"gregjohn" <pte### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_Valley

The article cited _The Polar Express_ as an example from CGI. I got no sense of
revulsion from the characters; I found them surprisingly empathetic.

What I found profoundly disturbing about the movie wasn't its quasi-realism, but
its message:  that it is healthy and virtuous to believe things that are
incompatible with reality.  It's one thing to make a movie about Santa Claus;
but this movie actually showed the child examining the evidence and reasoning
things through to a logical conclusion; and then being shown that the facts are
irrelevant.  What is the message?  That we are to eschew reality?  That what
contradicts reality is more real than the possible?  That it is foolish to draw
conclusions based on the facts?

This movie is not mere fiction or fantasy.  It is intellectual dishonesty.  You
*know* that the makers of the movie didn't believe any of it, yet their message
to children is that they should.

It's a shame about the message.  This movie was an exemplar of technical
excellence, with likeable, lifelike characters and superlative special effects.
The scene at the north pole with the reindeer taking off was especially
enjoyable.

> My point has to do with the Uncanny Valley curve.  The UV hypothesis states that
> as something becomes more lifelike, it first becomes more and more enjoyable/
> empathetic and then falls off a cliff.

_Portrait of a Girl_ must be on the other side of the valley, because there's
nothing revulsive about her.

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