Abstract
This chapter interrogates the Netf lix ‘film’ Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018), written by Charlie Brooker and directed by David Slade, using a close reading approach informed by metaphorical and allegorical analysis of videogames (Begy, 2013; Bogost, 2006; Murray, 1997; Wark, 2007), and seeks to
draw out how the film explores the gamified choice-driven systems of the purchase screens of entertainment platforms. We argue that Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Bandersnatch, hereafter) engages in a well-crafted reference to its conditions of distribution by finding similarities between the branching
nature of selection-based play in hypertext games and the selection-based mechanisms of contemporary streaming video services, such as Netf lix. In order to engage in this analysis, this study will examine both formalist ludological and visual themes within Bandersnatch and explore how these elements draw out themes of entertainment, exhaustion, and boredom in a
manner that approximates entertainment platforms.
draw out how the film explores the gamified choice-driven systems of the purchase screens of entertainment platforms. We argue that Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Bandersnatch, hereafter) engages in a well-crafted reference to its conditions of distribution by finding similarities between the branching
nature of selection-based play in hypertext games and the selection-based mechanisms of contemporary streaming video services, such as Netf lix. In order to engage in this analysis, this study will examine both formalist ludological and visual themes within Bandersnatch and explore how these elements draw out themes of entertainment, exhaustion, and boredom in a
manner that approximates entertainment platforms.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Reading »Black Mirror« |
| Subtitle of host publication | Insights into Technology and the Post-Media Condition |
| Editors | German A. Duarte, Justin Michael Battin |
| Place of Publication | Bielefeld Germany |
| Publisher | Transcript Verlag |
| Pages | 87-102 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Edition | 1st |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9783839452325 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9783837652321 |
| Publication status | Published - 2021 |