Against interactivity. Phenomenological notes on Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Authors

  • Adriano D'Aloia Università degli Studi della Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli" http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2020-8872

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454X/11410

Keywords:

Interactive cinema, Bandersnatch, Black Mirror, Netflix, Transmedia storytelling

Abstract

Interactive cinema is one of the most interesting areas of experimentation with storytelling form. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018), a stand-alone episode of the acclaimed British television series available on Netflix, has restarted the debate around this genre. This article offers a discussion of several critical elements inherent to the experience of viewing Bandersnatch, specifically those related to its interactive, meta-reflexive, and ludic character. The tension between interactive and interpretative cooperation, between actuality and virtuality, between self-reflexivity and self-referentiality, between free choice and control, between co-authorship and authority, and between gaming and gambling, bring out the contradictions of a product characteristic of the current transmedial landscape.

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TV series and other media cited

Black Mirror (Channel 4, 2011-2014; Netflix, 2016-)

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (David Slade, 2018)

Ready Player One (Steven Spielberg, 2018)

Sugarcane Island (Edward Packard, 1976)

Downloads

Published

2020-12-31

How to Cite

D’Aloia, A. (2020). Against interactivity. Phenomenological notes on Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Series - International Journal of TV Serial Narratives, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2421-454X/11410

Issue

Section

Narratives / Aesthetics / Criticism