Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re returning to a novel recent production, as we check out the second episode or “round” of Alien Stage, the apocalyptical musical web series pitting hapless singers against each other in a contest to entertain their capricious alien overlords. The prize for victory? You get to keep singing, keep dancing, and keep competing for the adoration of a heartless crowd. The cost of failure? Well, I think you can guess.
The series’ first episode did a fine job of laying out the terms of this reality, as well as offering a sprinkling of vignettes illustrating the close bond between its two unfortunate contestants. A story illustrated in such brief snippets must necessarily gesture rather than fully articulate; through odd details of their shared history and the fragmentary explanation of their world at large, Alien Stage has articulated a world where artists must bow and scrape for fundamentally hostile overseers, competing for scraps rather than helping each other shine.
Given the art-hostile progression of global capitalism and increasing integration of artist-displacing artificial intelligence, as well as the parasocial, possessive dynamics of modern indie production, it’s certainly not hard to draw parallels between this contest and the struggles faced by artists in our own world. And until capitalism fits its own collars around our necks, the best we can do is support each other, practicing solidarity in the face of a world whose every institution demands we embody the selfishness of our billionaire butchers. Let’s get to it!