Netflix’s Christmas Gift: Interactive episode of “Black Mirror”

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Everyone who is a bit interested in SciFi or future prospectives for the humankind has heard about “Black Mirror”. It’s a British anthology series, which means that every episode has its own characters and plots. The episodes are not connected in any way. Black Mirror foretells human behaviours in the future or alternative present, especially the ones connected with usage of new technologies. This year, the creators of the show went a bit further and created a new, special episode called “Bandersnatch”.

Poster promoting “Bandersnatch” episode

“Bandersnatch” is in some way a pioneer of interactive entertainment. Netflix has experimented with child’s interactive entertainment more than a year and swore to stop, if it didn’t work with kids. Last year, HBO has released an interactive movie called “Mosaic”, the viewers could only choose what parts of the history they want to explore. New episode of “Black Mirror” gives opportunities of many choices, starting from the kind of cereals you want the character to eat, ending on.. Well, let’s say much harder choices.

The voices over the rating of episode are rather divided. Some opinions found on the internet were about boredom, lack of exciting twists but many of them also gave the impression, that this episode is worth to spent time with. Some say it’s too violent, some that there is no breakthrough in it. I believe there is. “Bandersnatch” has been compared to the game called “Heavy rain”, where one of the the main characters, the father, has been looking for his child. The main characters could be killed during the game and it changed the history, which the player explored, forever.

A part of “Bandersnatch” episode

What’s interesting, the episode is only 90 minutes long, but depending on decisions made by person watching it, there is 5 hours of footage prepared to fulfil any kind of decision desire you have. Director of the show, David Slade, shared, that there are some scenes called “the golden eggs” which are so hard to find, that they may not be uncovered. Ever. They were hidden so well, he couldn’t access them himself. A clue to get to know every “golden egg” is behind the scenes footage, which seems to be a kind of a hint.

I believe “Bandersnatch” is giving viewers an opportunity to create sort of unique, handwritten story. The psychological effect this kind of entertainment brings, adds a lot to think about when creating a society, as we do every day. During the 70’s, Marina Abramović held an experiment, where she called herself an “object”. During 6 hours, having 72 objects to avail, the volunteers could do anything. It started out with tickles. Ended with rape and the gun at her temple. It turns out, that knowing there will be no consequences, we get violent and brutal.

There are many computer games (like “Heavy Rain” or “Life is Strange”),where you can decide, what do you want the character to do. My question is: do we really feel capable to play the Gods?

 

 

 

https://www.ft.com/content/f75bee74-048c-11e9-99df-6183d3002ee1

https://io9.gizmodo.com/we-may-never-see-all-of-black-mirror-bandersnatch-1831402962

3 thoughts on “Netflix’s Christmas Gift: Interactive episode of “Black Mirror”

  1. Kovalenko Oleksandr says:

    I didn’t like it very much. The “wrong” choices forced me to rewind to the decision scene to choose the right one. This makes it less of an adventure and more of a test since you can’t continue to an altered ending.

  2. Głazek Maciej says:

    I think it is an interesting idea, that may become very popular among directors and producers. I think It is too early for most people to be excited about it now, because it is not what they expect from for example Netflix show. The phrase “Netflix and chill” itself indicates that this level of involvement is not something that people want now. I think it will get more and more popular when a couple of really well written (“heavy rain” level writing) shows like this appear and trends change. Similarly before TV became widely available, people used to go to “the movies”. When TV was popular they started going to watch a particular movie. So from a form of entertainment it became an experience. Similar thing needs to happen with Bandersnatch like shows. They need a separate category and they need to be better, more engaging and deliver different experience than “traditional” Netflix.

  3. Mohammad Ewelina says:

    I approached the film with great interest as it is a kind of innovation in the world of series and movies. Despite the heavy and dark scenario (which is far from relaxing), I liked the concept and idea that this film brought with it. On the one hand, we can perceive it from the psychological point of view – what are our ethical and moral barriers as anonymous decision-makers as well as differences in our choices. On the other hand, the movie constitutes the first step in the future – I believe that in a few years, most of the production will be based on interactive choices. If we do not like an ending or turn of the action, we’ll be able to change it just with one click or even create the story by ourselves. I am a huge fan of the Black Mirror series, therefore I was not surprised by the darkness and violence of “Bandersnatch”, however I cannot wait to see the introduction of interactivity in more cheerful productions such as comedies. Welcome to the future!

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