"Ex Machina": Through the Looking Glass

On the 10th anniversary of "Ex Machina", we take a look at its masterful exploitation of empathy, and what the film says about our capacity to feel another's feelings.

Ex Machina, dir. & screenplay Alex Garland (2014)

The psychologist Paul Bloom is against empathy. He’s not opposed to compassion, and he certainly has nothing against caring for others. In fact, his antagonism towards empathy largely rests on the accusation that ­in moral decision making, empathic responses — rather than cold-blooded rationality — often lead to unfair outcomes for others.

In his book Against Empathy (2016), Bloom doesn’t impugn the ability to understand another person’s experience, variously called theory of mind or social intelligence. Instead, he criticises the proclivity for feeling what another person is feeling. “If you feel bad for someone who is bored, that’s sympathy,” Bloom writes, “but if you feel bored, that’s empathy.” He goes on to describe ways in which empathy leads to poor ethical choices.

Take, for instance, sentencing in criminal trials. A lenient or a harsh sentence might depend on whether the judge can be made to empathise with the victim or defendant…