Men Against Fire story
"Men Against Fire" is the fifth episode of the third series of British science fiction anthology series Black Mirror. Written by series creator and showrunner Charlie Brooker and directed by Jakob Verbruggen, it premiered on Netflix on 21 October 2016, together with the rest of series three. Directed by: Jakob Verbruggen. Story by: Charlie Brooker.
16 total · 5 choice · 8 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| brain-computer interface | choice | The soldiers had brain implants that enabled augmented reality, enhanced their senses, and created comforting sex dreams at night. |
| dehumanization | choice | The army found a way to use technology to directly dehumanize the enemy by making them look like monsters to the soldiers. |
| duty vs. conscience | choice | Stripe was forced to choose between participating in unethical killings or being incarcerated. |
| military related work | choice | Stripe's life and experiences as a member of a "kill squad" was the basis for the story. |
| supersoldier | choice | The soldiers had brain implants that enabled augmented reality, enhanced senses, and created comforting sex dreams at night. |
| augmented reality | major | Computer information was overlaid on the real world using brain implant and something in the eyes, which turned white during use. |
| destroying one people to save another | major | We are led to believe that the roaches had to be destroyed to save people, the details are unclear, this may have been true or false even after we learned about the brain implant trickery. |
| escape from reality | major | In the end Stripe chose to live in the fantasy world enabled by the brain implant rather than live with the reality of what he had done as a soldier. |
| ethnic hatred | major | The matter was left unresolved but we must consider the possibility that the whole plot was a cover for some sort of ethnic cleansing. |
| genocide | major | The matter was left unresolved but we are made to consider the possibility that the whole plot was a cover for some sort of ethnic cleansing. |