Most of them Aimed Above the Enemy's Head

Black Mirror is a television series that dramatizes scenarios through the lens of a
theoretical technologically reliant society. It does so through dark and often satirical modes of
critique, as can especially be observed in the episode “Men Against Fire”. This episode focuses
majorly on the militarization efforts being put forth to create an ideal, genetically uncorrupted
humankind, and the ways in which certain technologies contribute to the furthering of that
objective. For much of the duration of the episode, the viewer is left in a perplexed state, having
little-to-no background in the activities occurring on screen, and being forced to piece together
the events occurring within the episode all throughout the short time frame in which it endures.
The director uses this spontaneous plot sequence –present throughout the entire series –and
instruments of manipulation of cinematography and theme to create an unanticipated and
thought-provoking story, while maintaining their particular sociopolitical bias.
Men Against Fire depicts the difficult position that the typical military soldier is often
placed in, concerning missions that they might have conflicting personal feelings about. In this
particular scenario, we are introduced to a young, black man who appears to be dreaming. He is
awoken to a military roll call, only to discover that he is about to experience his first “roach
hunt”. The main character is finally identified as a man nicknamed “Stripe”. They hop into a
vehicle and arrive upon a scene where “roaches” are suspected of stealing a poor village’s food.
It becomes increasingly obvious that the soldiers possess technological abilities that allow them
to simultaneously communicate maps, languages, images, and more. At this point, the villagers
have enforced this acute uneasiness already present regarding the impression of roaches. The
squad is led to a farmhouse whose owner is suspected of sheltering roaches. While the squad
leader interrogates the home owner, Stripe and “Hunter”, a female counterpart majorly
prominent in the episode, are seen investigating the upstairs corridor of the house. While the hunt
is taking place, the squad leader, “Medina”, is uninterruptedly having a conversation with the
owner, attempting to convince him of the impurity and threat that roaches harbor. In this scene, it
becomes clear to the viewer that the mission objective is to obtain eugenic sterilization, a very
controversial concept in the real world. Just as her monologue is nearing an end, Stripe and
Hunter discover a secret room that is littered with trash, blankets, and food; a suspected “roach
nest”. Stripe uncovers a group of three roaches, all of which look very zombie-like – with white
skin, pale and flat faces, sharp teeth, and animalistic, undistinguishable voices. A struggle
ensues, and Stripe kills two of the roaches, later picking up a peculiar, green light and
accidentally flashing his eyes with it –this action seemingly disturbs Stripe’s programming,
making him noticeably draw back. After this occurrence, Stripe starts to experience reoccurring
glitches in what is identified as “MASS”, the neural implant that allows for these technological
abilities present among soldiers. On his next roach hunt, Stripe is shown pondering his newly
developed awareness of his surroundings. He is being urged by Hunter to take the task seriously,
as they are under attack, but he can’t shift his concentration, overpowered by his new sense of
smell. As they continue inside, his glitches intensify and Stripe begins to see roaches for their
true human appearances. Where Hunter is still neurotically fixated on tracking and killing them,
Stripe projects empathetic feelings towards the “roaches” and tries to help them. A conflict
proceeds between Hunter and Stripe regarding the life of the captured roach, subsequently Stripe
escapes with the roach and ends up in an underground hiding spot, severely injured. The roach,
named Catarina, helps shed light on Stripe’s consciousness by explaining the ways in which
MASS manipulates soldiers into killing normal human beings. Soon after, they are caught by
Hunter and Stripe is knocked unconscious, only to wake up in a cell. For many viewers this is the
moment of complete clarity; a doctor explains to Stripe that MASS is used to compensate for the
natural human urge to empathize with the enemy, through the means of desensitizing soldiers to
appearance, the smell of blood, sound of screams. In the final scene, he is coerced into having his
MASS reset, and is discharged as a decorated veteran–disillusioned with a happy augmented
reality, when in actuality he is merely returning to a run down, abandoned home – with the
MASS still very active.
Cinematographic devices are majorly emphasized within this series episode. When
concerning the aesthetic appeal, it is quite clear that the director went for a darker approach. The
most prominent tones present throughout the episode are blue and grey, and most typically
vibrant-colored materials lack color altogether –this was the first hint at technological
interference. This also goes to hint that we, the viewers, are experiencing the piece the same way
as a soldier would. Another commonly used instrument was that of scene selection and the
frequent interchanging of frames and shots that put extra emphasis on things such as when
MASS was in use: their eyes would appear clouded, they would behave jittery (particularly while
dreaming), and so on. The dreams were specifically illustrated in a way that would serve the
purpose to disturb the viewer through the means of using human’s natural tendency to
contextualize behavioral symptoms; Stripe is shown to be twitching and becoming clearly
unsettled by the events occurring in his dreams. This hint signals from the very beginning that
there is something biologically unnatural in the soldiers’ mental wiring and gives viewers an
apprehensive emotional response. Later, this technique is effectively used in the initial roach
hunt, where the shots are intermittently being switched between the action scenes upstairs and
the calm conversation downstairs. This ensures the shock of defining the mission as one in terms
of eugenics as especially striking to viewers, because they see the immediate repercussions of the
operation. The use of technology is perfectly timed to be highlighted throughout the episode,
giving viewers just enough information to fuel a sense of curiosity but not enough to reveal the
plot.
In terms of sociopolitical implications, the director made sure to define soldiers as that of
the lower class. Most of the major characters represented in this episode were soldiers that came
from systematically underprivileged, marginalized groups. This suggests that, the status of a
soldier would quite possibly be considered as a last resort; something the underprivileged would
depend on for financial leaning. It can be observed in the first couple of scenes that there are no
white, male soldiers present; noted where the soldiers board the army truck, where they
investigate the robbed village, where they raid the farmhouse, and so on. The soldiers that were
mostly focused on define certain stereotypes for minorities; i.e. Stripe –the young, black man
who is constantly seen in a mindless state, often not providing much intellectual input in any of
the discourse provided throughout the episode (also proven that he comes from a poor
background when he returns home to a destroyed and abandoned house); Hunter –the
overaggressive farmgirl, attempting to compensate for her femininity through means of martial
dominance; and other people of color who have speaking roles often show racially demeaning
stereotypes. Also noteworthy is that the only white, male roles offered were that of the doctor,
the psychiatrist, and a few generals –all roles that display superiority. This may imply the
director’s personal feelings, but it also might imply their perception on the corrupted and
oppressive military system present within the US.
Jakob Verbruggen was successful in providing an intellectually founded, thought-
provoking commentary on technological advancement in connection with military weaponry.
Through his strategical cinematographic maneuvering, he was able to entice an audience and
simultaneously provide an awakening puzzle of sorts. His social remark is especially relevant in
an ever more divided society. In this quick one hour episode, he provides major insight on the
ways the ruling minority are able to manipulate the “weak” to turn on one another, and often
without even knowing it. It not only defines irony, but also defines a harsh truth.
 Reference
 Black Mirror: Men Against Fire. (2016). [video] Jakob Verbruggen.