Bandersnatch, ovvero sulla possibilità di altri futuri. Distopie e linee di fuga al tempo del realismo capitalista ricerca

Abstract

This paper demonstrates that Bandersnatch (2018), an episode of the Black Mirror series, reflects the current condition of the subjectivities in the participative society of ‘capitalist realism’ (Fisher 2018). Additionally, the proposed study aims to shed light on the underlying idea of subversion or resistance promoted by Charlie Brooker, the screenwriter of the TV series. Since the film blends fiction and fact, we will firstly discuss how the episode has been constructed by Brooker and David Slade (the film director) focusing on references to past events. Secondly, we will argue that interactivity can be seen as a metaphor for the actual paradigm of participative politics. Then, we will discuss the connections between contemporary subjectivity (or, according to some scholars, ‘techné’) and the web (which is intended here as the connections between structure and human/non-human actors). Finally, we will present the idea of ‘retroactivism’, that is opening new possibilities of the imaginary (which is an essential element of the Bandersnatch episode). Additionally, we will discuss the idea of ‘capitalist realism’, that is the most coherent description of the actual society and the relevance of dystopia as a narrative that influences and shapes reality.