Men Against Fire
Xenophobia.The name given to a person's fear and hatred of strangers or people who are different from him in some way. It's a fear that comes from the thought that anything different is dangerous. Fear of a group that is in a community but is not considered part of that community. It ranges from racism to fear of extraterrestrials in science fiction.
The episode "Men Against Fire" addresses this theme by focusing on how people are controlled and manipulated.The episode is set in the near future, and soldiers are assigned to destroy mutated people called "roaches". The soldiers have a technology that, thanks to their implants, makes the faces and bodies of these roaches invisible. Thanks to this, soldiers can easily kill roaches during operations called "clearance".
The story is told through Stripe (Malachi Kirby), one of the soldiers. Stripe is taking part in the battle for the first time and has seen how terrible the roaches are at close range. However, at the end of his operations, Stripe loses his implant and afterwards finds out how different the facts are.
When Stripe is taken to a center to repair his implant, he learns the truth here: the Roaches are not actually human, but they reveal them to the soldiers as "roach" through the implants. Thanks to these implants, soldiers see the roaches as enemies and make it easier to destroy them. In fact, although the roaches are human, they have been marginalized by society and made targets by being told that they should be killed.
This section offers a deep critique of how people can be controlled and manipulated. Factors such as the implants of soldiers, the influence of the media, the thoughts of the majority of society make people ready to see and destroy as enemies. Therefore, the episode serves as a warning about how easily people can be manipulated.
As a result, the episode "Men Against Fire" offers a deep critique of how people can be controlled. Factors such as the implants of soldiers, the influence of the media and the thoughts of society make people ready to see and destroy as enemies. The episode reminds us that we need to question people's systems of thought and be wary of manipulation. In addition, the episode also gives an important message about othering and discrimination Decoupling between people. A group of people like the Roaches are ostracized by society and it becomes acceptable for them to be killed. This is a problem that is still happening today, and the department aims to raise awareness about it.
The episode also highlights how big a role technology plays in people's lives and how this technology can be abused. Implants prevent soldiers from seeing the truth, allowing them to act more effectively in combat. However, this use of technology prevents people from seeing the facts and makes them open to manipulation. The episode "Men Against Fire", as throughout the Black Mirror series, deals with a topic that bothers the viewer and sheds light on the dark aspects of human nature. The department creates awareness on social and ethical issues by processing the issues of how people can be controlled, manipulated and marginalized.
