Two examples of the blurring of entertainment and reality have come to my attention recently. Both are quite interesting but somewhat creepy and disturbing at the same time – pop culture as traffic accident. The first is Series 7, an independent film shot on digital video about a (at least for now, fictional) television series called The Contenders, where the contestants kill each other until only one is left. Then the champion must face a new crop of players in the next season. The movie website is unsettling in its deadpan depiction of training “ordinary” citizens to be killers.
I can’t wait to see it.
The second development is an internet-based adventure game called Majestic, where you sign up to play the game, and get real-world faxes and phone calls that advance the story, with you as a character. Sounds fun…sort of. Also scary, in a slippery slope kind of way. I guess I don’t want to blur the lines any more than they already are.