion of entertainment and politics.
In the end brand becomes bigger than anything, including policy. And THAT is how free speech ends.
The moment you rewatch this episode in 2016 and you suddenly realize: Donald Trump is Waldo.