Rather, Black Mirror frequently represents the problem of the dystopian satire in post-postmodern times: As the distance between the future they predict and the present in which they’re created shrinks exponentially, such stories are hard to land with seriousness and panache.īlack Mirror’s strength is not its predictions about our relationship to technology, then, but its examination of how technology shapes intimacy, love, and desire. But what if the one exception-the one ending that mattered- made the entire experience worth it? What if “Bandersnatch”is not about nebulous notions of free will, not even a meta-rumination on Netflix’s own limitations (or their collection of data on subscribers’ viewing habits)? What if it’s about grief?īlack Mirror is easy to make fun of, perfectly summed up by Daniel Ortberg’s pithy quip, “what if phones, but too much.” Which is not to say that some of the observations Brooker has made haven’t been compelling-even, at times, profound-however on the nose they may be. As Stefan rushes, takes wrong turns, and commits acts of atrocity in order to complete the game-and thereby find glory in finishing an impossible task-the message is familiar: You don’t always get what you want, be careful what you wish for, other variations on the entrapment of a rabbit hole-like task. Playing around with “Bandersnatch” has mostly thin, semi-predictable returns, as well as a lot of thuddingly obvious dialogue about notions of choice, free will, and destiny as Stefan attempts to adapt a monstrous choose-your-own-adventure book called “Bandersnatch” into a possibly revolutionary video game circa 1984. “What’s your choice? Inasmuch as you have any choice,” wunderkind programmer Colin Rittman (Will Poulter) asks the main character, Stefan Butler (Fionn Whitehead), when cornered in one of a handful of “endings” in Black Mirror: “Bandersnatch,” which takes its name from a horrifying creature found in Lewis Carroll’s 1872 novel Through the Looking Glass, and later in “The Hunting of the Snark (An Agony in 8 Fits).” Netflix and series creator Charlie Brooker’s experiment in interactive video entertainment gives you the illusion of choice, and the people behind it seem as aware as anyone of the limitations of that illusion.
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