Welcome, one and all, to a new segment here on Jacob's Latter, called Wax Philosophy in which I discuss something that's on my mind and pretty much... wax philosophic. I'd like to think that it usually deals with something larger than just tropes or such, like how there are certain factors in our world that really change how we think about about the world. In other words, this will be less about movies, comic books, etc, and more about life the universe and everything. With that out of the way, let's get started The Uncanny ValleyNow, if you’re into either robotics or video games, you may have heard the term used. In my book, however, the Uncanny Valley is one of those unseen forces that doesn’t get quite as much respect as it should. I suppose this is the point where I back up and explain just what the Uncanny Valley is. Let’s go back to the late sixties, early seventies. Masahiro Mori, a famed roboticist, would often add faces to his robots, nothing fancy, roughly the equivalent of a smiley face or something similar, and people tended to respond positively, like if they’d met a cat or dog or other type of animal. So, he decided to see how far he could push this. He decided to see if he could keep going all the way into the realm of being able to be perceived as human. Along the way, however, he encountered a stumbling block, or a valley, if you will. At some point in making something look human, it will begin to turn people off. For example, while people may be able to relate to a cartoonish face, it’s a lot harder to relate to a face that is realistic but without flaws, or has eyes that appear motionless or “cold.” In other words, it’s a lot easier to relate to an overly animated face than one that’s “too realistic.” Like, you know how dolls like Raggedy Ann or teddy bears are pretty cute but porcelain dolls tend to creep the ever-loving shit out of you? That’s the uncanny valley at work. The porcelain doll is just a bit too close to real for out comfort. I bring this up because, when you think about it, the idea of the uncanny valley, not to mention anything that resides within it (or as I call it “the Uncanny”) is something that is arguably at the core not only of popular fiction but at the core of our perceived reality. It’s the reason why most cartoon characters are anthropomorphic animals, why most Pixar movies were about things like toys or monsters or fish until the Incredibles happened. It’s why some kid’s movies scare us shitless while some horror movies make us laugh our pants off. It’s the thing that, when utilized well, is the difference between the Mask or Nightmare Before Christmas and the works of Junji Ito and the creations of David Cronenberg. It’s the reason why video-games had such unique looking characters right up until the 360 generation. It’s the reason why a puppy isn’t going to get the sort of visceral reaction that, say, a severe burn victim or someone who’s suffered several amputations will get. It’s the reason why some kids are liked while others are treated with disdain and confusion. But I suppose that I should examine each and every one of these concepts in tandem. Frankly, I’m pretty certain that the history and reasoning behind most could take up a whole book, but I haven't quite go the time for that, so let's just say that these are... cliff notes versions. The Uncanny in AnimationFor one thing, the uncanny valley is arguably at the core of why most cartoon characters are anthropomorphic animals, or at the very least not photorealistic. As you may have noticed, the valley in that graph up there made quite the dip whenever the thing moved, and as any animator--hell, anyone who's seen Final Fantasy: the Crystals Within--will tell you, it's a lot harder to make something "move naturally" than it is to make something that "looks natural." Going back to the twenties, most characters in cartoons were animals, not just because kids like to associate with animals cause they’re cute and such—although I’ll get to that later when talking about the real world application of such things at a later date—but because, well, drawing a realistic human being is one thing, but making one appear to move realistically, is a whole other can of worms, although I’m sure you could just ask any animator about that sort of thing. Fast forward to the 60’s and you’ll find that the reason that Hannah-Barbera was so successful was because they were some of the first to be able to make animation that was just at the cusp of okay without falling into the valley like something like Clutch Cargo with its syncro-vox creepiness. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, this is the reason why most early anime was about robots or similar such things, because we kind of expect them to be lifeless husks with mouths that seem to flap like a dummy’s mouth. Come the early nineties, and the invention of 3D animation, Pixar was no doubt running into the same problems that early Disney animators ran into themselves: Animated humans looked fucked up beyond all compare. I mean, let’s try and remember just how eerie Max Steel was as a series, and that was created a good three years after Toy Story. But yeah, the reason that Pixar stayed the hell away from real humans for a while. It’s the reason why DreamWorks Shrek is showing its age despite the charm and humor of the actors. The humans are the major focus and it’s hard not to notice just how off everything they do looks. Shrek and donkey are a lot more relatable because they’re less human than Fiona or Farkwad (although you could certainly argue that that ties nicely into the themes of the movie proper. That’s not even getting into Final Fantasy VII: The Spirits Within. If you'd checked out the links above you'll see that while the character models certainly hold up in terms of realism, they look as unnatural as fuck when they move. Same goes for Polar Express and many of the other kids’ movies of the time. This is why Polar Express and the like are so poorly regarded. The Uncanny in HorrorAs I may have alluded to earlier in my introduction, the Uncanny Valley isn’t necessarily something to be avoided. Far from it. Assuming you know what you’re doing, the Uncanny valley can be an effective tool when it comes to the realm of storytelling, especially visual storytelling. After all, what is the Uncanny Valley but the point at which something stops being comfortably relatable and starts to become unnerving. In a way, isn’t that what good horror is all about? Well, I suppose that’s up for debate, but for the sake of this particular ramble let’s just say that that’s what it is. I mean, there’s a reason why most of the most enduring monsters of the world are at least vaguely human in appearance. Vampires, werewolves, mummies, zombies, they’re all human, or were at some point. Hell, even slasher villains also fall under this category, if only because we can’t see Jason, Michael Myer’s or Leatherface’s face. Think of how much is communicated by what our face looks like. Think, therefore, how much is lost when we can't see someone's eyes or mouth. We have no idea what they’re feeling due to a combination of their muteness and their hidden faces. Even the way they move their bodies is "emotionless," almost machinelike in their movements. After all, one of the five methods of characterization is, of course, what a character does--or in this case doesn't do. We know nothing about these men. All we know is that they’re coming to kill us and that there’s nothing we can do about. On the exact opposite end of this spectrum are characters like Freddy Kruger and Pinhead and the cenobites fall under this category as well. Their strange, offputting faces and movements are unlike anything we're used to, and that scares us. They themselves are aware of the uncanny valley and use it to their advantage. Everything about them, has been designed to unnerve. Freddy because of his twisted face and the way he acts in general, the cenobites because of their allusions to sadomasochism and the disturbing manner to which their bodies have been mangled. Carpenter even mentioned that the inspiration for Freddy’s infamous red and green sweater was because red and green are the two most clashing colors to the human. Even some of the more alien beings like the Xenomorph and the Thing (the horror movie one, not the comic books one) have slightly more human features that dip them into the category of “uncanny.” I'd also be remiss not to mention infamous mangaka Junji Ito, who's drawings, whether they be his most deformed monsters or his most normal looking humans, always invoke the uncanny. There is eerie "offness" to every drawing of his that makes it feel like something is very wrong. Part of it is, of course, his characters' eyes. Maybe it's just that we're so used to the huge eyes of most anime characters, but there's just something off about them. Hell, he can even make a normal person seem like something out of a horror movie The Uncanny In Real LiveAnd lastly, well, I’d argue that we humans are practically faced with the Uncanny on a daily basis. Maybe there’s someone you know who’s just a little off, maybe you come across someone without a limb or this or that. Now, you will initially be unsettled, possibly even deeply disturbed. Now, here’s the kicker, do you react with horror and avoid this person, or do you treat them with geniality. You see, the thing about the Uncanny is that it’s rather uncaring. It doesn’t care if there’s a human being beneath the person who’s lost their limbs and has suffered severe burns. It doesn’t care that the crumpled thing sitting in the wheelchair is also a human being who just so happens suffer from a terrible disorder. It doesn’t even care that the person you’re looking at just so happens not to be white, and that racial prejudice is, for the most part, frowned upon. It’ll still niggle at you. That being said, it is up to you to ignore the ignore the niggling. It is up to you to fight your natural disturbed feeling and remind yourself that these are people in spite of what your instincts are telling you. That instincts do not always apply to today’s world and that they shouldn’t be relied upon too heavily. In other words, there will be people who, for whatever reason, are Uncanny. However, it is up to you to remind yourself that they are, in fact, people and deserve to be treated as such. I will admit that it doesn’t exactly help that much of our media does tend to encourage this. What’s the difference between Freddy’s messed up face and an actual burn victim. Burn victims tend to not like being judged based on something that wasn’t really their fault. Fiction has gotten better over the years, though. For one thing, just because a character is ugly doesn’t mean that they can’t be the protagonist. Quasimodo and Frankenstein’s monster aren’t ugly and therefore evil. As well, just because someone isn’t ugly doesn’t mean that they can’t be evil. I’m sure it’s a lot more complicated than I’m making it sound, so I’ll just say this. Feel free to love fiction, just remember that just because something unnerves us, doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. More on the Uncanny.If you're interested in exploring the concept of the uncanny valley some more, feel free to take a look at tvtrope's analysis of the subject. There's also a video by the ever popular Extra Credits folks on the subject for those who are interested, which I took the liberty of posting below.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorHello all and Welcome to Jacob's Latter. Here I will be giving my opinions on everything from movies, video games and books to my general outlook on the world. Archives
January 2018
Categories |