This article contains spoilers for the Black Mirror episode “Joan Is Awful.”

Black Mirror Season 6 Episode 1

Can a work of art criticize capital while still contributing to its bottom line? That question has become increasingly relevant in the streaming era as uncomfortably huge conglomerates gobble up the entertainment landscape.

Succession follows the saga of Logan Roy’s dumbass children as they compete for the right to run their father’s media empire into the ground … on HBO where current Warner Bros. Discovery management is fumbling the beloved TV brand. The Boys imagines a world where a mega corporation exploits the dark underbelly of superhero fandom to create fascist stew … on Prime Video, the streaming platform of a mega corporation. Now, Black Mirror season 6‘s first episode “Joan Is Awful” depicts a streaming service’s unacceptable intrusion into one woman’s private life … on Netflix.

We’re not the arbiters of...