MovieChat Forums > Ex Machina (2015) Discussion > Did anyone else notice Caleb had.....

Did anyone else notice Caleb had.....

posted 8 years ago by DaveBowman2001
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A big scar on his back, like the corner of a square when he first lays in bed on night one? The rest of his back is obscured by shadow and covers, but the camera definitely focuses on it. Makes you wonder if he was an AI. Or could just be a red herring, but I didn't see it the first viewing. I also found the sparkling blue lights on his face abnormal (even for FX) when he got notice he won the lottery. It was very Tron-like.

He was also unable to lie to Ava, without her knowing and she began to manipulate and outsmart him. I'm not certain, but it could also just be the author just making a statement about humanity becoming machine like and automated.

I think the movie still works with Caleb being human and we do see him bleed when he cuts his wrist, seemingly not sure if he is AI or human, so maybe the scar was a teaser.

You could also argue humans were created as "AI" by the creator...then the humans (Nathan) created their own version of AI and tried to become Gods/creators themselves. Kinda ties in with the esoteric too.

What do you think?

[–] t_3 8 years ago

red herring: according to caleb, he lost his parents in a car accident when he was sitting in the back of that same car, and had to spend a year in hospital - this would easily explain the scars.

imo the message or better said the idea behind the films story is presented by nathan, in a sentence when he calls it unavoidable that a powerful AI is going to appear sooner or later, and also states that he (probably alex garland too ;) thinks this will finally lead to extinction of mankind - a still "natural" and quit logical evolutionary step forward... and not to esoteric too (depends on your pov ;)

[–] DaveBowman2001 8 years ago

Oh yeah, I forgot about the car accident story. Red Herring and clever. Thanks for pointing that out. Yes, that was an important line.

[–] t_3 8 years ago

oh btw, your question made me think about the blue light effects that btw were also visible in the very first scene when caleb sits in front of his work desk / computer screens (when he finds out he won the "lottery").

had put that aside since it seemed to be a bit too obvious matrix-like effect; now it feels obvious that it should be "decoded" as a nod to the way nathan developed the AIs ability to read and present believable facial expressions: he said he used all the output from smartphone cameras (and microphones) all over the world, and most probably computer/laptop webcams too... bingo; there was a camera behind the mirror in calebs bathroom and a webcam sitting on top of his screens on his work desk. and of course, at that particular point when caleb cuts himself, it should raise some extra doubt about calebs true nature ;) very clever indeed.

oh, i need to correct myself; just checked: the effects appear at the moment when caleb grabs his phone when a number of ppl text him to congratulate; and of course the camera viewpoint in that moment is from the smartphone perspective... straight forward i'd say.

(ok, last edit: the effect during the 1st scene was also present showing the webcam pov - point made ;)

[–] 8 years ago

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[–] DaveBowman2001 8 years ago

Good observations. I can agree that makes sense. I didn't make the connection to the blue lights, but just on a lack of privacy basis and the obvious nods to google and the mirror.

What are you saying is Caleb's true nature then? Certainly has been (mis)interpreted differently.

[–] t_3 8 years ago

human i'd say. there is imo no evidence that he isn't, and from a story perspective it wouldn't make much sense if he wasn't; i mean it would render lots of things we did observe just useless and completely unexplained (nathan building only woman-bots, calebs work-place & interaction with co-workers, heli transport, caleb bleeding, etc.).

still, the idea would give a nice "advanced" turing test: the one machine which believes the other one is the real human passes the test; or does not? :D

[–] DaveBowman2001 8 years ago

I think he is human, but the scar did make me wonder if it was just a red herring. The bleeding confirms that. The director just wanted to cast doubt perhaps, because showing the scar was blatant.

The only way it might make sense (in another version of the movie) is if one of them was AI 2.0 version going head to head, but since he bleeds, eats, drinks (and presumably uses the bathroom) that's not the case here. But one could argue a large portion of our population are becoming less human and more drone like walking around w/their smartphones and implants. And obviously Caleb even calls his own humanity into question and thus cuts himself to be sure.