Men Against Fire
Year: 2016
Directed by: Jakob Verbruggen
Starring: Medeline Brewer & Malachi Kirby
Runtime: 60 minutes
Published: 11/05/23
Directed by: Jakob Verbruggen
Starring: Medeline Brewer & Malachi Kirby
Runtime: 60 minutes
Published: 11/05/23
It seemed like it was only a matter of time until Black Mirror turned its attention towards war and military technology. A show about the misuse of technology and the potential destructive abilities it has, modern warfare seemed like a logical and easy target for the show to look at. But just because something is an easy target doesn’t automatically mean it’ll be a roaring success, in fact in the case of Men Against Fire it results in what is perhaps one of the blandest and most forgettable Black Mirror episodes ever.
Men Against Fire follows Stripe (Malachi Kirby), a soldier for a military group augmented with MASS neural implants. MASS allows its user to see real time feedback for assistance in battle including targeting assistance, tactical intel, and communication between users. Stripe and his fellow company members have been waging war against ‘Roaches’, a race of disfigured bipedal creatures that have been terrorising nearby settlements. But when Stripe’s MASS begins to malfunction, he begins to question whether the reality he knows is really the truth.
Men Against Fire follows Stripe (Malachi Kirby), a soldier for a military group augmented with MASS neural implants. MASS allows its user to see real time feedback for assistance in battle including targeting assistance, tactical intel, and communication between users. Stripe and his fellow company members have been waging war against ‘Roaches’, a race of disfigured bipedal creatures that have been terrorising nearby settlements. But when Stripe’s MASS begins to malfunction, he begins to question whether the reality he knows is really the truth.
Men Against Fire could have been a great episode of Black Mirror had it been more focused in its efforts to tackle a particular issue, but it feels as though it can’t commit to one particular thing, and it probably should have been a lot longer in order to explore its themes appropriately.
I’m going to dive right into spoilers because, as with most Black Mirror episodes, it’s hard to discuss the episode without spoiling the twist.
MASS and the company that produce it are altering the perceived reality of its users in order to push a particular ethnic cleansing agenda. Comparable to the desire for a ‘pure blood Aryan race’ employed by Nazi Germany in WWII, the soldiers in Men Against Fire are not fighting disfigured creatures, but normal people who show biological traits that the government deem undesirable.
In typical Black Mirror fashion, this isn’t handled subtly and is conveyed through a large exposition dump towards the end of the episode. Whilst this often works in Black Mirror’s favour, here in Men Against Fire it feels rushed, and like a last-minute addition to give the story its necessary gut punch.
It is undoubtedly concerning to see this kind of technology being used in such a way, but we’ve already seen this done so many times before in the real world without the need for technology. Humanity has a habit of looking for differences in people and wanting to stamp that out, we don’t need an implant changing our perception of reality to do that for us.
There’s nothing that makes Men Against Fire stand out amongst the rich and varied library of Black Mirror episodes. It’s not exactly bad, but it lacks the focus and powerful message that other Black Mirror episodes have. It’s a sub-par and forgettable episode that doesn’t use the technology at the centre of the story to its fullest, nor spends enough time going over the societal ramifications of such a technology. Coming off the back of San Junipero makes this a particularly tough pill to swallow and likely contributes to how disappointing the episode feels overall.
I’m going to dive right into spoilers because, as with most Black Mirror episodes, it’s hard to discuss the episode without spoiling the twist.
MASS and the company that produce it are altering the perceived reality of its users in order to push a particular ethnic cleansing agenda. Comparable to the desire for a ‘pure blood Aryan race’ employed by Nazi Germany in WWII, the soldiers in Men Against Fire are not fighting disfigured creatures, but normal people who show biological traits that the government deem undesirable.
In typical Black Mirror fashion, this isn’t handled subtly and is conveyed through a large exposition dump towards the end of the episode. Whilst this often works in Black Mirror’s favour, here in Men Against Fire it feels rushed, and like a last-minute addition to give the story its necessary gut punch.
It is undoubtedly concerning to see this kind of technology being used in such a way, but we’ve already seen this done so many times before in the real world without the need for technology. Humanity has a habit of looking for differences in people and wanting to stamp that out, we don’t need an implant changing our perception of reality to do that for us.
There’s nothing that makes Men Against Fire stand out amongst the rich and varied library of Black Mirror episodes. It’s not exactly bad, but it lacks the focus and powerful message that other Black Mirror episodes have. It’s a sub-par and forgettable episode that doesn’t use the technology at the centre of the story to its fullest, nor spends enough time going over the societal ramifications of such a technology. Coming off the back of San Junipero makes this a particularly tough pill to swallow and likely contributes to how disappointing the episode feels overall.