Annie Murphy is worried about the future. “I wish Salma [Hayek] was with me because she kind of brings in the more optimistic version of things. Whereas I’m like, we’re fucked,” she tells PRIDE with a laugh. She’s talking about her incredibly timely episode of Black Mirror, “Joan is Awful.”
In the episode, Murphy stars as the eponymous Joan who, through a twist of fate and some fine print, finds herself the unwitting and nonconsensual lead of a popular streaming platform’s hit new show, Joan is Awful, and played by Hayek. What follows is the quintessential tech dystopia rabbit hole of ever-darker twists as the truth behind the events is revealed. However, unlike nearly all Black Mirror episodes ("San Junipero" is a stand-out exception) “Joan is Awful” is full of humor, both high and low brow, and perhaps even a whisper of hope.
That being said, what it has to say about our current times has Murphy more than a little concerned. “This episode is so insanely timely with AI and how quickly that is being developed with the writer strike. And the writers are asking, can we not be replaced by computers? It just seems so incredibly relevant. And that’s just one of the things that I’m so proud of about this episode — the conversations already happening — but I hope this episode will spark more conversation and bring some awareness to the repercussions of AI that have gone too far,” she says.
The short also explores the darker side of both celebrity and social media as many people seek to become the “main character” by putting themselves out on various platforms to be judged and dissected by the audience. For someone in the public eye, these themes resonated for the actor. “Having now worked with Salma and getting to know some of it, she’s on a whole other level of that, and she’s experienced such huge amounts of disrespect and disregard for her person, like her human self,” Murphy shares. “And I get, like a tiny taste of that every now and again, and it is off-putting when people just make up their minds about what they see or what they read. And it is incredibly disconcerting. Having images put up on the internet that you didn’t even know existed, let alone gave permission to have put up there. It’s weird, it’s weird, it’s a weird, wild world.”
Courtesy of Netflix
While it’s Pride month and queer people have plenty to celebrate, the fact remains that they are also facing wave after wave of attacks from the right, and from Capitol Hill, as anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-trans bills continue to be put forward by lawmakers. It’s created a true sense of fear for many in the community, and it’s a situation that touches Murphy, an ally and gay fan fave’s heart. “I know I’m not ‘with you’ in it, but I’m with you in it,” she says. “I just wish things were better. And I wish 2023 was like a much shinier and more optimistic year to be a part of, but there are so many people who are fighting the right fight and who are behind you — and I’m one of them.”
