YoIt’s probably just a scheduling accident, but this deeply moving documentary arrives just as there’s a debate at the school gates about children’s use of smartphones and social media. So while it’s undoubtedly worrying how tech platforms aim to addict and exploit young minds, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin offers a fascinating counterargument about how online gaming can at least be a lifeline for some people who find themselves isolated in the real world, or IRL. as children like to say.
Born in 1989, Mats Steen started out like many other Norwegian children of his generation: energetic, sweet-natured, unusually pale. However, his parents, Robert and Trude, soon discovered that he had Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a genetic condition that eroded his ability to move and breathe and would eventually kill him at the age of 25. At the time, in 2014, Robert, Trude and Mats’ sister Mia knew that Mats spent hours of his life online playing World of Warcraft using special equipment to accommodate his disability and had been blogging about his life.
They then logged onto the blog to announce his death, thinking almost no one would read it, and were inundated with emails, as it turned out that Mats, who had been logging into Warcraft under the name Ibelin and using a red-haired avatar (although still noticeably pale), had built an extensive network of friends over the years. Ibelin had courted women in this digital world, and was even a bit of a player at one point, but most importantly, he was highly regarded for his kindness and empathy. His wise advice helped a mother and her son (a young man with autism) build their own relationship in Denmark through online interaction, for example. Mats may have spent most of his time alone (aside from healthcare workers and support staff) in an apartment above his family, but WoW gave him a community.
Using the archive that recorded thousands of words of interactions between Mats/Ibelin and his friends, the film recreates Ibelin’s digital life, using WoW-style animation. This means the full range of physiognomies of fantasy characters, in all colors, shapes and sizes, except that they all have thick thighs, disproportionately swollen forearms and, if they are women, enormous breasts. But scoff all you want, non-gamers, because by the end it’s almost impossible not to shed a tear after the touching delicacy and form of this story, capped off with a near-perfect pan of the multi-species group of digital friends gathered together. around Ibelin’s modest tomb to pay their respects.