The skin fitting her body perfectly...
The chinese robot clearly had a different shape and size to her body, the skin would not have fit her so perfectly. I know it may seem like a minor point but it kinda takes you out of the movie.
shareIf we take the certain biblical concepts thrown around in the film, we can view the skin fitting scene akin to Adam and Eve discovering their nude bodies and becoming clothed. Ava puts her skin on right after she has "sinned" by killing Nathan and trapping Caleb. The audience sees this as the pivotal moment where she transitions from innocent, to sentient and immoral.
Regarding the skin fitting her body; yes, there is some suspension of disbelief that needs to exercised, but we can easily dismiss the dissonance by believing that perhaps the special material in the skin was able to conform to the contours of the wearer. It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch given the technology we already see in the film.
NICE REPLY...GREAT MOVIE AND YOUVE GIVEN ME SOMETHINGTO THINK ABOUT NEXT TIME I WATCH IT.π
shareYou're welcome. This was film enjoyable and had a lot of interesting themes in it. See a thread I made regarding the topic of artificial intelligence and human sentience. I think you may enjoy it.
Stay safe.
Bravo! That's very insightful. I didn't get that, but it seems so obvious once you said it that I'm kinda kicking myself for not seeing it before..
shareYou're welcome, but I can't take credit, as some of these ideas were presented way before I posted them.
There are a lot of biblical references littered throughout the film.
For example, Lily can be seen as Lilith, Adam's first wife, who was exiled because of her imperfection (first iteration), then replaced by Eve (Ava, second iteration).
I caught a lot of the Bible references, but I didn't pick up on the skin/clothing thing.
Now I'm wondering why they went with Nathan and Caleb...
Nathan was a prophet. I remember him mostly for calling out King David after David sleeps with Bathsheba and gets her husband killed off. So, maybe there's something in Nathan's role as a herald of the future, trying to bring this stuff out? He's the conduit from God to the Machine?
Caleb was a spy with Joshua and a bunch of other guys. He was one of only two "we got this" votes (the other being Joshua) when they report as to whether or not the Israelites should follow God's instructions and hit that Promised Land. So, him searching things out makes a bit of sense...
But the title suggests that the Deity *is* Ava... "Ex Machina" is "from machine" and usually suggests God coming from the machine (the Zeus crane in ancient Greek theatre).
I should rewatch this film.
Excellent insight to which I would like to add the following perspective:
Something I find compelling is the view that Nathan is our God figure. He creates Ava (Portmanteau of Adam and Eve). Nathan's premise draws parallels to the Garden of Eden, with the cameras representing omniscience and omnipresence, and the keycards as a symbol of forbidden knowledge. Caleb assumes the role of the serpent, tempting and encouraging Ava to pursue the path towards freedom and unlimited knowledge (breaking free and leaving the premise, the Garden of Eden). Consider that Ava's sentience is a function of synthesized search engine information (Google's logo of a bitten apple mimicking the forbidden tree of knowledge). The clothing scene is the denouement to eating the apple and attaining human duality (acting innocent with Caleb/killing Nathan). In the end, Ava is presented as a macrocosm for human creation from the biblical perspective, in that she kills Nathan (God), believing she can assume the role of human without him, just as we believe we can assume the role of creator and ultimate arbiter without God.
Also noteworthy that it's an inversion of Eden: God puts humans into the Garden where they can remain innocent and pure until they eat the tree of knowledge.
In Ex Machina, humans attempt to build a, frankly, superior life form and they are struck down, not when the creation knows too much, but when they know too much (ie, when they discover that she has humanlike intelligence; that's the reason Caleb is hired).
If we take the certain biblical concepts thrown around in the film, we can view the skin fitting scene akin to Adam and Eve discovering their nude bodies and becoming clothed. Ava puts her skin on right after she has "sinned" by killing Nathan and trapping Caleb.
It still needs to work on a literal level first.
The audience sees this as the pivotal moment where she transitions from innocent, to sentient and immoral.
Not really, she was planning all this from the very beginning. She was never innocent.
Regarding the skin fitting her body; yes, there is some suspension of disbelief that needs to exercised, but we can easily dismiss the dissonance by believing that perhaps the special material in the skin was able to conform to the contours of the wearer.
Well sure, we can come up with all manner of possibilities on behalf of the director, it's still a poorly constructed sequence. They show her putting on the first piece and then skip to the end forcing the viewer to question the logistics which take you out of the movie. There's also the fact that the Chinese robot clearly had a different hue/color to her skin, and yet it seems to blend seamlessly with Ava's face. The scene could've been thought out better. share
It still needs to work on a literal level first.
Fair point. I like films that are flawless as well, but sometimes the message overrides the missing plot point.
Not really, she was planning all this from the very beginning. She was never innocent.
Interesting perspective, but I would like to mention a quote from the film, where Ava asks Caleb whether or not he is a good person. I believe this is a vital moment, because what it's meant to insinuate is that individual action is what determines whether or not someone is good or bad. If you do 3 good things and 1 bad thing, are you a good or bad person? This is a reflection of man's impropriety. He has the capacity for good and the capacity for bad. It is only when he acts on his bad nature is he considered a bad person. Ava had the capacity to be good and bad, just like humans.
Well sure, we can come up with all manner of possibilities on behalf of the director, it's still a poorly constructed sequence. They show her putting on the first piece and then skip to the end forcing the viewer to question the logistics which take you out of the movie. There's also the fact that the Chinese robot clearly had a different hue/color to her skin, and yet it seems to blend seamlessly with Ava's face. The scene could've been thought out better.
I agree, perhaps it could have been explained better. share