BLACK MIRROR: BANDERSNATCH
SPOILER ALERT. Please do not continue reading if SPOILERS
affect your viewing experience in a negative way.
For the benefit of those who do not know,
Bandersnatch is an “interactive” Black Mirror episode, where viewers are given
the opportunity to control the ending of the story by selecting an option at certain
choice points of the story. The story is philosophically fascinating, but can
be very stressful at the same time.
The story revolves around Stefan - an aspiring
game developer. He is the creator of the Bandersnatch that was named after the
book where the concept of the game is based on (and the title of the episode is
Bandersnatch which is named based on a game that was named after a book where
it was based on. SO META). The game has various endings depending on the choices
or paths that the player takes.
Anyway, here’s what I found striking after
watching (or playing) Bandersnatch.
I AM STEFAN. I control Stefan by making a
choice. I decided what he’ll eat for breakfast, the track that he’ll listen to,
and the phonograph record that he’ll buy.
I also decided how to hide the evidence of
the murder. I decided to save him over Colin. And I decided not to destroy the
computer. I am in a way responsible for
what is gonna’ happen next.
But the classic Black Mirror is playing
mind games with everyone when Stefan said that “FREE WILL IS AN ILLUSION. I
DECIDE THE ENDING.” There are points in the episode where you can go back and
take another choice in order to continue the story. It may result to some
changes in the story but you will eventually realize that the ending is more or
less the same. STEFAN ISN’T GOING TO GET THE HAPPY ENDING THAT WE IMAGINE – and
no matter how many times we try; his ending won’t change. His obsession will
kill him.
Bandersnatch explores the ideas of contingency,
determinism, fatalism and free will. Are we free? Are we really making
authentic choices? Is the present bound to happen? Or is the present merely a
consequence of a choice we took in the past? Is the future an event that we
cannot escape? Or is it based on circumstances that we can change?
EVERYTHING IS A METAPHOR according to Colin.
The game is just a metaphor of what is really happening, and the loop never
ends.
Interestingly, the story is set in 1984. Why
1984? If you’re wondering why 1984, big brother (OR NETFLIX) might be able to
give you an answer. *wink*
Picture c/of NETFLIX.
