Alex Garland’s movie, Ex Machina, seems to be another fantasy based film where humans create machines that are able to behaves as humans, but this film looks beyond behavior and into deeper concepts such as control of the mind and not just the body. A scene that displays this idea is when Caleb slashes into his arm and begins to push the blood out to ensure that he is still human and not a machine. Throughout this movie, especially in this particular scene, demonstrates main interaction with a robot, which then leads to minimal human interaction and sleepless nights. While this scene could have just been for attention or to add dramatic effect to the movie, but seeing the scene through a different perspective of other intellectual minds, …show more content…
Caleb dashes into his bathroom and slams the door behind him. He then begins to pull on his skin and investigate his face (Ex Machina). He goes to even more drastic measures as he disassembles a razor and induces a deep cut within his arm. The blood begins to ooze all over the sink and the floor. At the start of the scene, the camera looks into the mirror as if the audience was Caleb pulling and tugging at the skin. As he examines his face it can be seen through the mirror that Caleb has big, dark circles under his eyes and his face is very pale in color (Ex Machina). As he cuts into his arm the audience still has the same angle is if they were Caleb proceeding to cut through the skin, but as the blood begins to flow, the camera angle switches from first person to third person. Through this third person angle of the camera, it shows Caleb standing in a very exhausted position with his head hanging low and his back at a hunched angle. All of these body positions that could be seen through the various camera angles could be assumed that Caleb’s lack of sleep take a toll on his body and is now affecting his …show more content…
At the start of the scene there is only silence to be heard, but as the scene progresses the music starts. This music is an intense, head throbbing, and daunting sound that has a mesmerizing effect that causes confusion to the mind and body. This type of music sends the blood rushing through one’s entire body making the heart race and sweat cumulate. Those feelings are the exact feelings of Caleb as this genre of music begins to play and he frantically begins to dismantle the razor blade and forcefully drags the blade across his arm to let the blood run freely. This sudden change of behavior and drastic measures taken could be the sub conscious control of the sleep deprivation taking over Caleb’s actions. During this moment in the scene, Caleb’s uncontrollable behavior of the cutting of his arm could have been linked to the control of sleep deprivation on the mind, which then correlates to the meme control mentioned in Charles Gleick’s
When he first wakes up he just kind of stares at nothing, he can’t respond or even focus on anyone it seems. After the accident he has to learn everything by observing those around him and what they are doing. He also seems to listen to the sounds, expressions, and words they make to try and make sense of what’s going on around him and what are the people doing to him.
Mildred Pierce is one of the greatest novels written by James M. Cain. After the success of the novel, the Hollywood film came out, produced by Jerry Wald. The novel and the movie are very different from each other. “James M. Cain sent several letters of complaint to producer Jerry Wald, objecting to the changes Wald wanted to make, especially the dramatic idea of making Veda a washout musically and putting her in a tawdry nightclub” (Bennett Notes). The three main differences in the film were, the murder of Monte, Veda not having a successful career, and the time period only covering 1941 to 1945.
Incohesive, long, and dialogue-heavy, Inherent Vice has all the potential to flounder. Yet under the steady (or rather, wild) hands of director Paul Thomas Anderson, the film becomes a psychedelic, incredibly enjoyable ride brimming with wit and melancholy. The film follows Larry ‘Doc’ Sportello (played in routinely magnificent fashion by the now ever-reliable Joaquin Phoenix), and his exploits to help his ex-girlfriend, Shasta Fey (Katherine Waterston, also exquisite) investigate a kidnapping of notorious real-estate billionaire Mickey Wolfmann. From there, the plot descends (or ascends, depending on your perspective of the film) into sumptuous lunacy; a mystery involving the coveted and secretive
Alex goes in for treatment to cure his ultra-violence. The treatment is a conditioning method where he is to watch terribly movies with his eyes held open. After many, many views Alex gets sick at the slightest hint of any voilence or sex.
... to servitude. They can rationalize and they can understand their ?otherness? from humans, making them unfeasible communications tools. Medical implants alienate humans from each other too. Riviera uses subliminal telepathic images to instil fear in others, while the simstim alienates Case from his own body. The complex matrix of cyberspace pulses with information and misinformation, and accessing it can alienate a person from his or her own physical realities, as well as induce a sense of insecurity because of the Net?s vulnerabilities. These new communications technologies in Gibson?s Neuromancer can overcome most physical barriers, but can they someday be incorporated into this cyber culture so that they will neither remain alienating nor provide a mere escapism from physical realities?
American Beauty (1999) is an American drama film which stars Kevin Spacey as Lester Burnham, a man who is seen to be having a midlife crisis and becomes sexually attracted/interested in his teenage daughter’s best friend. As the film progresses this attraction leads him to make major changes in his life in order to cope up with his urges, and thus these changes somehow helps him to manage and tackle his midlife crisis. This film written by Alan Ball and directed by Sam Mendes tries to show how the American middle class may view beauty and personal attraction. This film uses humor, irony and ridicule to show and criticize people's stereo types of American families. The film takes an approach to portray everything an American middle class family
Donna Haraway’s 1984 “A Cyborg Manifesto” is an enduring essay unceasingly analyzed, critiqued, and adored by scholars and students. The piece, in which Haraway uses the cyborg as a metaphor to scrutinize hegemonic problems and refuse the binary, claims that “the boundary between science fiction and social reality is an optical illusion.” In other words, like the cyborg who cannot distinguish whether it is a machine or an organism, in society there is no difference between male and female; rich and poor; black and white. There is only gray, and there are countless shades of it. “A Cyborg Manifesto” is an influential essay that has been relevant to the past and is still relevant to the present. Hence, it is no surprise that it has inspired
...ty of the human brain utilized as a computer modem to operate multi- national capitalistic corporations shows frightening possibilities for the future of everyday human life. The main issues of this dystopia, exaggerated and distorted as they are in the novel, originate from existing problems in our society. Discussions about cloning and genetic engineering, as well as robotics places our society at a crossroad, how to develop future strategies for an appropriate technology. The other concept imbedded in Neuromancer dates back to Plato's idea of dualism, prioritizing mind over body, men over women and logic over emotions. Gibson shows us a possibility of a future, certainly not one we want, but the dangers of which we have to consider in order to create a better world and not to destroy it.
Murray, J. said students should no longer be confused between the appearance or choice between games and stories (2005, para. 12). which was in relation to narratology and ludology. This statement shows a direct relationship with the ignorance shown in Nier: Automata and the narratology/ludology debate. By showing that being unwilling to accept what something is, based on its appearance or the choices is an ignorant decision. This is shown firsthand by the androids, subsequently being an important reason as to why the player is often forced to question why they are doing what they've set out to achieve. "The game tasks the player to murder as many machines as possible in order to save Earth. These robots are said to be emotionless and thoughtless and are only programmed to kill. As the plot progresses, the protagonist come in contact with conscious machines complete with feelings, goals, desires, and other human traits that cause the protagonists and players to feel guilty " (Pake, R. The Brilliant Blend of Narrative and Gameplay Mechanics in ‘Nier: Automata’ para. 4). This being a clear example of the ignorance of the player. Initially the player is simply fine with doing what they're tasked to do but as they experience "mindless" machines exhibitting non-mindless behaviour they feel guilt, regret, and sadness which forces them to carefully consider killing the next group of passive machines they run
The previous insert from William Lee Adams’ article, Amputee Wannabes, describes a 33-year-old man’s wish for amputation of his foot. There was nothing physically or medically wrong with this limb; John only stated that he did not feel comfortable with his own body and felt as though his foot was not a part of him. John’s leg was amputated above the knee, and he went on to describe that the operation resolved his anxiety and allowed him to be at ease in his own body (Adams, 2007).
Citizen Kane, Orson Welles’ cinematic classic, is a film that centers on a group of reporter’s investigation into the meaning of Charles Foster Kane’s last uttered word, “Rosebud.” Citizen Kane ' brings into light many social problems between countries, relationships, and also between competing newspaper companies. It brings into light how a newspaper should react and also brings the corruption of politics. War was breaking out in Europe and throughout the entire film Kane states there will be no war. He ignores the fact people are being killed, tortured, and rounded up like livestock.
She discusses science and the creation of cyborgs, for example, biology teaches us that a Cyborg is the combination of human and machine, many examples of this can be found in the medical field by the use of prosthetic limbs. Contemporary science fiction is full of cyborgs - creatures simultaneously animal and machine, which populate worlds ambiguously natural and crafted. Haraway uses the metaphor of cyborg identity to describe ways that things considered natural, like human bodies, are not natural but are constructed by our ideas about them. This is particular related to feminism, since women are often discussed or treated in ways that reduce them to bodies. The concept of the cyborg is a rejection of rigid boundaries, notably those separating "human" from "animal" and "human" from "machine." Cyborg theory contends that technology comprises material extensions of the material human body.
Often regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, Citizen Kane written and directed by Orson Welles is a classic film that defied the conventional styles of the Hollywood Cinema. Welles was committed to the Mise-En-Scene of his movies by using his characters, props, settings, and even the camera to tell the story of his characters. The Lighting, the camera shots, and the character 's actions to depict the life of Charles Foster Kane. The Mise-En-Scene of this narrative creates a film that is ahead of it’s time and a genius innovation to the cinema.
In Conclusion William Gibson created a cyberpunk/ postmodernism tale that has blurred not only the physical state between mechanics and human anatomy, but has as well blurred the line between the natural and virtual world. He is making the reader contemplate how both software and hardware have influenced the natural world. Gibson’s fictional world would have not been possible without the existence of software and hardware, that is why the distinction between them is very crucial and play a different part within the text. Without these two things, the reader would not be able to comprehend and relate to Gibson’s view on how our society is interlocking with the advances of technology and the normality of today will no longer exist in the future.
What do you think would happen if you gave a child a cybernetic arm? He then proceeds to question the reader’s perception by asking, “…do transhuman really comprehend ultimate human goods?” He believes that a person who modifies their body with biotechnologies shouldn’t be considered human any more, simply because Fukuyama believes what makes a human, “Human”, is the fact that we have the ability to process emotions such as love, sadness, fear, anger, envy, gluttony, wrath, and happiness. Fukuyama believes that this is only possible through a normal blood body because we can only process those feeling the way we do because of the perception we apply to our self. If we lost that perception or altered it there is a possibility that we will lose the ability to feel those emotions. Fukuyama then repeats his question “Are trans human still human?” or are they empty shells of apocalyptic