It’s spooky season and the family has just absolved their well-prepared watchlist

Films that let us dive into youthful days at the same time involuntarily lead to conversations that leave no way out.

Some of our popular films have aged poorly and show serious insensitivities. From reproduction of false stereotypes, to the distortion of subcultural concepts and widespread mainstream cringe – there is a lot to tick off.

Is there a way to address these issues in a reflective but also entertaining way we asked and came up with ideas.

First we thought about annotated versions and editions, which allows a more objective ‘reading’ of the content or subject by providing perspectives on culturally sensitive topics from different sources.

To ensure accessibility for generations, teletext could have been the mainframe for most broadcasters. Supporting information would then been displayed, in a lovely 8bit-pixel-modal.

RIP: Teletext

A simple app needs to do the work, providing scene-based information and multimedia content. Maybe augmented or second screening. Nevertheless, informative, participatory and unobtrusive.

It would also be conceivable to add comments and contributions, as with wikis.

A display of an asterisk in potentially insensitive sections of series, films and documentaries could help to raise awareness for contextual information.

Such little helpers could transform cancel cultures into constructive forms of participation. What do you think? What is worth the prototyping?

Our Spooky Season Watchlist

• Pontypool

• The Dead Don’t Die

• Hitchcocks Psycho

• Us

• E.T.

• Wolfman

• The Witches

• Tatort Vienna Exorcism

• Victor Frankenstein

• Harry Potter, Prisoner of Azkaban

• Nope

We defined three goals to ensure a result-oriented ideation from the start:

The product or service:

1. fosters understanding

2. reduces uncertainties

3. engages with the content and it gives valuable context