1. Introduction: 8% (max. 150)
Catchy introduction to motivate the reader to continue reading
Only one in four US soldiers shoots to kill. This is the conclusion of S.L.M. Marshall who was a World War I veteran, military historian and author of the book “Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command”, published in 1947. Marshall’s claim was based on self-conducted interviews with soldiers right after combat and the results of his own research worried him. The phenomenon that the majority of the US Army did not actually intend to kill their enemies despite their thorough military training and their commands was not acceptable to him. Therefore, he recommended the Army to increase their budget for training that will ensure that soldiers will not recoil from killing when shooting their enemy.
The following is a short examination of the same named Black Mirror episode “Men Against Fire” which presents a fictional near-future scenario in which the military takes Marshall’s advice to heart.
2. Summary Content: 17% (max. 400)
A good enthusing description, with an eye for a few appealing details
The episode tells the story of Stripe, a soldier who is employed by a military organisation. In a post-apocalyptic setting, Stripe and his team are part of a mission that aims to hunt down and kill so-called roaches. At the beginning, the audience does not know yet what those are but the banter between Stripe and his squadmates makes it very clear that soldiers are being rewarded and honoured if they manage to kill a lot of them. Moreover, each of them is equipped with a technical neural implant called MASS that interferes with its carrier’s senses like smell, vision and hearing to enhance the soldiers’ abilities and give them augmented reality.
Following a lead, Stripe’s team heads towards the home of an old deeply Christian man who is suspected to hide roaches inside his house. While the commanding officer is interrogating the suspect and trying to persuade him that roaches are dangerous and need to be exterminated, Stripe is searching the house. Finally, he finds the “nest” of roaches who seem to be mutant humans who look like vamipiristic zombie monster with sharp teeth who make growling noises. One of them points a mysterious LED device at Stripe who then shoots all of them and stabs one roach cruelly and reaptedly in the chest. Afterwards, he picks up the LED device which flashes him in the eyes. From that moment on Stripe starts to experience glitches with his MASS system which also begins to give him headaches. Even, after a physical examination and a session with a military psychologist, Stripe is having trouble with his implant which impacts his performance. Then, during his next mission, his team’s commander is killed by a roach and Stripe and his squadmate Hunter track down its “nest”. Instead of roaches Stripe finds a frightened human women who is immediately shot dead by Hunter. Horrified and confused, a fight breaks out between Stripe and Hunter as he realises that she sees roaches where he sees innocent humans being killed and eventually he knocks her out and flees with another woman and her child who were hiding. The woman explains to Stripe that the LED device interfered with his implant so that he could see roaches as normal humans again. The people called roaches are victims of a genocide that Stripe’s organisation is conducting against people who are said to have inferior genes. Soldiers got equipped with mass so it would make the killing easy for them. Ordinary citizens‘ view is not manipulated but propaganda caused them to hate roaches.
Later, Stripe gets captured by Hunter and he wakes up in a light cell. The military psychologist explains to Stripe that he had agreed to join the genetic cleansing program out of free will and proves this with video footage. His memory of this had been taken though. He also shows him a video of him stabbing the roach from the beginning of the episode though the filter has been removed and Stripe sees that he was killing an innocent begging human. The psychologist threatens him to put the video on endless loop in his head if he does not agree to getting his memory erased a second time and Stripe gives in.
3. Claims about media and/or communication 17% (max. 250)
Good explanation that makes explicitly clear which claims are made and how they are presented in the media content
The main medium in “Men Against Fire” is the MASS neural implant system that soldiers get equipped with. This futuristic technology is said to have a variety of functions such as augmented reality and the alteration of senses. The audience learns this first from the woman Stripe saved and who explains to him in an embittered and desperate manner that the technology is made to facilitate genocide. Then, later in the episode the psychologist who presents the military clarifies in a sensitive and positive manner that MASS is a necessity to protect society. According to him human empathy is a huge impediment in warfare as it hinders soldiers to fulfil their duty of killing the enemy and the ones who actually do so suffer from psychological consequences and eventually become useless to the military. He claims that the new technology is supposed to solve this problem as it puts a filter on the soldiers senses so that they do not have to smell blood, hear their victims’ human screams or see their human faces. The filter ensures that the enemy is dehumanised to suppress the natural empathy impulse. Thus, the neural implant fulfils the purpose of making war more efficient. His reasoning seems very (COLD BUT ALSO CALMING AND LOGICAL IN A SICK WAY)
Furthermore, Stripe’s horrified reaction to seeing himself stabbing a human that he thought to be a monster shows that the medium is presented as a terrifying example of what can happen if technology is abused for unethical purposes.
All in all, the watcher is left with an uncomfortable and uneasy feeling about this futuristic medium.
4. Why is the content interesting in relation to media & communication: 17% (max. 200)
Clearly shows what I find interesting and why. Makes reader curious
This Black Mirror episode is very interesting because even though the story takes place in the future it is also a reminder of the past. During the Hitler regime German newspapers and propaganda media content such as films were used to indoctrinate the population that Jews were comparable to rats and other dirty animals and therefore could only be classified as subhumans. Eventually, this attitude contributed to make the Holocaust possible. “Men Against Fire” basically retells this story but changed the medium of manipulation. In the past, the population actively consumed media that educated them the world view of the government and then they applied those believes to their actions. In the future of Black Mirror, the government is also controlling the medium but it is a new technology that does not need to educate a world view but instead makes people passively see the world through their eyes. Thus, to see roaches where there are humans the people in control of the medium of manipulation do not have to rely on a gradual education process but can achieve an immediate effect on peoples’ attitude. This can be understood as a reminder and warning from the past.
5. Explanation on which ICS theories are relevant and why 33% (max. 500)
Clearly and correctly explains for at least two theories why they are relevant
Analysing this episode from a more scientific aspect one can find at least two communication theories that apply here.
For instance, the content of “Men Against Fire” very much relates to the theory of Marshall McLuhan’s media ecology. According to McLuhan, not the effects of the media on individuals are important but to understand how they affect society and culture since he saw the medium as the message itself. That is to say that every new technology or medium is an extension of the human body as it enhances peoples’ possibilities and thus reforms the symbolic environment. This is very much the case in the story. The neural implant changes the soldiers’ sensory experience dramatically as it directly affects all of their senses such as vision, smell and hearing. What is reality becomes very unclear and thus changes how the carriers of the implant perceive reality and interact with people. The most extreme example given is the scene of Stripe stabbing the innocent person he thought to be a monster and whose begging for his life he was not able to hear. This shows that the usage of the MASS technology alters the soldiers’ behaviours as they do not show mercy or empathy for their dehumanized victims anymore. In fact, the banter between Stripe and his squadmates about the number of roaches they have managed to kill indicates that they see it as a fun game or challenge. This also reminds of Marshall McLuhan’s four laws about how to judge a new medium: Enhance, obsolesce, retrieve and reverse. The episode tells the audience about the latter since it reveals what neural implants can effectuate if taken too far and effectively used for unethical purposes.