Black Mirror

Work Title: Black Mirror
Medium: TV Episode
Episode Title: Men Against Fire
Year: 2016
Writer(s): Charlie Brooker
"Original" Writer: Yes Writer(s):
"Original" Writer: Own work?: No
Summary:

America soldiers are exterminating an infected people in Eastern Europe while under the influence of a mind-control implant called Mass. The goal of Mass is to improve the fighting quality of the soldiers which in this episode, takes a dark turn. The soldiers have limited senses and the main character, Stripe, notices this when his implant begins to malfunction. Later in the episode, it complete shuts off and he sees the enemies as human instead of "roaches" as they are called. The roaches do not appear human to all other soldiers though as the Mass implant alters their reality so they see monsters instead of people, making it easier to kill them. In the end, Strip has his memory erased as he finds out what is going on and the military leaders cannot allow him to return to the real world. He returns home with his implant still in him and sees a welcoming scene with his wife coming out to greet him; the next shot shows him standing alone, staring at an empty boarded up house of what used to actually be his home.

  • Self-Written?: 1
  • Source Name:
  • Source URL:
Era/Year of Portrayal: near_future
Distinctive characteristics of the world in portrayal:

The characters are very modern, the military uniforms are still exactly what we see today. The only thing that has changed is the advancement of technology.

Technology

  • Name of portrayed presence-evoking technology: Mass
  • Description of the technology: Mass is a multi-purpose technology that helps soldiers improve their shooting accuracy and ability to work together. For example, the leader is using a drone to scout a zone and connects to her fellow soldiers so they can all see it in their own eyes.

    In addition, the technology makes it so that the people they are exterminating appear as monsters that are growling and scary, while in reality, they are only cowering people like you and me who want to live.

    For all soldiers, the technology works very well and Stripes only stops working because he comes near a device that interferes with Mass.

    Mass has the ability to create social control and show people worlds that are not real such as in the end when Stripe came home to see his wife welcoming him when in reality, no one was there and the place looked destitute.

    Mass has many, many abilities and in the end, is supposed to help the military fight wars more effectively although it crosses many ethical boundaries.
  • Nature of task or activity: It is working all the time -- the users, when it comes to roaches, don''t even realize the state of presence that is altered.

    It also works for tasks such as shooting and can launch a virtual computer in front of oneself to use military technology.
  • Performance of the Technology: It functions for everyone except for Stripes, whose Mass is effected by a product designed to damage Mass.

    In the end, it malfunctioning only harms Stripe because the military will not give him any options other than erasing his memory or imprisoning him.
  • Description of creator(s): The creators are military-scientists and the technology is a top-secret technology. In the show, a male appeared to be the one in control of it's use and he worked in a fancy office at a military base and was in his 50's.
  • Major goal(s) of creator(s): To make it easier for soldiers to kill people and return home without intense PTSD as the creators can alters the worlds of those who come home.
  • Description of users of technology: The users are those in the military.
  • Type(s) of presence experience in the portrayal: spatial_presence
  • Description of presence experience: Well, first off, the people to be exterminated appeared to be monsters rather than as humans. Another,
  • User awareness of technology during experience: The users are not aware at all. Only Stripe began to notice things when he started smelling grass, and then, when he started seeing people and not roaches. Even then, he remained quite confused until the very end and when he did know the truth, had his memory erased. So no user of Mass is allowed to be aware of its effects.
  • Valence of experience: It seems pleasant in the ways it can help and reduce people's fear of killing because they do not feel as if they killed another human but instead, a monster. It is also pleasant it's use to help coordinate military tactics.
  • Specific responses: Stripe was sick after learning the truth about his experiences. The man in charge blinded him and showed him what he actually did (when he murdered a roach with a knife), by showing how he would have seen it if he killed the real person.

    In the end though, he seems okay because he is placed back under the influence of Mass due to having no choice and is once again, unaware of the presence experience.
Long-term consequences:

The consequences of this technology is ethically-wrong because it makes murder easier. It's a lie essentially and part of population and social control by our government. We already see so many things on television that can irrationally alter our views of reality. With t.v. and social media, we have choices and we can be more or less aware of it's influence With Mass, there is no choice and you become a pawn in a larger game.

Other:

Coder name: Kayla Smith
Coder email: tug622422@temple.edu
Coder affiliation: Temple