The fourth wall goes ever so thinner. 2018 ended with Netflix dropping Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the first ever interactive television movie aired on the platform. It would be an experience like no other if you’re not familiar with the concept of video games with choices. It is a format made popular by video games such as Mass Effect, Heavy Rain and many others. Every choice you make in the game affects how the story progresses, and most importantly, how it ends. This is a highly engaging tool that makes a video game more replayable, and gives more power to the player, giving him or her a sense of truly being in control as opposed to being led by the nose across levels. This makes the game considerably more immersive, and its effect more lasting. Many games have amassed rabid cult following for their several endings, and for secret endings, making players go back to the game and replay it to uncover the secret endings. This is something we can see Bandersnatch pull off, taking the internet by storm with a secret ending.
In a nutshell, Black Mirror Bandersnatch follows a talented game designer who wants to adapt a fictional fantasy novel called Bandersnatch. The book is notorious for its dark history, with its author gruesomely murdering his wife while writing the book. The movie follows the protagonist as he attempts to adapt the book to an 8-bit video game, and follows him down a spiral of murder, deceit and insanity.
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, despite all the hype, did not live up to its expectations in terms of storyline or characterization. The plot pales in comparison to some of the best episodes of the show, and the characters were dull and forgettable as they come. The side characters are mostly presented as quirky embellishments, and usually have too little screen time for viewers to feel invested in them. The only character in the show who manages to not be completely forgettable and drab is the supporting character, a game designer Colin Ritman, who seems to serve as nothing more than a mouthpiece for the writers for a philosophical commentary rather than an actual character in a story. However, the motives behind his actions in the show could have been presented a little better. More could have been done to make his life and his seemingly erratic behavior make sense. Will Poulter almost steals the show, despite his role being one dimensional and borderline stereotypical. Overall, the show’s story leaves a lot to be desired and feels like just another jaded, exhausted tirade on free-will, glossed over by an ’80’s feel, neon color palette and lots of intertextuality and visual references to Philip K Dick.The movie also plays on the theme of illusion of choice, practically forcing the viewer across the more violent path, but otherwise ending the movie underwhelmingly.
However, despite glaring flaws the show turned heads, if not for the quality, but for the gimmicks. Despite its debatable quality of story, Bandersnatch may signify the evolution in the art of television: an industry that has been for the longest period of time very resistant to creative risks and considered “career suicide” for writers who were looking to make it big. Where the big stars would barely ever consider roles in TV shows, except for cameos in the highly popular ones. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch marks the evolution of the mindset of industry, that has brought us toward a Renaissance of television.
From the 2000s onward, TV shows have seen a noticeable revolution. Bigger budgets, better CGI, better cinematography, and a shift away from the highly formulaic, and watered-down presentation of cable television. Back then, mainstream TV shows were written considering advertisement breaks, and episodes were mostly stand alone so anyone could start watching the show at any point of the series without having missed out much. There were some revolutionary outliers to this rule back then in Twin Peaks, and the Sopranos, who would kickstart a gradual change in the industry with hollywood style cinematography, overarching story arcs, and more mature storylines. That has led us to the current era of TV shows, which can now boast star studded ensemble casts like Penny Dreadful, or have Oscar winning stars in lead roles like in True Detective. The examples of very well written, well executed shows are now more abundant than it has ever been in history. TV shows are now pushing artistic boundaries, experimenting with concepts in a way movies cannot.
How has that change become so prominent over the last decade? More and more shows are now being made to be binge-watched across streaming platforms rather than on televsion with time slots. Consumption pattern of TV shows has changed, and it is now easier to track behavior of viewers over the internet. Platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime use data analytics to gather insights from the data collected from usage behavior (i.e., shows “liked” or “disliked”, hours spent watching a particular show at a time), which means these platforms have a better understanding of what the viewers want to watch, what would they binge watch and how to market it to them. It can be a good thing, considering we are now more likely to get shows catered to our preferences. This may limit content to simply checking off certain tickboxes during production.
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch’s attempt is commendable, but then, this might lead to a future where content is only created based on numbers rather than a creator’s artistic fervor. Maybe even a future where the human element of risk and error is removed from art altogether. Automation and artificial intelligence are recurring themes in Black Mirror. Bandersnatch, although somewhat underwhelming as a fragmented story, opens a can of worms with its monologue about the illusion of choice in PAC Man. Is our abundance of options a tailor-made illusion that we are willing to spend $12 a month on? Is the golden age of television heading toward an era of “gimmick over substance” approach? Are we heading toward another dark age of data driven creative dystopia?
Shoumik Muhammed reviews books and TV shows for Arts & Letters.
