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Black Mirror as a show is notorious for messing with the human head, bringing to the forefront some of the most primal sides of human nature. However, one of the episodes in Season 3 takes a shift from that narrative and eventually turned out to be one of the most horrifying episodes of the season. But what makes this worse is the fact that the story for this episode was actually inspired by real-life events.
Season 3 Episode 5 of Black Mirror, "Men Against Fire," portrays the horrifying reality of war without actually glorifying the war and soldiers. Instead, it shows things from a survivor's perspective—a territory that was fairly unexplored in the past.
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Black Mirror Season 3 Episode 5 is inspired by horrific real-life incidents
Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker recently disclosed that Episode 5 of Season 3, titled "Men Against Fire," was one of the first stories that he had drafted for the popular Netflix show. However, the theme was so dark that the story was shelved for a while.
The inspiration for the story came from a brutal war documentary that Brooker watched, which showed the life of a woman after her family had been killed in the Iraq War. What inspired Brooker was the fact that it was more than a fleeting shot of a nameless, weeping person.
He recalls his inspiration in his 2018 book, Inside Black Mirror. He narrates,
"There was a lengthy sequence following a grieving mother around her house, in which she was subtitled throughout, describing how members of her family had been killed. Usually you'd just glimpse a weeping relative for a two-second shot in a news report. This suddenly became more urgent and human."
The documentary inspired his story for "Men Against Fire," which follows the story of a young soldier by the name of Stripe. In this episode, a neural implant called MASS is implanted within the brains of soldiers. Owing to this implant, the soldiers end up viewing the civilians they kill as roaches instead of humans, which sends them into a frenzy and makes it easier for them to kill these people.
Moreover, the implant also lures them to kill by showing the soldiers dreams of a better life with women. However, the MASS implant inside Stripe's brain malfunctions, and he is able to see the horrific sight of the people they are slaughtering, which eventually sends him to therapy. He is now faced with two options—he can either wipe his memory clean and get his MASS implant fixed, or he can continue to fight in an endless cycle where he is aware of the slaughter he is participating in.
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This episode is considered as one of the most horrific episodes of the show so far, and what makes it more horrifying is the fact that it is based on real-life incidents.
READ MORE: Why is the show called Black Mirror? The meaning behind the title, explained
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