The imagery of the intersection between game and life. The “Love and Anarchy” case.

Abstract

Love & Anarchy is a Swedish series that has been running on Netflix since autumn 2020. The series follows the seduction game between the business consultant Sofie and the young IT employee Max: every day one of the two challenges the other to make an action that goes beyond the limits of social norms. Sofie and Max's relationship brings to the stage the ambivalent imagery of gaming in contemporary sociality, that can be tracked down to the success of the "challenges" on social networks, along with the exploitation of gamification in marketing or “serious game” in social issues and public policy. In an anomic social context due to the rapidity of transformations, the game seems to offer a disciplinary guide that drives insights and decisions in the absence of other references. Through the analysis of the audio-visual text of the series and the comparison with other similar experiences in pop culture, this paper means to explore the current hybridization of ludic dimension and everyday life, along with the chance of putting individuals in touch with their deeper feelings and the collapse of separation between duty and leisure.