Alex Garland’s Ex Machina examines the collision of technology and sexual dysfunction.
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Welcome to the Stepford Years. These are the days where men expect, or at least lust/dream after, a lover who is fully realized, perfect in mind and body, and most importantly, compliant in every way…if you catch my drift. Call it coping with pornocopia. Those girls seem to know what a man needs, why can’t mine be like that?
Ex Machina is super-smart sci-fi that probes a future that may nearly be here, where—let’s just say it—robots are created to not just take care of our menial duties, but are also there for men on an emotional, even physical, level.
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We see this meme proliferating now in our films, indeed, some of our best films of the past several years. Ex Machina, the directorial debut from Alex Garland (screenwriter of 28 Days Later and Sunshine), continues this meta-exploration into the male misconception of female perfection. Like recent predecessors Her and Under the Skin, Garland’s film shows why this expectation is likely a very bad thing.
Ex Machina is super-smart sci-fi that probes a future that may nearly be here, where—let’s just say it—robots are created to not just take care of our menial duties, but are also there for men on an emotional, even physical, level. Basically, the ultimate mate, and one who is not problematic and challenging like our real wives and girlfriends.
In the story, a highly intelligent young computer programmer (Domhnall Gleeson) is chosen by a powerful and mysterious CEO (Oscar Isaac) to perform a “Turing Test” (evaluating the consciousness and emotional bandwidth of artificial intelligence, i.e. a machine) on his latest invention: a very attractive, umm, robot (Alicia Vikander).
She quickly understands that her continuing “life” is in the hands of her observers, and begins playing mental poker almost immediately. What enables her ultimate survival is the development of emotional intelligence, which proves far more sophisticated than that of her genius laboratory gawkers. Her divide-and-conquer strategy is classic art of war, and the men, even knowing what they know (or think they know) are in the end helpless against her allure.
Both Gleeson and Isaac will be starring in a little film called Star Wars this December, but however boffo the box-office of that highly-anticipated film, I have a strong intuition that Ex Machina will be the more thought-provoking film, and their performances here will likely stand as the more impressive creations.
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As we watch the psychological duel play out, we increasingly find ourselves nearly as helpless as the men in the film. We watch the young programmer try to remain professional while obviously falling for her hard. We know that he knows that she might be trying to trick him, but he is unable to resist, and we identify…who wouldn’t want this woman saying these things every single day?
Ex Machina features three amazing performances. Isaac, who has established himself as one of our sturdiest actors with impressive work in films such as Inside Llewyn Davis and A Most Violent Year, chews the scenery here like a megalomaniacal lawnmower. His brilliant but emotionally unhinged mogul/tech wizard is seemingly trapped in a personal wrestling match between his higher and lower aspirations; his true motivations are as confusing to himself as they are for the viewer. In Ex Machina, Isaac has created a character as unforgettable as he is impenetrable.
Gleeson also brings great nuance to his role as an innocent trying to understand the truth of the situation. He brings emotional resonance and depth, and we know we would likely make the same choices, and unfortunate mistakes. Both Gleeson and Isaac will be starring in a little film called Star Wars this December, but however boffo the box-office of that highly-anticipated film, I have a strong intuition that Ex Machina will be the more thought-provoking film, and their performances here will likely stand as the more impressive creations.
And, not surprisingly, given the juicy dimensions (to say the least) of her role, Ex Machina features a star-making turn from Vikander, whose beauty and grace under pressure is simply fascinating to watch. She is the wild card in the truest sense, but, as with Gleeson character, we just really want her to be real; she represents everything we think we desire.
But the real revelation here is director Alex Garland, who infuses every scene with foreboding narrative and a deeply-probing eye, asking precisely the right questions, and careful to not provide answers wrapped in bows. He doesn’t try to make a statement; instead he simply asks us to think about the ramifications of (and the unconscious desires that lurk beneath) our technological evolution. He masterfully juxtaposes huge ideas within sparse set-designs; the weighty concepts are allowed to breathe without clutter or convention. The cinematography from Rob Hardy is the McCartney to Garland’s Lennon, the look of the film lush and exciting while remaining detached. Ex Machina leaves the ultimate meaning to the viewer, and I guarantee you will be pondering the implications for weeks after.
The Stepford Wives, modern cinema has been warning us of the dangers of technology without morality, and Garland’s film takes that dialog to a new and frightening level.
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With his masterful direction of Ex Machina, Garland leaps onto the critical A-list of filmmakers with something important to say, or at least something crucial to ask. From classics like 2001: A Space Odyssey to kitschy confections like Westworld and The Stepford Wives, modern cinema has been warning us of the dangers of technology without morality, and Garland’s film takes that dialog to a new and frightening level. Unlike those past films, which were extrapolating far into the future Ex Machina is concerned with a reality that is nearly upon us now—this science fiction is actually science reality, and we would do well to heed its warning.
And, make no mistake, this warning is concerned with sexuality, and our puerile understanding thereof. The “battle” of sexes is now playing out in our high-tech invention, and our very reasons, it seems, for creating new technology in the first place. We may have the ability to feed the hunger of our desire through these means, but Ex Machina makes the point that our nourishment may not exists where we think it does. This might be most evident in the character of the maid—did I forget to mention her? She doesn’t say a word throughout the film, so she might be easy to overlook, but I suggest you keep an eye on her. Certainly the male characters would have been better served by considering her as something more than a gorgeous, passive concubine. She just may have a say in the matter as well.
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Photo: Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Oscar Isaac in Ex Machina/official movie poster/trailer images
Dean, Ken – Danny and I where having an interesting discussion. One we even found some common ground on. Please join us in our discussion with your own thoughts. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the topic. There is really no need to attack me presonally.
Oh and Ken, there is nothing wrong with me. But I appreciate your concern. What our your thoughts on this topic and discussion?
Erin’s posts are hilarious. There is something obviously wrong with her. I don’t know why she does not just go to a women’s website if she wants to talk about women’s issues. It’s not that hard.
That’s because such men are raised to believe that there is no complexity. If you look at guys who hold women in the regards you describe you’ll also notice that they also think of themselves as simple basic creatures who lack anything resembling complexity. Of a docile, doesn’t talk about, perfect women that simply satisfies all his needs where he is not required to give anything of himself? Not quite true. He expects to give basic things like provide for the home and in return she gives basic things like fufilling his base sexual desires. The problem is these guys… Read more »
Haven’t seen you around in awhile Danny, nice to see you posting. My thoughts were not so much that these men are raised to believe there is no complexity, but they actually like the lack of complexity in women, and maybe even themselves, because they aren’t required to give anything of themselves in return or reflect over much about who they are and what they may actually really want from life. Add in how we expect men to only show a few acceptable emotions like anger, lust or pleasure; but we shun them showing and experiencing the full rainbow of… Read more »
How goes it Erin. My thoughts were not so much that these men are raised to believe there is no complexity, but they actually like the lack of complexity in women, and maybe even themselves, because they aren’t required to give anything of themselves in return or reflect over much about who they are and what they may actually really want from life. Add in how we expect men to only show a few acceptable emotions like anger, lust or pleasure; but we shun them showing and experiencing the full rainbow of emotions. Let me clarify. I was trying to… Read more »
Danny, I simply don’t see men stripping other male characters of complexity in popular entertainment in the way I see films and male characters do to female characters. I don’t see a desire for men to simplify other men into obedience and docility the way I see done to women. Otherwise this movie would be about a male robot, not a female one. There is a reason this fantasy appeals to certain men. I would bet that some of what you are saying is true some of the time. But I also know that some of what I’m saying is… Read more »
Danny, I simply don’t see men stripping other male characters of complexity in popular entertainment in the way I see films and male characters do to female characters. If you look at the male characters in a lot of movies you will see a big lack of complexity as well. “Action hero that blows up anything…and anyone in his way.” “Brainiac that is way smarter than everyone else.” “Smooth operator that can make any woman melt in his hands.” I would bet that some of what you are saying is true some of the time. But I also know that… Read more »
Danny, action films are one segment of a huge pool of movies. Look back on movies that won academy awards and most of them are stories about men. Even in action films though, men are certainly better represented then women. And most action films are made with men in mind. The majority of films out there, tell the stories of men. The majority of films out there, have male leads. Male characters are more fully developed and fleshed out. There are simply more roles and opportunity for men to act and alot of male actors make a heck of a… Read more »
Danny, action films are one segment of a huge pool of movies. Look back on movies that won academy awards and most of them are stories about men. Even in action films though, men are certainly better represented then women. And most action films are made with men in mind. The majority of films out there, tell the stories of men. The majority of films out there, have male leads. Male characters are more fully developed and fleshed out. There are simply more roles and opportunity for men to act and alot of male actors make a heck of a… Read more »
The majority of what roles? The majority of male super hero roles? Again, this is one segment of a huge pool of movies. And while Superhero movies may lack true complexity about men, men are still being portrayed as heros of their own worlds and destiny’s. And little boys and grown men enjoy that role and being able to fight for justice and over come the bad guy. And they should enjoy those fantasies. There are a lot of women yearning to see their gender actually portrayed as a superhero that little girls (and boys) can look up to as… Read more »
Erin,
This is a website for men. Get over yourself.
Dean, you might want to read the “about” page on GMP and what their mission is.
There is talk about a technology called Hololens being worked on by Microsoft, where it can turn your living room into your laptop through graphics that begin to take space in your actual living space. It’s pretty interesting technology if Microsoft can turn it out. But if you read a lot of the conversations around this technology on mainstream sites like YouTube, you will see that a lot of the men respond excited around the idea of holo-graphics of women being created to pander to their desires. The men talking about this were like little boys on Christmas day. Why… Read more »
Oh hell no. “nuanced complex characters”? You know what I see when I see the response to 50 Shades? I see hordes of women who want a man who will basically read her mind. He knows when to push the boundaries without her ever having to actually tell him. He’s rich, so he’ll buy her whatever she wants whenever she wants, without her ever having to lift a finger. He sees her as so alluring that his entire world revolves around her and what she needs, and she doesn’t have to actually “fulfill” any of his because her very presence… Read more »
Also, let’s just remember the fact that for the past few decades men have been repeatedly told we are easily replaced by a vibrating piece of molded plastic and rubber.
1. I previously stated, and feel the need to repeat based on your response, that what women can possibly fantasize about is not necessarily better. 2. There are differences between what men and women seem to enjoy sometimes. Such as the fact that in 50 Shades, Christian is crazy rich and that obviously plays into the story at a shallow level. But if you look at romantic stories like Titantic, we can see that is not the only thing women find attractive or romantic in a man. Infact, I bet if you asked women which movie they liked more, I… Read more »
Erin, I want you to consider something The men you saw excited about these holograms or robots or whatever they were… I’d be willing to be that, largely, they’re the guys who have already been universally rejected by women. And, assuming this is indeed the case, if they were to indulge sexual fantasy with robots or holograms or whatever… who exactly would they be harming, except perhaps themselves? This isn’t like porn where you can claim that there’s (usually) a real person on the other end of the camera. We’re talking a machine, an image, a computer program. So, bottom… Read more »
8ball there may be three key points we view entirely differently. One being, I don’t think that rejection and hurt and pain is a good reason why one group of people should be allowed to objectify and subjugate another group of people or the image of those people for their personal pleasure of the first group. Who hasn’t experienced rejection in life? I don’t understand why men especially are allowed to continue to uphold stereotypes about women and objectify them just because they’ve experienced the pain of rejection. The continual denial that women do not experience emotions and life experiences… Read more »
Here’s the problem with your comparison Erin “racist needs” are not actually a thing. Sexual needs, however, are. I would ask what your solution to this problem is. Fact: There are men out there who will never have sex- or any sort of meaningful relationship- in their entire lives. Their libidos aren’t going to go anywhere. However, you’ve posited that unless a man gets permission from an actual woman, anything he does with that libido is suspect. (What’s the difference between masturbating while viewing the image of a naked woman and masturbating while imagining the image of a naked woman?)… Read more »
There is no problem with my comparison 8Ball. Sexism and racism both exist. Both are sreious issues in our culture. There is no reason to get into silly nonsense about “racist needs” vs “sexual needs”. Just because any human being on the earth has a sexual needs, does not mean they are justified and entitled to treat the object of their lust/affection, any way they want to achieve their own personal satisfaction. Let me translate: Just because a man may be attracted to women, it does not entitle him to abuse, use, get off to, objectify and self gratify himself… Read more »
Unfortunately I tend to come up with tons of ideas for stories like this, but lack the patience and courage to put them on the page and see if they work as actual stories. I’ve often thought that emotional manipulation from a highly intelligent AI could be a far more realistic danger than anything resembling a physical fight. We often imagine a robotic menace as a unfeeling machine with giant laser guns. However, obviously we would be very cautious about giving a robot a gun, atleast without a human in control of the “Fire” button, but the desire to have… Read more »