Caleb as a Pathetic Victim in "Ex Machina'' - Critical Essay

Introduction

Every film is always made to pass a particular message or educate people about something. The characters of a play build up to the quality of the movie. Ex machine was a movie designed by Alex Garland to display an AI robot, female, named Ava. Its central characters were Ava and Caleb This essay aims at analyzing the pathetic nature of Caleb as a victim of the Ex Machina movie.

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Caleb had the key role of interacting with the AI robot, Ava to give feedback on its ability to display all human characteristics like sense, thought, feelings and other human qualities. Ava had been designed to have human and sexual affection, in a way she could get intimate with men (Garland, n.p)

Caleb chooses to trust a human-made robot and forgets the primary role given by Ava's maker. Nathan knows that Ava could get tricky and more intelligent than men, beginning the revolution against humankind. Nathan gives Caleb a severe warning on Ava's intentions, but he chooses to ignore it. Caleb knew that Ava was so intelligent, but he didn't think that she could use the same intelligence against him. Caleb was very ignorant and hence ended up getting Nathan killed and released she-devil to the world (Mendelsohn, n.p.)

Caleb blindly falls in love with Ava and forgets about the evil intentions Ava has for the whole human race. Ava uses her ability to behave like a human woman to manipulate Caleb with the aim of getting past his maker, Nathan and into the free world. Ava had been designed beautifully and programmed to develop her secretive thoughts and plans. She used the advantage too of being able to make secret conversations without Nathan controlling or noticing it get to Caleb. Although Ava managed to pull seductive strings to Caleb, she acted more intelligent that Caleb, the real human being. The fact that Caleb got used by a robot implies that he was too naive to take the warnings given by his maker (Mendelsohn, n.p.)

Besides, Caleb never took a moment to see that Ava was still a robot. Caleb never thought that Ava, having human characteristics, robot strength and ability to put on a human face could turn back on humanity. Ava was stronger and more intelligent than her maker, and nothing could stop her from starting a revolution against human beings for the sake of affection for Caleb. Caleb had such instincts but was too blinded by his feelings for Ava. There was no chance that a different robot like Ava could be so good to Caleb without evil intentions. Caleb was an easy target by Ava, and following the downfall of man, being a seductive and very loving woman was all it took to defeat Caleb and Nathan (Leyda, 161-184).

Another point that showed Caleb as a pathetic victim is that he had the biggest percentage to access to both Ava and Nathan, which made him the perfect target for Ava. Ava gave Caleb all attention he needed, made him hear and see what a man would love in a woman. Having Caleb's full attention and royalty gave Ava a direct pass to Nathan's Control key cards. Finally, she makes Caleb think that Nathan intents to kill his lover, Ava, and tunes him to help her get away. At that point, Caleb should have noted that Nathan's story on Ava wishing to destroy humanity was becoming true. But Caleb still went on and helped Ava to get away. Caleb knew that only Nathan could control Ava and she got out there on the loose; no one would defeat her because she was stronger and intelligent than any other human being. Caleb was pathetic to put the love he felt for a robot before the safety of the whole human race (Leyda, 161-184).

Also, Caleb did not play his role of reporting on Ava's progress. Instead, he chose to keep Ava's development in making secret conversations with himself. If he had decided to report to Nathan in time, they could have manipulated the robot's mind, in place of Caleb. However, Caleb keeps lying to Nathan, who however discovers Ava's secret conversations. However, it becomes too late for Nathan when he realized that Caleb had already arranged to free Ava, who storms in and kills Nathan in cold blood. That's when Caleb realizes how damn he had been. He also understands that Ava can play any character to get what she wants and that there was not an inch of humanity in her (Leyda, 161-184).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the movie shows that although AI robots can have similar behavior and thoughts as human beings, but will never own a soul. A soul is the source of humanity, and therefore robots can never be human or truly care for people. Robots can play any role they require to manipulate people to their wishes, with a bad intention for humans at the end.

Work Cited

Garland, Alex. Ex Machina. Faber & Faber, 2015.

Leyda, Julia. "Cute Twenty-First-Century Post-Fembots." The Aesthetics and Affects of Cuteness. Routledge, 2016. 161-184.

Mendelsohn, Daniel. "The Robots Are Winning!" The New York Review of Books62.10 (2015).