the uncanny valley

I'm babysitting my niece and nephew this morning and we're watching The Polar Express, which is just as creepy as everybody says. For those not in the know regarding the Uncanny Valley, I quote your favorite research tool, and mine, Wikipedia:

The uncanny valley is a hypothesis regarding the field of robotics. The theory holds that when robots and other facsimiles of humans [Haylie's note: this includes digital animation] look and act almost like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The "valley" in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a function of a robot's lifelikeness.

So we're freaked out by prosthetic hands, for instance, but not the Ceylons from Battlestar Galactica. Of course, the Uncanny Valley-ness of The Polar Express is legendary by now (it even features in an episode of 30 Rock, in which Frank tries to explain to Tracey why creating a pornographic video game is impossible by citing Jar Jar Binks and The Polar Express).

But the creepiness of The Polar Express extends far beyond the valley. At one point the kids wander around in an empty, Soviet-bloc-style North Pole, listening to a broken record echoing "Ring-a-ling... ring-a-ling... ring-a-ling... ring-a-ling..." At another, they spy on some elves watching kids (ostensibly checking them for "naughty-" or "nice-ness") on closed-circuit surveillance.

The key scene involves a screaming horde of screechy-voiced elves all clamoring for Santa like groupies. Or a cult. Given that they're nearly faceless and move like badly-operated puppets, I'm going with cult. A Santa Cult. Early one of the kids asked Tom Hanks, "Where are all the elves?" He said: "They are gathering in the center of the city!"

This movie is freaking terrifying.

rainy day girl recommends

During the past week Ross and I happened upon two of the best documentaries I have ever seen. You should see them, too.

I've been pretty obsessed with trying to eat real, ethical food since I read Michael Pollan's excellent In Defense of Food over the summer. So I freely admit that Food, Inc--based on both Pollan's works and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation--was preaching to the converted. Yet seeing all these things I'd read about on actual film renewed my resolve to be done as the food industry's sucker. It also inspired me to add a new link list to this blog's sidebar ("Because We Are What We Eat") where I've listed websites I've found helpful as we've tried to make sustainable choices. I particularly like The Cornucopia Institute, which has an informative list of different organic dairy companies and how well they live up to their espoused philosophies. Anyway, rant concluded, but I highly recommend you see this film.

I don't normally cry out of sentiment. I didn't cry at my wedding, for heaven's sake. But I bawled through this documentary, an incredibly sweet and agenda-free film about three retired men and women in Bangor, Maine, who have made it their life's mission to greet and welcome home every single soldier who comes through Bangor's airport (apparently one of the major points of entry for returning servicemen and women). Watching them shower love on those soldiers as they deal privately with the loneliness and illness of old age is incredibly powerful. Please, please see this documentary (it's available as an Instant Play on Netflix). Then call me or leave me a message here and let's talk about it.

Note to Swensons and affiliates: this film made me think a lot about Grandpa and the service he rendered both our country and our family. Have Kleenex handy.

le bon mot

If I ever want to cut it as the female version of Roger Ebert (plan B if graduate school doesn't work out), I probably need to stop watching movies with my mouth wide open. But Fantastic Mr. Fox was so incredibly (I hate myself for this, but sometimes there is no better word) fantastic that I simply could not help myself. I'm up to my chin in graduate school stuff, so in lieu of writing the long review I had intended, I will instead only say this: Please go see this movie. It deserves to be seen.