Virtual reality takes over the world by creating a realm of its own in Netflix's new TV show, Kiss Me First. The show cycles between fictional and non-fictional worlds, characters, and philosophies; building up to a point where there is little to no difference between the two.
In episode 5 - The Witch is Coming, the main character, Leila (played by Tallulah Haddon) is off to rescue her friend. However, there is one thing in her way—Adrian, the perpetrator, and mastermind killing all her friends. Well, except that Adrian doesn't really kill anyone. Instead, he talks depressed or demented people into killing themselves or others.
This episode gets a bit philosophic as Adrian's personality emerges for the first time, whereas before he was more of a mystery, a voice within the shadows. Like the overall show, Adrian slices and dices what is real, and what is not into philosophical musings. Rather than our boring drone trudge towards oblivion., what does become apparent is that meaning is needed. After all, even villains need a reason to wake up every day. Adrian says the following on this topic:
Most games are complete shit these days. Badly coded cynical crap. Half the time, you're just walking through it like an obedient moron. It's all so routine. No. A real game is something you're not sure you can actually win. Otherwise, where's the fun? Otherwise, what the fuck is our existence all about? A boring drone trudge towards oblivion. What we need is meaning. To play for something you might not actually want to lose. Like, for instance, your sanity. Your friends. Your life.
Getting to dive deeper into his psyche he also takes a bit of an absurdist approach to life.
Everything's a fraud. The world's fucked up. Lunatics are in charge now. But think about it some more. Life is just an adventure playground. Jesus! Don't take it so seriously.
This is not the first time we see #evil characters take a stab at life's biggest question. But what is clear is that this is the first one to be reviewed on this site that does so within the scope of a video game/life. Again, the lines between fiction and non-fiction become blurred, and the separation is nil.
Have you seen the show? If so, what did you think? Are life and video games a boring trudge towards oblivion?