In Dead Pixels,we follow a group of friends who pass the majority of their time together on the green pastures of the online game Kingdom Scroll --a fictional RPG that just happens to look a whole lot like World of Warcraft.
Since the four gamer friends don't seem to have that much to do with each other beyond Kingdom Scroll, it's easy to see the show as a commentary on how young people are spending their lives in fantasy universes while losing touch with the outside world and the people in it.
SEE ALSO:Is 'Fortnite' addiction among young children actually a real problem?But according to Alexa Davies, star of the new Channel 4 comedy, that's not the case.Dead Pixels, Davies explains,is not a commentary on the stereotypical view of gaming culture as a virtual world populated by those who feel safer online.
On the contrary -- the show is a loving portrayal of people who use online gaming as a way to connect with others and unwind. The three main characters, Russell, Meg and Nicky, have banter for hours online, and the show follows their day-to-day lives online and off (mostly on) and how the two occasionally intertwine.
"I can see how it seems really dysfunctional!" Davies, who starred in Mamma Mia 2,tells Mashable. But the show is pro-gaming at its core, she says. "The show was written and made by gamers. Everything in the show, even the stuff that’s poking fun at gaming, is coming from a very knowledgable place.
"When we joke about gamers and stereotypes, it's coming from a place of understanding."
MegCredit: Channel 4Davies plays Meg, a young woman who spends most of her time, both at work and at home, talking to her two male co-gamers via headset, making filthy allusions to her genitals while butchering animals in the game.
According to Davies, the show's characters are not just using the fictional world of the game to escape the "IRL world." Instead, the show rather uses the game as a tool to show the different characters' personalities as they engage with each other online.
"The show is about the characters, not the game."
"If you didn't get to know these characters well, you'd say 'yes, they spend their time on their own without talking to people IRL that much,'" Davies says. "But when you see them talking to each other, they are actually all big, bold characters. The show is about the characters, not the game."
Per Davies, the show does acknowledge that when you split your time between online and offline worlds, you can sometimes become "two completely different people."
"You can be online and tell whatever story you want, but in real life you could be a very different person," Davies says. Dead Pixels explores that particular issue by going behind the facade of one of the characters, who is a famous live streamer on the show. And by showing that even the most confident players are sometimes a lot less confident in the real world.
"In a lot of the scenes we were just in a room looking at a computer," Davies says. "When we would leave that and go into other rooms, it was like playing two different characters."
This is definitely the case with Davies' character Meg, who seems very comfortable talking bluntly about sex with her gamer mates, but gets very awkward when a guy starts flirting with her IRL. Meg handles this by inviting him to play the game, only to kill his avatar soon after he logs on.
Davies says that this duality of personality, these two separate sets of rules and logic, is what makes the characters on Dead Pixels interesting.
"In every episode, you have one image of [the characters]," Davies says. "But then they go outside, and the assumptions you have about them are proved wrong."
Dead Pixels premieres 28th March at 9.30pm on E4
TopicsGaming
(责任编辑：時尚)
The five guys who climbed Australia's highest mountain, in swimwear'Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order' review: A terrific and welcome surpriseWe can learn from 'Simpsons' fans yelling about Hank Azaria and ApuAOC shares thoughts on 'OK Boomer' while campaigning with Bernie SandersHere's what 'Game of Thrones' actors get up to between takesTwo states took big steps this week to get rid of the tampon tax
This week was a big one for those advocating against a tampon tax. 。 First, on Thursday, California t
...[详细]This is the best time in human history. We're designed to think otherwise.
Mashable's new series Don't @ Me takes unpopular opinions and backs them up with ... reasons. We all
...[详细]Walmart is now using robots to fulfill grocery orders
Walmart's secret weapon in its battle with Amazon for grocery supremacy? Robots. Alphabot is being u
...[详细]Uber tests new safety feature: audio
Would Uber having an audio recording of your ride make you feel safer or creeped out?Uber plans to g
...[详细]More than half of women in advertising have faced sexual harassment, report says
If you are a woman in advertising, chances are you've faced workplace sexual harassment at one point
...[详细]'Blade Runner' blew his mind. Now this artist uses AI to explore human consciousness.
Blade Runnerpictures Los Angeles in 2019 with flying cars, neon signs, and massive video ads. It&rsq
...[详细]Australia's raging bushfires are smothering New Zealand with smoke
Australians have been choking on smoke for weeks as enormous bushfires rage across the country. Now,
...[详细]'Blade Runner' blew his mind. Now this artist uses AI to explore human consciousness.
Blade Runnerpictures Los Angeles in 2019 with flying cars, neon signs, and massive video ads. It&rsq
...[详细]Olympics official on Rio's green diving pool: 'Chemistry is not an exact science'
The diving pool for the Summer Olympics mysteriously turned green this week in Rio de Janeiro, then
...[详细]Lenovo's Smart Frame puts your digital photos on display without ruining your feng shui
While most smart displays are basically glorified photo frames, they're also not very practical look
...[详细]Nancy Pelosi warns colleagues after info hacked
Amazon introduces a portable Echo speaker, but only in 1 country
