Netflix probably never figured that Bird Box would be having this kind of cultural impact, because the streaming service’s hit horror/thriller just can’t stop drawing controversy.
The “Bird Box Challenge” trend has gotten people injured trying to do real-world activities while blindfolded, and now it appears the film itself is getting scrutinized in a bad way. That’s because part of Bird Box‘s vision of the apocalypse is actually built on real life tragedy.
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Mashable has a breakdown of how Netflix has admitted to using footage of real-life 2013 train derailment in Quebec, Canada, for a scene of Bird Box, in which Sandra Bullock’s character is viewing different apocalyptic news events on TV. The real-life accident saw a train with 70+ cars of crude oil break apart, with the oil cars speeding downhill toward the town of Lac-Mégantic. Approximately 1.5 million gallons of crude oil was spilled out over the town and ignited into an inferno. The incident killed 47 people and resulted in a widespread fire that damaged much of Lac-Mégantic.
Footage of accident was provided to Netflix by stock image company Pond 5, and Netflix has now been criticized for multiple uses of the footage, in Bird Box, the anime adaptation Death Note, and the streaming service’s new original series, Travelers. The latter used the footage of the train accident as part of a newcast about a nuclear bomb that had gone off in London. The series’ production company and Netflix have already had to issue a statement promising to remove the footage from Travelers, when the scene in question also stoked controversy:
“We sincerely apologize and had no intention to dishonour the tragic events of 2013,” Carrie Mudd, president of Peacock Alley Entertainment, said in a statement sent to The Washington Post via a Netflix representative. Mudd noted that the video clip in the episode was acquired from a stock footage vendor and the company wasn’t “aware of its specific source.”
When it was also observed that Bird Box had committed a similar infraction, Lac-Mégantic Mayor Julie Morin had the following to say to the Canadian Press:
“I don’t know if this is happening all the time, but we are looking for assurances from Netflix that … they are going to remove them. You can be sure we are going to follow up on this, and our citizens are on our side.”
Mashable has confirmed that Netflix has no plans to remove the offending footage from Bird Box as it did with Travelers. Meanwhile Robert Bellefleur, a spokesman for a coalition of citizens advocating for rail safety in Lac-Mégantic summed up the townspeople’s thoughts on the matter rather succinctly: “It brings us back to the pain.”
Both Bird Box and Travelers are now streaming on Netflix.
