Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology series, Black Mirror, introduced an ominous symbol in season 2, episode 2, “White Bear”, that appeared once more in the choose your own adventure interactive film, Bandersnatch (2018). It is known as the White Bear symbol due to its origins. When it was introduced in Brooker’s first feature length film in the series, it developed into a much more sinister sign of life, death, and the inability to escape the horrors of it all. Here is the symbol’s meaning explained.
The first sight of the symbol in Black Mirror is when a woman named Victoria wakes up and sees it on a television in front of her. As the story progresses, she starts to notice that people are filming her with their cellphones. People appear with full-face masks with the symbol painted on them and attack Victoria. The episode culminates to the discovery that the White Bear Justice Park is punishing her for the crime of abducting a child with her fiancé, Iain, who killed the little girl as Victoria recorded it. The end of “White Bear” reveals that the symbol was tattooed on Iain’s neck, and is used as a form of punishment for Victoria.
When Bandersnatch introduces the symbol to its story line, Stefan is in the midst of programming his brand new choose your own adventure game. Set in the 1980s, the events of the film occur approximately thirty years before season 2, episode 2, “White Bear,” if not more. He is using the symbol to create a flow chart that maps the result of specific choices the player can make. What he does not realize until the film reaches its end is that the White Bear symbol actually dictates his own outcome. While the symbol has different meanings based on context, it actually connects in the same sinister ways in both Stefan’s and Victoria’s story.
What The “White Bear” Symbol Really Means
While there is an abundance of theories based on what the symbol truly means, the “White Bear” incident reveals more than previously assumed. The entire idea behind Victoria’s sentence enacted by the White Bear Justice Park is that she is subject to having her life controlled and dictated by an unknown outside source. Her memory is wiped after every scenario, and she is forced to replay the events over and over until her inevitable death. As the audience chooses Stefan’s fate, the symbol informs the viewer that they are participating in a White Bear Justice Park simulation, and he is being punished like Victoria.
In this role reversal, the audience is forced to confront that they are participants in the inevitable death, imprisonment, or institutionalization of Stefan no matter what choices are made. He will always suffer at the hands of the viewer, just as Victoria did in “White Bear”. Therefore, the symbol is an indicator that the White Bear Justice Park is present and are in control. Despite the personal connection Victoria has to the symbol, it may have been adopted by the organization. Furthermore, despite Bandersnatch’s 1980s setting, it is safe to assume that some pieces of technology used in the Black Mirror universe assisted in making his torture possible.
Ultimately, the White Bear symbol means pain, torment, revenge, and sadistic spectacle. It may have originated in “White Bear”, but Black Mirror continues to utilize its sinister imagery to provoke the viewer to consider what is actually happening beyond what is depicted on screen.