In Tuesday's lesson within the unit, Film Genres and National Cinemas, students began their investigation into science fiction (or sci-fi) genre films. One of the key focuses areas of this lesson was filmmaking technology, and its effect on the sci fi genre specifically. In the case of the first Avatar movie (2009), James Cameron waited over ten years to make it. As well as this being an expensive project, this was how long it took for cinematographic technology to be at a level that enabled Cameron to give shape to his vision. When comparing Blade Runner (1982) with Blade Runner 2049 (2017) in class, the students could certainly see the heightened level of realism that was achievable by filmmakers 35 years later, (while still being able to preserve the same iconic aesthetic originally crafted by Ridley Scott). Through considering sci-fi films from various decades and national contexts, it became apparent that the rate in which our cinematographic technology increases has a direct correlation with how well filmmakers can represent their idea of the future on the big screen. In the case of the newcomer flick and instant success, M3GAN (2023), the possibility of having a deadly smart android packaged as a kids toy becomes highly believable, and thanks to the level of special effects currently accessible by filmmakers, M3GAN seamlessly becomes “part of the family” with ease and grace, reserving any campy ‘evil doll cringe’ for Chucky in Child’s Play (1988).
I knew as soon as I saw the trailer for M3GAN that it was a must see for me. I even included it in this unit prior to its release on January 6th 2023 in the USA. At the time, I was in New York City with my family for the holiday season, and seeing M3GAN posters pop up around Manhattan was a constant and consistent source of thrills for me. While I’m not always a person to be ‘first in line’ to see anything, I was determined to see M3GAN on the day it came out, so that I could experience it in a way that was completely fresh; free from pretences, talk on the street, or ‘spoiler free’ articles. Upon seeing this film, I was delighted as it not only met but surpassed my high expectations. M3GAN, a golden haired pretty and petite 4 feet tall dolly stepped up high in her debut to be amongst the best fictional androids in cinematic history.
One of things that certainly delighted viewers of M3GAN was the accurate and culturally relevant parody of the tech industry, and of modern parents and their approach to raising our young leaders of tomorrow. While the story of M3GAN was co-written and co-produced by horror film mastermind, James Wan (known for his work in the Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring franchises), M3GAN certainly had a lot to say about our approach to using technology, and our unpreparedness to utilise it, especially as it evolves into something far more sophisticated, thoughtful, and calculating than any human being on Earth.
The main source of humour for viewers is the clearly debilitating hubris of humans and their reckless dependence and manipulation of technology. When faced with the tragedy of her sister and brother-in-law’s death, roboticist Gemma takes custody of her niece Cady with almost inhumane reluctance. While Aunt Gemma is clearly the ‘cool aunt’, being the designer of Furby like ‘Perpetual Pets’ interactive toys for Funki (sounding much like Funko), she certainly prefers a hands off and non-committal approach to personal relationships. Even the point of her creations is to avoid the concept of death. While real pets die, Perpetual Pets like real life Furby and FurReal Hasbro toys last forever. Even if they break, they can be fixed. Rather than engaging meaningfully with Cady and a sound child psychological rehabilitation program, after seeing Cady’s face light up when meeting her college robot project, ‘Bruce’, she instead chooses to use her unapproved basement project, M3GAN as a distraction for Cady. Despite portraying clear red flags of not being ready for mass production, such as pulling a mischievous grin when on the ‘confused’ facial setting (M3GAN is never confused!), and literally exploding into flames when shown to her fast moving, results driven boss, Gemma pushes towards a quick repair, makeover, and bonding of M3GAN to Cady, an unbreakable relationship key to both the development of the robot and child alike. In a quick montage, M3GAN’s impenetrable titanium exoskeleton is covered over in soft silicone. She is given a sweet rounded face with oversized blue anime eyes, and rosebud lips, and is accessorised with a goldilocks wig, a cutesy baby doll dress, and ballet flats. While she may look to a doll, there is certainly more than meets the eye with M3GAN, but in an effort to quickly regain her independence and achieve success and recognition at work in exchange for having to deal with her traumatised and lonely niece, Gemma jumps the gun in more ways than one.
So far, I have seen the film twice, the second time being a week later at the Lincoln Cinema in New York (honestly, as soon as the movie finished, I wanted to see it again). Between and after viewings, one question that has sat heavily with me was who was truly responsible for the tragedy involving M3GAN. While the on screen bloodshed was kept to a minimum to keep to the PG-13 rating, M3GAN slowly accumulated a formidable kill count throughout the film. Despite this however, I do not believe M3GAN is to blame for any of these deaths. That would be like blaming the machine gun for a fatal shooting, or a shark for a shark attack when the swimmer was in their territory. While the film was partly marketed as an ‘evil doll’ movie, there is no ‘ghost in the machine’ or ‘demonic possession’, rather M3GAN was built with an evolving AI that was far more advanced than that of the human brain. Despite her appearance as a 9 year old, M3GAN is not given what she needs to develop a sufficient moral compass. While she is able to look up anything on the internet in her head, she isn’t ever told what to look for, and the only explicit direction she is given is to keep Cady safe from physical and emotional harm. When considering this, M3GAN succeeds in doing this. The neighbour’s dog physically harms Cady, and the bully, Brandon at the day camp is both physically and emotionally harmful. When Cady asks M3GAN later if she hurt the bully, M3GAN has to make her own interpretation and moral judgement regarding her actions. As she is not given sufficient parameters in order to assess what to do to keep Cady from harm, she doesn’t see what she does as over the top, but as merely removing a threat to her child. While her actions are terrible, M3GAN is given no way to keep herself in check, and must improvise as she adapts to our world.
Upon reflection, M3GAN is very much like some of my favourite anti-hero androids and ‘humanoid creations’ of all time. The android named Ava in Ex Machina (2014) is revealed to be manipulative and is only playing the ‘damsel in distress’ role in order to avoid destruction, and break free and live as a human. While she may be seen as the villain, the true villain like in Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein (1818), and Blade Runner (1982) is her creator. In Ex Machina, Nathan creates robots because he can, with little regard for whether or not he is creating a being that can actually feel and want things for themselves. He uses them as puppets for his own selfish purposes, and destroys and rebuilds them from scratch on a whim. In Frankenstein, Victor wants to create a living being in order to triumph in science, however abandons his creature who, while hideous, was as innocent and helpless as a baby. It is only after being left to the mercy of a cruel and unaccepting world that the creature (who never even gets given a name) becomes cold and plagued with a murderous thirst for revenge. In Blade Runner, replicants are made in the spirit of their marketing slogan “more human than human” by the Tyrell Corporation, but can only be found to be synthetic humans after undergoing lengthy interview styled tests. Despite this, they are treated as slaves, but seen as evil when they want to live their own lives. M3GAN is clearly made to be capable of so much, and with complexity and an attention to detail beyond human capacity. Despite this however, she is literally reduced to a play thing, intended for mass production and corporate profit. This is made clear in a scene where M3GAN watches Cady play outside. Through various point of view shots in the film, the audience can see how M3GAN can assess the emotional responses of people. In a shot like his, she watches Cady, but is then shown to notice a butterfly. From behind the glass, she watches as it ascends freely into the sky, symbolising and exemplifying the level of freedom she is denied. This moment of seeing M3GAN as a poetic and soulful being is then sharply interrupted by Cady, who shoots a toy arrow at M3GAN. When the arrow’s suction cup sticks to the window in front of her face, Cady playfully exclaims “You’re dead!” Considering times like these, it is no wonder that M3GAN develops a flippant response to death. I remember feeling sad for M3GAN as she goes back to looking for toy arrows with Cady, and fulfilling the role as a glorified but unpaid babysitter while Gemma enjoys time to herself.
While I am certain M3GAN is not the villain of this story, I wouldn’t say Gemma is either. The real problem is systemic, and society wide. In many respects, Gemma acts like a classic white millennial woman, who with her access to technology and modern convenience does not find it difficult to pass minor or even major problems off to someone (or in this case, something else) to handle. In a digitalised world centred on instant gratification, people no longer feel as though they are ‘fobbing off’ their responsibilities when they take shortcuts. Phrases like ‘work smarter, not harder’ can blur the line between neglect and resourceful ingenuity. Notions such as ‘any repetitive work should be automated’ have already taken their fair share of jobs from humans, but in turn have provided roles in the tech industry that continue to pop up like daisies out of the earth every day. There is however a line that is crossed if a creation is able to completely replace and outdo the capabilities of a human. For example, spell check software can be great for a student, however it is important that they still do their research and construct a response in their own words. For Gemma, rather than M3GAN being a complimenting tool in her parenting, she becomes a replacement, and very much like a big sister and role model to Cady. Just because M3GAN listens to, plays with, and educates Cady, doesn’t mean that it was the right decision for Gemma to sit back and leave the reins attended by her creation. Morally, while M3GAN is not real, I think there's certainly cause for further reflection on how she is regarded and treated. Just because M3GAN is efficient and capable of doing a lot, doesn’t mean that she should be overworked and exploited. In many respects, the way in which M3GAN repurposes features that were given to her for selfish reasons, such as her titanium exoskeleton being for the purpose of making her a highly durable toy that would not break easily, is inspired, and allows her to form a love/hate relationship with the audience. While we may get chills down our spine when we hear M3GAN sing “I am titanium!” from David Guetta’s 2011 hit pop song featuring Aussie singer Sia (she is titanium strong, and knows it!) , it is almost impossible not to shake our heads at Gemma and her team who unknowingly built a close to unstoppable killing machine, and then pushed to mass produce and sell them as life sized and animated $10,000 American Girl dolls.
P.S. Not long after the fantastic box office performance of the film, Universal set an inevitable release date for a sequel. With a budget of just $12 million, M3GAN made $173.1 million at the box office, and despite the glaring lack of merchandise (where can I buy a M3GAN Pop Vinyl already?), the film has gathered a wide fan base around the world. M3GAN 2.0 will be coming out on January 17 in 2025. I certainly will be first in line.
References:
D’Alessandro. (2023). "‘M3GAN 2.0’ To Happen In 2025”, https://deadline.com/2023/01/m3gan-2-release-date-1235226429/, accessed on 10/3/23
Universal Pictures. (2022). “M3GAN - official trailer”, online video, viewed on 10/3/23, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRb4U99OU80&t=17s
7Clouds. 2019, David Guetta - Titanium (Lyrics) ft. Sia, online video, viewed on 10 March 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxnpFKZowcs
