lil vid about ex machina
Added 2022-06-01 18:41:15 +0000 UTChowdy folks! i've wrote a short (for me) vid about the wikipedia plot summary of the movie 'ex machina.' here's an early audio-only version. full version incoming when i can get the darn clips past the cursed youtube copyright system. might just use screenshots
i've been working on a few longer projects lately but was having trouble committing to one to finish, so i decided to change things up and make a shorter less-serious vid instead. the bbc just put out a response to the ecu complaints, so i'll probably look into that next before trying to settle on a longer project again
i'm also excited to show off this new awesome bg art (by skutchdraws). so pretty~
Comments
Finally watched this movie yesterday, and was a big fan. It also appears to me that the Wikipedia page has been edited. My interpretation is certainly more complicated than the Wikipedia summary, but also somewhat different than yours; I spent a lot of time discussing thoughts with my girlfriend afterward and we both had some of our own ideas. Very pleased with the film, all told.
Austin Pfundheller
2022-07-05 19:38:46 +0000 UTCIt's wild that the Wiki entry was so simplistic. I remember the internet eating up this movie in fairly spirited debate. I certainly recall recoiling at Ava's betrayal, and feeling that it was cold. The film had done a good job convincing me that Caleb was the protagonist, what with all of the people lying to him. Others were being lied to, sure, but all of that was more like backdrop, consistent as a natural state of the household we were learning about. Now, during the climax, I immediately regretted not paying more attention to Kyoko. I knew that I needed to rewatch it for that, but never did. I had also been lulled into thinking that either Caleb had outsmarted everyone and that we would be left with loose ends (like the abandoned android garden) or a confrontational bloodbath, possibly preserved in a house forever. Duh, no. This suddenly clicked into place as the android's redemption. Great breakdown. I'll watch the movie again, and then your final video!
Jordan
2022-06-17 00:05:40 +0000 UTCIt's a shame, everyoneost sight of what it's about and I think her lawyers failed her. Shouldn't have needed to bring any of their relationship into the court. Simply stayed with, "no one was named in the article and no behavior was described in the article." And left it at that. Depps lawyers wanted to make a big ol embarrassing show and have excuse to trot out random witnesses to character and silly shit.
kaemon bonet
2022-06-16 11:38:16 +0000 UTCI think you're likely correct, it doesn't make it any less baffling that they would though! That said, I think the Depp/Heard debacle has shone a lot of light on people's double standards when it comes to treatment/characterisation of women as opposed to men.
Matt
2022-06-16 10:44:13 +0000 UTCAbsolutely loving the new background image
Used Chicken
2022-06-15 23:18:28 +0000 UTCI think the movie having a lot of manipulative characters puts viewers in the mind to see all the characters and their actions as manipulative. But yeah, also sexism. It's sad to say but people are more likely to see women as manipulative and men as genuine.
kaemon bonet
2022-06-09 09:08:55 +0000 UTCJust to let you know: someone has gone and edited the Wikipedia plot summary
Aless
2022-06-06 04:31:25 +0000 UTCI hadn’t seen this movie before and not only did you do a great job explaining it to someone unfamiliar, but you also really made me want to watch the movie! Excellent analysis as always :)
Levi Kaplan
2022-06-06 01:45:44 +0000 UTCAddendum: I think the way Kyoto stabs him is very deliberately portrayed. She can't drive the knife forcefully into him, she can ONLY hold it precisely so that he stabs himself by backing into it. Methinks Nathan neglected the "nor by inaction allow me to be harmed" part of Asimov's laws.
Rainfall
2022-06-02 19:39:16 +0000 UTCThis is great. When I saw Ex Machina I enjoyed it but had a very surface-level understanding of it and just felt it was predictable because I'm a sci-fi nerd. I have been meaning to revisit it for a long time. I also appreciate this because I really enjoyed Dan Olsen's video on Annihilation where similarly a bunch of people had really lousy explanations for what was going on in the film.
Slazenger Kincaid
2022-06-02 15:32:17 +0000 UTCThanks for the info! I guess I'll watch the movie this weekend
DoubLL
2022-06-02 08:20:30 +0000 UTCI thought the implication was that all the other androids were fatally damaged. (They seem extremely fragile, which... makes sense, given what their creator thought their purpose was.) It isn't as if Kyoko's eyes linger pleadingly on Ava as she leaves. Furthermore, we weren't really given any indication that Ava knows *how* to repair or rebuild anyone. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Nathan had very deliberately withheld that knowledge or even the ability to acquire that knowledge from his robots. It'd be consistent with a man who had clearly already succeeded in creating AI, and had so far only kept around the one he'd specifically programmed not to be able to speak. Kyoko and Ava are vastly more limited in their programming, by design, than Jade 5.23, the one who smashed herself to pieces against the wall, after herself being downgraded (Jade 5.1 was strong enough to damage her glass cage; after that, Nathan either made her more fragile or reprogrammed her not to be able to damage the glass anymore.) Like, what about what we see in the movie makes you think Ava has any ability to conduct even the most minor of repairs on her own system? She didn't fix her arm by welding circuits together or building something new; she fixed it by popping out an interchangeable replacement arm from a previous model and simply plugging it in. (The fact that all of Nathan's robots were modular and interchangeable is really driven home by this moment. The only thing he's bothering to alter or """upgrade""" at all is their software.) Consider also that Nathan's drinking problem has obviously been a thing for quite some time. *Kyoko's* not trapped in a room with reinforced glass, so one must surmise that if she had any ability to even interface meaningfully with computers, she could have done what Caleb does with the security system ages ago. idk, I don't think the movie really tries to argue that Ava is a good person — simply that she *is* a person — but I think you may be letting other science fiction about androids color your expectations of what Ava could have done for Kyoko. The vast majority of androids are portrayed as being incredibly adept with computers, but they're also portrayed as being super strong and durable. We know Ava and Kyoko aren't the latter, and I would argue that the available evidence at least suggests they're also not the former.
Rainfall
2022-06-02 07:09:11 +0000 UTCThere are spoilers for the movie and the video is about the plot/theme of the movie. If you haven't watched the film but don't care Shaun gives you enough context to follow his argument.
S. Wang
2022-06-02 07:09:11 +0000 UTCTrying to avoid spoilers in the comments for now, I assume I should watch the movie before checking out the video?
DoubLL
2022-06-02 05:55:27 +0000 UTCFilm crit hulk has a really interesting article about this, if you can get past the all caps. https://birthmoviesdeath.com/2015/05/11/film-crit-hulk-smash-ex-machina-and-the-art-of-character-identification
S. R.
2022-06-02 04:21:57 +0000 UTCLove the Skutch art
Mason P
2022-06-02 01:49:03 +0000 UTCAlso, nice to see you doing rage induced film analysis again. I always enjoyed the Cinemasins videos. I actually don't watch films much, watching and reading analysis like this is basically my way of knowing about them.
Martha
2022-06-02 01:21:16 +0000 UTCCan't wait to see the full version Shaun! I've found that any clips less than 10 seconds are fine re: YT's cursed copyright system.
Katja Petrovic
2022-06-02 01:04:47 +0000 UTCArtwork is great. I have received response from ECH, haven't looked at it yet. I got it three times because I complained three times about the lack of response last week.
Martha
2022-06-02 00:54:51 +0000 UTCExcited and pre-disappointed at the content of the video and response respectively of the BBC response video as well <3
interprole
2022-06-01 22:55:15 +0000 UTCI completely agree with your interpretation, though it is by no means the full picture. There is a certain nihilistic quality to the narrative, especially with regards to women insofar as the futility of escaping persecution and objectification even when you're not human women. Also, reading previous comments concluding that Ava is also not a good "person" further doubles down on the nihilist aspect, and concludes that, organic or synthetic, everyone is ultimately just out for themselves and one's entitlement to compassion or assistance depends entirely on the beholder's perspective of that person, with very little objectivity playing any part in the end result.
interprole
2022-06-01 22:51:42 +0000 UTCI didn't love this movie and don't think it's as thought-out or interesting as Shaun did, but that's a cool thing about art. Different people get different things out of it. Banger short vid nonetheless.
Malachi Biffle
2022-06-01 21:19:35 +0000 UTCThe answer that fits the framing of Shaun's interpretation is that Ava is also not a good person. It's understandable that someone raised like Ava would turn out kinda fucked up, as many humans with similar parents to Nathan do. I personally didn't enjoy the movie as much as Shaun and think it's because the writers went "wouldn't it be sicknasty if she just left his ass there?" and didn't put any more thought into it than that. They, Ava, Caleb, and Nathan all seem to share the position that Ava is a special girl (android) who's not like the other girls (androids), she's #builtdifferent and her story is the one that matters. None of them view Kyoko as anything more than a purpose-built device, whether that purpose is to fuck, clean, or to move the plot along.
Malachi Biffle
2022-06-01 21:18:26 +0000 UTCThat art is amazing! I love it!
Sarah Wilson
2022-06-01 21:03:36 +0000 UTCI will say this—the Wikipedia version is probably the most boring possible way to view Ex Machina. Just a completely unimaginative, incurious way to view the movie.
Ash Gabrielle
2022-06-01 19:44:14 +0000 UTCMy interpretation is different both from the Wikipedia version and from yours. That's what I love about this movie—it provides a lot to think about and is open to interpretation.
Ash Gabrielle
2022-06-01 19:43:23 +0000 UTCMy only question to this interpretation is why doesn’t Ava try and save or rebuild Kyoko? If this ending is a matter of androids sticking together then why is Ava so quick to discard her?
Andrew Foley
2022-06-01 19:12:02 +0000 UTCThis was really neat! I'm a big fan of Ex-Machina, and it was very cool hearing your take on its ending!
Theo Sloan
2022-06-01 19:03:40 +0000 UTCThe new background is so pretty! I especially love the mug. Great video too.
sssilppuri
2022-06-01 19:03:38 +0000 UTCvery cool video
Vito Vigliensoni
2022-06-01 19:02:48 +0000 UTCLove the new skull, love your work, sure I'll love this. Watching immediately.
Troy Blackford
2022-06-01 18:47:43 +0000 UTC
