Bill Buddle
There are questions in life that are universal to everyone. What is success? What is accomplishment? What would you do to obtain your goals? Would you lie, cheat or steal to get what you want just to climb the ladder of success? Would you compromise your morals, religious beliefs or even murder someone to get what you want? Is there free will, destiny, or are we fated to do the same things over and over again no matter what we choose? Are mirrors portals into traveling time? Are there parallel universes? Can we change the past? Can we control our present? Can we alter our future?
These are the questions that Netflix’s original series Black Mirror explores with its new stand-alone full length “Choose Your Own Adventure” movie entitled Bandersnatch. This film is on the cutting edge of nostalgia and pays homage to the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books of the 80’s while being set up in a very similar fashion.
Right now you might be asking yourself, who or what is a Bandersnatch?
Dictionary.com defines Bandersnatch as “an imaginary wild animal of fierce disposition” or “a person of uncouth or unconventional habits, attitudes, etc., especially one considered a menace, nuisance, or the like.” When you are prompted to choose the next part of the storyline, you become a Bandersnatch yourself as you are guided to choose tabooed, immoral storylines such as killing a character or having him commit suicide.
You play as a young computer game programmer named Stefan who has recently started programming a video game based on a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book aptly titled “Bandersnatch”. Authored by the famed Jerome F. Davies, the book was considered a work of genius by some because it was the first of its kind, but was overshadowed by the fact that Davies lost his mind and ended up killing his wife while writing it.
The episode starts with Stefan making choices right away and each choice leads the player/watcher to five different endings with some twists and turns as well as a few Easter eggs along the way. Apparently, there were over 300 minutes of film footage shot for this episode and you get to make choices as to what cereal or music Stefan eats or listens to. He then has one of the hardest decisions to make, which is to have his game developed by a computer software company named Tuckersoft or to go home and develop the game himself. Each decision Stefan makes, leads to different story arcs or alternate endings only Black Mirror can dish out. Your ultimate goal or objective is to get a 5-star rating for your video game by a TV video game critic.
So this is how it confronts and challenges you to make decisions in or order to get your five-star rating for your video game and have it out by Christmas. What choices will you have to make in order to accomplish this and reach you goal? The choice is yours, or is it? Your decisions from here on out set the stage for a thrilling rollercoaster filled with twists and turns and vital choices that test your moral character and put you into compromising situations.
What I really liked about this episode was its cutting edge exploration of free will and unique narrative structure. I was also enamored by its 80’s setting. Although Orwellian at times, the nostalgia of the clothing, music and décor really appealed to me because I grew up in that decade (even though it was set in England).
What I disliked about Bandersnatch was that it had its own agenda and focused on the aspect of fate too much. There were times that you were forced to make a decision or had no decision at all which was counterintuitive to the theme of the episode. At times, it was trying to be too clever or self-aware by acknowledging itself too much.
I think that the scariest and most frightening aspect of this episode is that it may bring out the Bandersnatch in each one of us. If we were placed in compromising positions or backed into a corner like Stefan, would we make the decisions he would? Or would we try to actually change ourselves or our behavior no matter the goal or success we could accomplish and what cost would we pay to get there?
Finally, if you haven’t seen Black Mirror before, it is not for the wholesome family viewing or faint of heart. It’s usually very dark, graphic and intended for mature adults, as there are usually topics of murder, nudity, profanity or drug use and this episode is no exception. As a fan of Black Mirror, I give this episode a 3 out of 5 stars because, although it was revolutionary for its genre, it lacked good execution and could have been so much better if the player/watcher actually could make real decisions and have more control over the endings, but maybe that was the writer’s intention. It makes you really ponder whether we have free will, destiny or fate or if there are parallel universes or time lines. Things to make you say, “Hmm…”
Will you keep your sanity? Will you keep true to your morals or will you become a Bandersnatch and let all hell break loose?
