Summer 2015. A highly anticipated sci-fi exploration of artificial intelligence and what it means to be a human hit audiences with a surprising wallop that left viewers’ opinions divided; some were moved, others were angry, and some just didn’t know what had happened. That movie was…not Age of Ultron. It was Ex Machina, Alex Garland’s directoral debut about the most chilling Turing Test ever conducted.
But is Ex Machina as complex as viewers think it is? Does it explore our emotional reactions or does it manipulate them? It is a rich investigation of masculinity run amok, or a fetishistic exploitation film about a man making sex-dolls? Andrew, Erv and Chris ZF do their best to unpack a movie that, if nothing else, provides fodder for endless conversation.
Listen to the episode on Libsyn, or find and follow the podcast on iTunes or Stitcher
Next week on the Stake Podcast: Point Break. He is an FBI Agent. She’s a surfing sweetheart. And Swayze is a philosophical Bodhisattva of life on the ocean.
Lukas Murchie says
I know this is a week late, but I had some thoughts about Ex-Machina I wanted to share.
1st: I wish the movie made a stronger sell on Ava’s humanity/consciousness. I believe the tension/struggle with this question is at the heart of any A.I. movie and Ex-Machina could have made a stronger sell. In particular, when Ava attempts to kill Nathan, her face is completely void of emotion. Expressing anger/regret or sadness in this moment would make me think twice about her “alive-ness”. Instead, she is cold, exhibits no pain when her arm is broken off (even though we know she senses pain and pleasure), and for all intents and purposes presents as a non-living robot. From that point on, I dismissed her as a living being and no longer wrestled with the question of her humanity. This to me also communicates that she will go into the world and wreck havoc, because she does not have empathy for humans and will destroy anyone that interferes. She has evil, cold, machine-like intentions.
2nd: Andrew stated he felt when Ava whispered to Kyoko he took that as them hashing their plan of attack. I felt that it was Ava implanting the idea in Kyoko’s head that they could be free, and that she no longer had to be enslaved. Then, Kyoko took the initiative to take out Nathan. A minor point I know, but since no one mentioned this on the podcast I wanted to add it to the conversation.
3rd: Not sure how many comments are supplied each week, but I think it would be cool to hear if other listener’s had different thoughts/takes on each podcast. Would it be possible to have a “from our listeners” portion of the podcast? Maybe slide it in at the end, and read comments from the prior week’s podcast.