Limited Freedom: The Illusion and Reality of “Empowering” Audiences in Interactive Cinema
Journal: Arts Studies and Criticism DOI: 10.32629/asc.v7i1.4939
Abstract
The rise of interactive cinema in the digital age has ushered in a profound transformation toward the democratization of film art. By analyzing representative works such as Black Mirror: Bandersnatch and Detroit: Become Human, this paper examines how the shift of audiences from “viewers” to “participants” in interactive cinema reconstructs the discursive space of film. However, such empowerment is inherently dual in nature: on the surface, audiences gain freedom of choice and experience personalized narratives; in essence, all choices are tightly guided and disciplined by pre-designed narrative frameworks, technological logics, and procedural rhetoric. Therefore, the reconstruction of discursive space in interactive cinema is not a simple transfer of power, but a dynamic process of ongoing negotiation and contestation between audience choice and authorial design. Ultimately, while expanding the discursive space of cinema, interactive film also becomes a new disciplinary apparatus that produces cultural subjects adapted to digital society.
Keywords
interactive cinema; audience studies; discursive power; media criticism
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[4] Wu Qiulin. Research on Henry Jenkins' Theory of Participatory Culture [D]. Southwest University, 2025.
[5] Zhang Shuduan, Sun Xingyu. Reflections on the Aesthetics of Interactive Cinema from the Perspective of Intermediality: An Investigation Centered on Black Mirror: Bandersnatch [J]. New Films, 2021,(04):46-53.
[6] Bogost, I. (2007). Persuasive games: The expressive power of videogames. MIT Press.
[7] Wen Jing, Yang Kai. Interactive Immersive Experience: The Possibilities of Interactive Film and Television [J]. Youth Journalist, 2025(3).
[8] Han Byung-Chul. The Burnout Society [M]. Translated by Wang Yili. Beijing: CITIC Press Group, 2019: 12-30.
[9] Hu Hongyi, Wang Meng. A Brief Analysis of the Immersive Experience in Interactive Films: A Case Study of Detroit: Become Human [J]. Film Literature, 2020(15): 99-102.
[10] Deleuze, G. (1992). Postscript on the societies of control. October, 59, 3-7.
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[12] Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison [M]. Translated by Liu Beicheng, Yang Yuanying. Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company, 2019.
[13] Illouz, Eva. Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism [M]. Hunan People's Publishing House, 2023.
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