With franchises such asChild’s PlayandAnnabelle, theidea of a murderous dollisn’t anything revolutionary in filmmaking. Nevertheless,M3ganmanaged to defy all expectations by delivering a fresh take on the concept.The TikTok-dancing, lullaby-reciting, bloodthirsty AIandroid won over audiences, making back four times its budget at the box office during opening weekend.A Hollywood successand praised on every social media platform,M3GANis well on its way to becoming a cult classic. Yet, it also manages to deliver important messages regarding technology and its influence on a child-parent relationship. Here is whyM3GANis an important commentary on parenting through technology.
Trauma Response
M3GANdeals with the aftermath of losing one’s parents, notably the trauma response on an impressionable child. Cady’s whole life changes in the blink of an eye, losing both her parents and sent to live with her distant relative, Gemma. Gemma is placed in an unimaginable situation; a career-driven and independent woman, Gemma didn’t plan on becoming a parent in her immediate future. Nevertheless, both characters have to deal with the loss of a close family member and their everyday way of life, and neither manages too well for most of the film’s runtime. Cady transforms from a timid little girl into a defiant and violent individual, while Gemma finds herself mentally overwhelmed by parenting, her job expectations, and the realization that her most ambitious creation, M3GAN is also her deadliest.M3GANreflects a parent’s failed attempt at deflecting trauma over addressing it directly.
Boundaries
While M3GAN has a glaring disconnect from boundaries, the same applies to every character in the film. Gemma finds it difficult to detach herself from her career endeavors to properly care for Cady, while Cady becomes dependent on M3GAN for every one of her emotional needs. Gemma’s employer, David, has no reservation in humiliating his employees, ignoring the boundaries expected between a supervisor and their work team. Brandon has no established boundaries, given free-range by his mother to express his aggression instead of abying to social norms, notably respecting people’s personal space and bodies. Gemma has virtually no boundaries over Cady, allowing her to utilize technology without limitations, and ultimately relying on M3GAN to parent Cady in her place.
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Importance of Early Social Interactions
Cady is a byproduct of overprotection. In an attempt to shelter Cady from uncomfortable social interactions, her mother resorts to homeschooling Cady for an unspecified period before her untimely passing. This results in Cady feeling defenseless and insecure around other children her age, and refusing to incorporate herself in a school setting when the time comes. While Cady is capable of holding conversations with people just like any other child her age, the confidence necessary to do so is inhibited by her mother’s protective nature. Brandon represents the opposite extreme of overprotection: pushed into social settings without any sense of discipline,Brandon reacts aggressively towards his peers, knowing that consequences for his actions are unlikely. Both Cady and Brandon reflect the effects experienced by children denied critical social interactions from an early age.
Human Connections Vs Artificial Connections
One ofM3GAN’smost important messages is the essence of connections, whether between human-human or human-A.I. M3GAN and Cady are initially meant to compliment each other’s intrinsic needs; M3GAN serves as Cady’s emotional support system while Cady allows M3GAN to optimize her key objective: protecting Cady from any harm. The message is quickly muddled as Cady alienates anyone else attempting to connect with her; for M3GAN, this effect is elevated tenfold; her entire existence revolves around keeping Cady safe from any harm, even if this means killing any perceivable threat. Gemma herself falls victim to the glorification of modern A.I, spending most of her time secluded at Funki, or finessing her designs inside her home lab. Gemma is solely attached to AI connections before having to assume a parental role over Cady. In this day and age, people are constantly juggling between their face-to-face relationships and those created through social media, over dating apps, or sustained primarily through text messaging.
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M3GANtackles a subjective issue head-on: parenting. There is no right or wrong way to parenting, but some methods are clearly more constructive to a child’s development. Cady represents varied forms of child neglect. While emotionally nurtured by her parents, they overlook that Cady lacks necessary social interactions such as being in a classroom setting, playing with her classmates, and simply having friends her own age. For Gemma, parenting is a concept she defines on a whim, from an initial insensitivity towards Cady’s loss, then relying on M3gan to tend to Cady’s every need and guidance, and lastly, losing all control over Cady’s behavior. M3GAN herself is the result of an untended creation. In a rush to finish M3GAN’s design, Gemma forgoes creating proper parameters for M3GAN, notably the difference between proper behavior and deviancy. The three characters reflect countless families that relegate their relationship to texting while sharing a meal, those who spend a majority of their day on a smart device instead of holding a conversation with each other, and those who are consumed by the general drift technology imposes on parents and their children when left unchecked.M3GAN, in its campiness, nods to viral trends, and chilling moments, isa cautionary tale for anyone feeling disconnectedfrom their family due to modern technology.
