No Reasonable Theory For The Ending of Men Against Fire?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Black Mirror
buchowski — 9 years ago(November 02, 2016 03:11 PM)
This episode seems to be the less discussed on here. It is pretty straight forward until the very end.
1, he isn't incarcerated and even if he was, the shrink told him he would see the murders of those people on loop.
2, He was crying which suggested his memory of the past few days had not been wiped.
He seemed to choose to remain so I wonder why we have to see him crying. -
sbac — 9 years ago(November 02, 2016 08:23 PM)
Well, he could have been crying because he was happy to be home, not realizing it was an illusion. There's also the potential to experience a strong emotion linked to a memory that's been blocked out and not really understand why.
Poop? Poop. -
CharBalderas — 9 years ago(November 03, 2016 04:54 AM)
Well, I guess he chose to forget and was put down to sleep/dream however for a couple seconds he could remember the crude memories while living the make believe. That's why he cried. I bet that some seconds later he stopped crying and his face turned back robotic as usual.
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filho2109 — 9 years ago(November 08, 2016 10:14 AM)
I don't think he's dreaming. The car drops him off in front of a dilapidated home. That looks real. All other dream sequences, when they show reality, he is fast asleep. In this case, he seems awake and using some soft of implant/software that superimposes false images/sequences over what is really physically there. Somewhat similar to the in-combat software they used.
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dandayus — 9 years ago(November 05, 2016 04:53 PM)
Why are you so sure he wasn't incarcerated? It looked like a clear dream sequence to me (lots of bright light and his girlfriend's hair blowing in the wind), I think he's either imagining going to see her when he's actually in prison or he kills himself in prison and those are the images that flash through his mind before he dies. I don't think the watching the murders on a loop thing was a punishment that they were going to implement, more just the fact that he has to live in isolation being haunted by what he did.
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filho2109 — 9 years ago(November 08, 2016 10:02 AM)
My guess. He chooses 'prison'. Except it's not a physical prison, but a prison of the mind. He knows what he is seeing is not real, but he's forced to see it anyway. He also is forced to see all his murders on loopstarting with the girl of his dreams. They never explain what happened to him before he joins the group, but show him as a lost, slighty-thuggish youth. They likely recruit criminals, lost souls, people with no connection left to the 'real world' and erase their memories. However, they create a dream sequence for the soldiers out of someone from their past. Someone they know they will respond positively to. So the girl he dreams about is someone he might have known and killed before he enlisted (accident, crime of passion.). His 'prison' sentence includes reliving that tragedy. The software uses the physical space as a template and imprints that false images over it, so they drop him off at his home where the crime occurred to relive it virtually. They'll come back for him when it's time to relive the other murders in different locations.
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jamcmulliniv — 9 years ago(November 08, 2016 11:52 AM)
I assumed it was to show that for a brief moment on some level his prior self/memories crept through, even if they weren't anything other than a base emotional reaction.
I never even considered that it could be a dream of him, trapped in the prison cell. That's interesting. Not sure about it but myself but it could be possible and does change the message of the ending. -
mincho173 — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 12:18 AM)
He arrives "home" like a war hero, which means that he choose to forget and get the implant again, which means that he kept killing people and completed his mission, therefore he was able to come "home" and be happy as a successful veteran hero. Except that it was obviously not real and the wife and beautiful house was all an illusion.
He cries of happiness, because he feels he did what was best for his virtual family and his country. It's never suggested that he was crying from what he did since his facial expressions says otherwise.
Its a good analogy of soldier brainwashing, and how everyone is so proud of killing people in other countries and how the government chooses to make it look like it's due to protect yourself and your beloved. -
sleddawg63 — 9 years ago(November 20, 2016 10:56 AM)
It's a commentary on effects of military people coming home to a world that doesn't want them or respect them. Vietnam Vets, Gulf War Vets all hoped they'd come home to something better, but in many cases didn't.
If you watched the episode you know that the technology solves one major human flaw (the ability to fight.) Another issue is life after the war. The ending shows the military has a solution for that as well. -
m-l-poulter — 9 years ago(November 27, 2016 04:18 PM)
But the way he perceives it, he has come home to a beautiful home and a welcoming, beautiful wife. I find this hard to interpret as "a commentary on effects of military people coming home to a world that doesn't want them or respect them."
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Joel_morley5 — 9 years ago(November 22, 2016 03:38 PM)
The camera focuses on his arm, on the stripes he had aquired by staying and fighting. There is no question that he chose to repair the broken implant and keep fighting.
The tear is just a tear as he returning home to his loved one. I don't think there's anything to suggest otherwise? -
willb-8 — 9 years ago(November 23, 2016 02:00 PM)
This was probably my least favorite episode and entirely due to the ending. The tears initially seem like he knows its not real but the only thing that makes sense to me is that they are tears of joy in the virtual world while we got a sneak peak at what the actual house looks like at that moment. It makes no sense even with his virtual enhancement of reality to walk up to a boarded up door and an absent wife - we haven't seen anything to suggest the facade he's seeing wouldn't break down at that point. To suggest he somehow remembers its all fake and is sad just isn't supported by his prior complete amnesia.
Him returning with his virtually enhanced implant to his real home also wasn't presented as an option. At first I thought he had done his duty - completed his tour - and now come back home but he'd be crying due to sadness as this is his real life while we see the enhanced version of what he had been fed and now he's sad because it isn't true? Maybe thats it. -
ForTheNonce — 9 years ago(December 11, 2016 05:06 PM)
This is why it is one of my least favorite eps (still good though.)
I took from it that he was mindwiped and sent to live in an abandoned house like a roach. He was given false happy memories to keep him from stirring anything up, but it wouldn't be on file anywhere that they terminated one of their own.