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Surfaces of science fiction : enacting gender and “humanness” in Ex Machina

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Constable, Catherine (2018) Surfaces of science fiction : enacting gender and “humanness” in Ex Machina. Film-Philosophy, 22 (2). pp. 281-301. doi:10.3366/film.2018.0077 ISSN 1466-4615.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.3366/film.2018.0077

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Abstract

This article explores two different conceptions of the postmodern surface and their take up in relation to mainstream science fiction cinema. Each offers a rather different genealogy for considering the surfaces of the science fiction film. The first traces Frederic Jameson's conception of postmodern superficiality and its dual role as a mode of reading texts and an aesthetic paradigm. The second traces Judith Butler's conception of gender performativity, its application to technology, and the expansion of performativity as a key mechanism for the enactment of “humanness”. The reading of Ex Machina (Alex Garland, 2014) will explore the aesthetics of film's mise-en-scène with its plurality of textured and reflective surfaces. It will trace the performative constructions of gender and humanness that intersect across the film, before finally focussing on the ending as a way of addressing key issues at stake in the conceptualisation of surface readings.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1993 Motion Pictures
Divisions: Faculty of Arts > Film and Television Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Ex machina, Androids, Garland, Alex -- 1970- -- Criticism and interpretation, Artificial intelligence -- Experiments, Turing test, Internet industry -- Employees, Science fiction films, Postmodernism, Performative (Philosophy)
Journal or Publication Title: Film-Philosophy
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISSN: 1466-4615
Official Date: 1 June 2018
Dates:
DateEvent
1 June 2018Published
31 March 2018Accepted
Volume: 22
Number: 2
Page Range: pp. 281-301
DOI: 10.3366/film.2018.0077
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Open Access (Creative Commons)
Date of first compliant deposit: 15 May 2018
Date of first compliant Open Access: 15 May 2018
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