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-scene 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.

中文翻译：

---

科幻小说的表面：Ex Machina 中的性别和“人性”

本文探讨了后现代表面的两种不同概念及其与主流科幻电影的关系。每一个都提供了一个相当不同的谱系来考虑科幻电影的表面。第一个追溯了弗雷德里克·詹姆逊 (Frederic Jameson) 的后现代肤浅概念及其作为阅读文本模式和审美范式的双重作用。第二部分追溯了朱迪思·巴特勒 (Judith Butler) 的性别述行性概念、其在技术中的应用以及将述行性扩展为“人性”制定的关键机制。阅读 Ex Machina（亚历克斯·加兰，2014 年）将探索电影的布景美学及其具有多种纹理和反光表面的美感。它将追踪贯穿影片的性别和人性的表演结构，