IN The unusual life of IbelinIn a new Netflix documentary, online gaming plays an important role. But rather than being one of the usual stories about the dangers of such experiences, Benjamin Rea’s production explores a unique perspective – that of Mats Steen. He does this by thinking about how big the platforms are online They can be the ideal space for a broader, more sensitive and personal vision of the world. What, in fact, happened to the young player from Oslo who found himself on the big digital stages, a space to understand life on a whole new level.
Mats Steen died on November 18, 2014 from Duchenne spinal cord dystrophy. A very serious illness due to which he was confined to a wheelchair. In fact, in the last years of his life, the young man secluded himself in the basement of his parents’ house, trying to survive the most difficult time of his illness alone. Despite the pain, exhaustion and often complete immobility, Mats devoted most of his time to the game. world of warcraft (Wow in the English acronym), an online role-playing game in the fantasy genre. His family later estimated that over the last decade of his life, he devoted approximately 20,000 hours to video games.
At the time of his death, Mats Steen was 25 years old, and he almost never left his parents’ house. Therefore, his parents, Robert and Trude, regretted that their son’s life was reduced to the basement space he occupied in an attempt to become independent. In particular, they feared that their son, He would never live a normal life as an adult his age.
They were so surprised that after the news of Mats’ death was published, hundreds of messages from people from all over the world began to arrive on his blog. They all described themselves as close friends of their son, whom they considered an exceptional person who had changed the lives of many of them. To the Steens’ surprise, Mats lived a full life. away from the hardships of his illness, in a role-play setting online.
A story that touches and excites
The Netflix documentary explores this from a generous and touching perspective. As such, it delves into the ability of large gaming platforms to be places of meeting and even close relationships between participants. Mats Sten, whose limited mobility barely allowed him to move his fingers, shared more than just all sorts of intellectual and spiritual experiences with the group of players. Additionally, according to what he wrote on his blog, he enjoyed love, companionship, and even went beyond the idea of being considered different because of his medical condition. In World of Warcraft scenarios, he was just another player. A person who is also respected, admired and part of a larger community.
This surprised Mats’ parents, who only realized the extent and importance of video games in their son’s life after his death. In fact, his father commented in an interview in Time that in one of his last conversations with the young man he insisted on telling them his password, both your user in the game and your personal computer.
Life after a serious illness
A precaution that would later prove vital to the Steed family and their way of getting to know Mats. In particular, they could delve deeper into everything that happened in an unknown aspect of their deceased son’s life. Moreover, it would give them the opportunity to come into contact with a group of people who knew Mats deeply and intimately. And about which they still had no news.
For this reason, when responses began to come to the publication announcing the death of Mats, they did not know how to understand what was happening. On the one hand, it was a crowd of virtual friends, it explained a whole new dimension to the deceased.
On the other hand, the evidence is that most of these relationships were deep and sweet enough for Mats to be remembered with respect and affection. For Robert and Trudy, who only knew that Ibelin Redmoore, Mats’ alter ego on the platform, was part starlightone of many guilds Wow, The discovery came as a real surprise.
A player’s long legacy
Especially when I saw that Mats had created a community of friends and even romantic relationships on the platform. online. He never met any of the participants in person, but that didn’t stop him from connecting on a deep level with many of them. News that shocked his family, who had previously believed that Mats’ devotion to video games was a way entertainment within reach of their limited mobility and poor health.
As they commented in an interview with the publication BBCParents were initially wary of the avalanche of messages they received in just a few days. But they soon discovered that every correspondent insisted on meeting Mats in a new and exciting way. Something that showed them that their son had managed to fully live the experience and, moreover, turn it into a way to overcome his limitations. Mats became a mentor to a troubled teenager who had at least two romantic relationships and even came into conflict with several people. This happens through chats and the game’s immersive platform.
All of the above became known after his death and was compiled Norwegian Broadcasting Company. The state media publication dedicated an extensive report to him, glorifying not only the life of Mats Steen. He also explored the possibilities and benefits of the video game industry. At the same time, highlighting similar experiences for people in conditions similar to those experienced by the young person. The effect of the publication was such that documentary director Benjamin Rea decided to film the incident. All in an attempt to pay tribute to Mats and his beloved alter ego. And do it from a completely new point of view.
Amazing visual and scenario experiment
Discover Mats’s unusual social life through WowBenjamin Rea contacted the guild to which he belonged. This allowed him to access recordings of real conversation transcripts and every situation in which the player was involved. A solution that also allowed him to tell the same scenario in which the deceased young man experienced it: his extensive and emotional experience of working in a large community.
To do this, the director turned to a group of animators who used the material at their disposal. This was done in order to recreate some of Mats’ most important moments in the gaming environment. A twist that also gave them the opportunity to explore the stigma of video games as platforms and the mistrust they typically cause. As well as the opportunities that many platforms provide. For the director, this is an important moment to understand Mats’ experience. Especially in a world where the digital sphere is becoming increasingly important in everyday life.
A rare glimpse into an extraordinary life
As such, the documentary combines home videos of Mats’ family and long vignettes of his online experiences. This gives the production the appearance of a posthumous tribute from a respectful and happy point of view. At the same time, he was always strangely focused on the idea that Mats was happy. Moreover, he demonstrated that his physical limitations never prevented him from expressing his generosity and intelligence towards others.
“They wanted to get to know their son better because they were still going through the grieving process. But they also overestimated who their son really was,” explained director Benjamin Rhee. time. “My proposal was that I wanted everyone to be invited into this world. I’ve never played world of warcraft before, and I wanted to present it in a way that would make my 94-year-old grandmother feel included.” What the director achieved in one of the most interesting and emotional documentaries in the Netflix catalogue.
Source: Hiper Textual
