Netflix’s interactive Black Mirror episode dropped this morning, and it has already become rampant with memes.
The film Bandersnatch tells the story of a 19-year-0ld computer programmer, Stefan (Fionn Whitehead), trying to adapt a book into a video game in the 1980s.
Here’s the catch. Viewers get to decide the fate of the main character. Different decisions lead the plot in different directions.
There are reportedly five different endings depending on the choices that you make along the way. The choices vary in difficulty: As easy as choosing what Stefan eats for breakfast to making the decision if he should kill his father.
The concept is something people seem to be taking very seriously.
https://twitter.com/boyilovedbefore/status/1078671298723688448
YOU, YOUNG: “The new Black Mirror is interactive!”
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) December 28, 2018
ME, A SURVIVOR OF THE CD-ROM WARS: *throws cigarette* “interactive? Yeah let me tell you about interactive. Imagine you’re trapped at night it’s a night trap”
black mirror: *releases interactive episode*
— abigail (@abigaillj__) December 28, 2018
me: easy enough
black mirror: sugar puffs or frosties?
me: #Bandersnatch pic.twitter.com/TrMC7L62iS
https://twitter.com/kaylaakylee3/status/1078727068035309568
Some people are realizing that making decisions for others isn’t really their thing.
https://twitter.com/JPV8/status/1078744876324290560
https://twitter.com/yagmsy/status/1078679343230902273
My black mirror character when he ends up in prison for the tenth time pic.twitter.com/ZYaO8s4JiK
— Homie J (@Jxrxmy10) December 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/KenyanDubbz/status/1078729358951428096
Netflix has tried the choose-your-own-adventure with different children’s programs but never to this capacity. It’s technology that seems to have stirred up mixed reviews. It might feel like a gimmick but does give us a peek into what interactive technology looks like and where it’s going.
Black Mirror fans don’t fret. There will be a complete fifth season of the show still coming to the streaming giant, that doesn’t include Bandersnatch.
Unfortunately, the date for that is not a choice we have control over.
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch is now streaming on Netflix but you can watch the trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM0xWpBYlNM
