Birdbox SLAMMED for using real-life disaster footage of rail accident
Netflix' Bird Box has consistently found itself in the headlines, mainly because of how absolutely ridiculous the whole debacle is.
The movie sparked a change this week in YouTube's guidelines after people began posting videos of themselves carrying out potentially dangerous acts while blindfolded, such as driving.
The streaming giant even had to come out and tell viewers not to try the so-called 'Bird Box Challenge', but now the company is under fire for using REAL footage from a 2013 rail disaster.
In 2013, a 74-car freight train transporting crude oil derailed beside the small Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic, and resulted in the tragic deaths of 47 people.
At first, Netflix refused to edit its post-apocalyptic horror flick after it was criticised for using footage of the disaster. A spokesman told AP it had no plans to remove the footage; “We will keep the clip in the movie.”
Now, it has been reported that the streaming service will be exploring ways to prevent this from happening in the future. BBC reports that Netflix has used footage of the tragedy before, in the Canadian-American science fiction show Travellers.
Netflix comes under fire for using real footage of the deadly Lac-Mégantic train crash in Bird Box https://t.co/T9PQ7414B5 pic.twitter.com/LSBx1kRhMX
— Siglov Freudivan (@DerangedRadio) January 17, 2019
Julie Morin, mayor of Lac-Mégantic, criticised Netflix for using the upsetting footage, telling The Globe and Mail: “You can be sure we are going to follow up on this, and our citizens are on our side.”
Peacock Alley Entertainment, who produced Travellers, released an apology and said they unintentionally dishonoured the Lac-Mégantic incident and would replace the footage.
Pond 5 also stated their regret that the footage had been ”taken out of context and used in entertainment programming”. They apologise “to anyone who was offended, especially the victims and their families”.
