Remember reading those choose your own adventure books as a kid? I had a gnarly Goosebumps story about aliens and every single choice I made turned out to be a ten-page flip to my own death. Typical.
Netflix hasn’t forgotten the freedom of choice in storytelling, either. In fact, they’re currently working on technology that would allow viewers to change the outcome of a TV show in the same way.
For example, you might be offered to choose whether a character in the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black decides to hurl a cafeteria tray at a prison guard or simply eats lunch like a model inmate.
“We’re doing work on branch narratives so you are actually making choices as you watch. All the content will be there, and then people will have to get through it in different ways,” said a spokesperson.
“We’ll see how it plays out. It’s an experiment. We’ll see if it gets much success. For creators, it’s new territory.”
Netflix will be running a trial on programmes aimed at children before deciding if they’ll bring it into the adult realm. It’s not yet clear whether the feature would be implemented for existing series or reserved for new ones.
And sure, this all sounds very cool, but would it be any good? Think about it – the best series are the ones that surprise and shock you. The shows that force a brutal outcome on a situation regardless of the viewers wants or expectations.
You think Breaking Bad would have been any good if Walter decided to quit the meth game for good? And if given the choice, would you have the balls to allow the main protagonist to suffer, knowing the outcome would create uncomfortable viewing?
Whether we as viewers would be given that much power over the plot is probably unlikely, but it’s worth thinking about. Do you even want that choice? Will making subtle changes to unimportant subplots change the experience in any meaningful way?
I watch TV to spectate the poor life choices of other people, not get involved in them. Clean up your own damn mess.
Source: Daily Mail.
Photo: Goosebumps.
