Gender Roles In Ex Machina

Though Ex Machina centers on technology and artificial intelligence, it also focuses on gender politics. In this essay I will argue that the interactions between robot and human in the film represent contemporary relationships between men and women, specifically those that involve the dehumanization and sexual-oppression of women. This can be seen through the allegory of the Turing test, which is not only meant to determine Ava’s humanity but also her value as a woman; and through the inferior ranking of female characters by their status as robots while the male characters are human.
Gender is an important factor of the Turing test, as all humans identify with one, and the fact that Nathan makes her female is especially significant because it essentially determines the …show more content…
However, this intelligence is merely a component of the femme fatale trope, which the two AIs embody. In storytelling the femme fatale is depicted as out for herself and often outsmarts the heroes by wrapping them around her fingers, becoming deception incarnate. Some argue that these qualities of sexuality and evil empower women, and in this case ultimately enable Ava to escape her imprisonment. Yet, only showing her manipulative abilities serves to just make Ava appear villainous. It is true that she and Kyoko turn murderous at the end of the film, stabbing Nathan to death and leaving Caleb to die in the locked bunker. However, the violent nature of Ava’s escape is justified by the violent nature of her oppression; the only way she could leave successfully was to permanently get rid of her oppressors, including Caleb. Even if his intentions were virtuous, Caleb would still prevent her from achieving full freedom, since he is the one who knows she is not biologically human and thus holds the knowledge that could ultimately out