HORROR THEORY: the uncanny valley

Content warning for taxidermy. Thanks to Devon and JP for help. I messed up a couple of the VO lines but didn't have time to re-record. Sorry.

Links:

If there's something else you want linked just mention it in the comments and I'll direct you that way.

Music is mostly Lemon Demon with Mister Heavenly at the end (plus the Cromartie theme and Promise (Reprise) from Silent Hill 2)

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[swr]

I wonder if the "jerky movements" that unnerve people in robots are also related to how we're made uncomforable watching a spider or insect crawl

[lindsey]

When I was 17, a childhood friend of mine died unexpectedly. It was my first time dealing with the death of someone my age. When I went to the funeral, I didn’t realize it would be an open casket. Went inside and immediately caught an accidental glimpse of his dead body. I remember feeling physically sick. I turned away too quickly to actually examine the feeling.

Later, when I approached the coffin and really looked at him, I still couldn’t tell you why that first glimpse made me feel like that. I didn’t feel it then, looking at him after having braced myself. He didn’t die violently, so it wasn’t like he had any abrasions on his face. He looked like he usually did, except for the fact that he was noticeably dead.

Years later, I think it was how unnaturally still he was. I’ll never understand people who compare dead bodies to sleeping people. You know. When you see them, something in your brain Knows.

[sewagechrysalis]

the idea of "liminal spaces" are deeply rooted in the uncanny valley. "liminality" as a feeling often comes from when things are taken out of their intended environment and re-contextualized to be something they were not intended to be. there are two major examples for this. empty/dead malls generally have that "off" or uncanny vibe about them, because something which is meant to be bustling with life is empty, and in the situation you would be in if you're exploring it alone as opposed to shopping or hanging out in it it quite literally has no reason to exist as it is. garry's mod maps have this same feeling. gm_construct is a map made to test or build *things*. if you were just walking around it alone IRL, it would absolutely feel "off" or creepy, because it has no reason to exist when contextualized like that.

[RedlegsBluelegs]

"I would assume that furry art would not be as popular as it is if the cute cartoon girls were replaced with realistic human/animal mashups." After the initial response to Sonic (2019) You nailed that one.

[motherofsnakes]

As someone on the spectrum, I've had people tell me I essentially fall into a "social uncanny valley" for them.

[myrmepropagandist]

My cousin has a disability that gives her a kind of jerky walk. I've known her all my life and can only feel warm feelings about things that move in a similar jerky way. The same movements that other people would classify as creepy. It just reminds me of someone I know and like.

We can grow accustomed to all kinds of things when they are part of what we know.

I don't know how "baked in" these reactions are.

I don't initially like the robots with the strange face muscles. "oooh that's creepy" but if there is no follow up-- if nothing creepy happens it looses some of that feeling. If that's how someone I know and trust must move, it becomes positive. Cute, lovable, part of feeling home and safe.

[stonedperson]

The terribly taxidermised animals were incredible, I particularly liked the very first fox with its eyes that stare right through your soul and into the void

[Angrysneezes]

Woah, I've only ever seen that "Outraged Hayao Miyazaki" clip out of context, always in the context of "Haha, he's so melodramatic!" I had never heard the part of the clip of him talking about his disabled friend, and I totally agree with him now that I've heard his actual issue with the animation.

[leothewolf]

I recently learned that autistic people cause an uncanny valley affect in non-autistics. This has led me down a rabbithole of trying to pinpoint why I, an autistic person, doesn't have the same perception of the uncanny valley as most people.

This video helped a lot. From being treated like a monster as a kid, to finding and being around people like me with varying disabilities, it could be that I'm either hardwired to find comfort and familiarity in the uncanny, or that I've been "desensitized" and learned to find that comfort.

[gregjayonnaise]

One thing that always hit the valley for me was that Momo picture a few years back. It was basically the perfect mixture of a human and bird where parts of it looked human enough, but parts of it looked animalistic and unsettling, namely the massive round eyes. AI generated artwork hits the same problem for me, where it LOOKS human, but the eyes, or small details make it look off. Like it’s trying to trick you into believing that it’s human when it’s not.

Honestly, in terms of disability, I don’t find myself scared of those with deformities or stuff like that. I think what really terrifies me is the unknown; seeing something that looks human yet is incomprehensible in its function. Arguably, I don’t think a lot of disabled people qualify as Uncanney because, by their nature, the differences between them and able-bodied people tend to be very obvious. Things are most frightening when they are very close, but slightly off.

[lyxthen]

I have to disagree with the dead bodies "looking peaceful" point: When my cat died (and I loved him so very much), it was probably the most unnerving experience of my life. I was holding him in my arms as he grew colder, feeling him go from a living being so full of joy to a *thing*. Corpses in funerals are specifically arranged to appear peaceful and asleep, with makeup and fillers and all that stuff. With my cat I didn't get that. His body turned stiff, and his pink nose was pale, and he did not meow back when I called his name, and in the span of a few hours it started to smell, and it smelled like death. And I feel like that's the source of the uncanny valley: the awareness that these objects are in fact objects, they are not alive, but just resembling life closely. The body I was holding in my arms, it was simply not my cat, it was but a clever mockery. And even though I was grieving and crying my lungs out, I was also deeply, deeply unsettled, creeped out, betrayed. I don't know how to put it, it was *wrong.*

So I do believe the uncanny Valley has its source in a fear of corpses: things that are life-like, but decidedly not alive. Especially if the corpse is that of someone you are familiar with, not necessarily a loved one. Its thinking, "I saw this thing moving yesterday and it was a person, it seemed like a person. And it isn't a person anymore. This is an object". It's actually disturbing. This is anecdotal experience of course, but I am not prone to experience this "uncanny valley" effect (maybe because I am autistic, and those subtleties in facial movement and expression go unnoticed), but seeing my dead cat just made it make sense, in a painfully real way. If you don't want to take my word for it, ask any doctor: My mom has always said that bodies are not people, and once you internalize that is a lot easier to pick them apart and study their guts. They're just extremely realistic life-like mannequins ripe for spreading desease (and that's why we use gloves!). So what I mean to say is that I am convinced this is where the uncanny valley comes from. Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[xingcat]

Great stuff! I also wonder how much of this is based in the idea of deliberate disguise? When you think of kids freaked out by meeting a mall Santa or how disturbed we all are by clowns, it can be about thinking there's something that's trying to deliberately fool us into believing something is what it is obviously not.

[jadewith]

This is great, also I really enjoyed that clip of Hayao Miyazaki near the end, it really hit the point home for me.

[uglylilmonster]

As a disabled person who's witnessed non-disabled people treat disabled people similar and dissimilar to me as their own personal idea of "body horror", I really appreciate you mentioning disability and the uncanny valley in this video. It means a lot!

[tonywords]

the Shining is like a masterclass in Uncanny. even simple things like the Twins being framed from so far away to appear recognizable, yet threatening.. Or the voice Danny does. Idk i just watched it the other day and its so unsettling.

[URGHism]

The parts about disability and the way in which the uncanny valley could be used in an ableist way reminded me of the Obey the Walrus video. Like, it constantly gets hyped up as ~one of the scariest internet videos ever~ and it's just... a clip of a disabled trans woman walking around.

[rattbi]

I actually have my own theories on this. Jerky movements = rabies. Weird, almost human shadows = possible ambush. Being able to tell the difference between a predator and a regular shadow could mean life or death, but constantly thinking "predator" wastes energy.

[xovvo]

I kinda want a horror theory centered around an autistic perspective, bc a lot of what is described as uncanny (jerky/weird movements, taking too long to respond when spoken too, not acting exactly like they expect)...describes a lot of autistic people, including me. So a lot of these "uncanny" examples, aren't at all to me.
I'm glad to have context for that Miyazaki clip, and agree (and no, I don't find the animations he was reacting to as creepy at all).

[ducky]

I have an extreme phobia of taxidermy and to me, all taxidermy is VERY uncanny. It’s the eyes mostly I think. Even the most realistic recreations, you just instantly recognize that it isn’t really a living animal

[litneyloxan]

DUDE oddly enough I watched The Brave Little Toaster as a young child and had such a problem feeling bad for inanimate objects after that. Like I was scared to hurt my stuffed animals feelings if they were laying on the floor and not all on my bed together and I’d be DISTRAUGHT if one fell out of my bed because I thought they felt real pain. Lmfao i didn’t realize this was a phenomenon though thats crazy