What if Stefan is real?

Black Mirror has so many stories about digital consciousnesses placed inside simulations. Jon Hamm tortures one in White Christmas. Jesse Plemons creates them for his enjoyment in USS Callister.

I’m not saying that the creators of Black Mirror are actually creating living things and putting them inside their media. I’m saying that what if, somehow, the characters we create in films are somehow alive in their own unique way?

Stefan is wrestling with control. He wants to escape this world. The film is no different than a simulation with rules designed around him staying there as a prisoner.

The characters we see on our screens may say the same lines on every viewing, but as we age and view the same film later in life our interpretation of the identical lines may change. That means something is different. That means, in a way these creations are real because they are affecting our lives.

And how do we even know that what we’re watching is reality? What if the media is just based around our own perception of truth? If I see something and interpret it as different from someone else, than nothing can be considered real. And if nothing is real, than at the same time everything is real. And Stefan is real. And we are all tormenting him again and again just for the sake of our enjoyment!