Ritman Raptors

Those guys back there friends of yours? Uh, I don’t know, they kind of haven’t spoken to me yet. It’ll get better, Ok.

I’m happy to go on record as saying that I’m not a big fan of this episode of Black Mirror. And at the time of writing, this is my 25th design for the show. Given the influence of Nine Inch Nails on the music contained within, it’s genuinely impressive that they got me to not like it.

A while back, the dislike for this one could’ve just been levelled at the fact that Miley Cyrus was a major cast member. I personally have no time for Disney children, regardless. But even early on in her adult career all the tongue-sticking-out-in-music-videos I found pretty unpleasant. And then there was the situation with Beetlejuice-suited ubercunt Robin Thicke. Ugh.

Then she went a bit rock and it was fine. I just don’t think this episode’s writing was particularly good and leant too much into Cyrus being a real-life star. Plus, the bit at the end where Jack is playing bass in her new edgy, pop-rock band is a load of bollocks that wouldn’t happen. I mean… none of this would happen, would it, really? So maybe I should just shut up and get the fuck over it.

Anyway, this. Sisters Rachel and Jack are new kids at school and their dad is a headcase obsessed with inventing mouse traps that don’t kill mice. Like the dad out of Gremlins, he’s fucking abysmal at it. The school in question is Ritman High School in an undisclosed location in America. Presumably California if even a fictional Miley Cyrus lives within driving distance.

The design is a semi-replication, as you see this dinosaur head thing in the background of a scene near the start of the show. It’s very low resolution, so I’ve added some embellished details to gloss it up a bit. The word ‘RAPTORS’ also isn’t visible in its entirety in a single shot, so I had to piece together what it said from numerous different stills. I’m clever like that.

I would assume this is a college football deal, given the font going on but you never know with those lunatics over the pond, do you? It could be fucking anything.

Oh yeah, ‘Ritman’ is from the in-world Colin Ritman, of ‘Bandersnatch‘ and ‘Plaything‘ fame.