We are firmly in the era of artificial intelligence, which means we have technology to digitally resurrect dead artists for new projects – but does that mean we should? Tupac’s hologram performed at Coachella back in 2012 and nearly a decade later Whitney Houston’s toured across Europe. And while they’re still alive, ABBA Voyage is selling out night after night in London. It’s one thing for artists to be animated speaking their own words and singing their own songs. It’s another when they’re being used as tools to create something entirely new, that they had absolutely no say in. And there are a lot more troubling examples of how the slow acceptance of deepfakes is leading us down a scary road.
TRANSCRIPT
We are firmly in the era of artificial intelligence, which means we have technology to digitally resurrect dead artists for new projects – but does that mean we should? Tupac’s hologram performed at Coachella back in 2012 and nearly a decade later – Whitney Houston’s toured across Europe. And while they’re still alive, ABBA Voyage is selling out night after night in London, expanding the potential for what an A.I driven experience can be
Narrator: “Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Annafrid will be represented on stage by digital avatars.” – ABBA Voyage
But it’s one thing for artists to be animated speaking their own words and singing their own songs. It’s another when they’re being used as tools to create something entirely new, that they had absolutely no say in. And there are a lot more troubling examples of how the slow acceptance of deepfakes is leading us down a scary road.
Here’s our take on the moral dilemma around reanimating artists who have passed, and how there are potentially better ways to honor those that are no longer with us.
Typically when dead actors have been included in films, it’s to close off a narrative that was left in limbo. While it feels like a new phenomenon, it’s actually been happening for a while, going all the way back to 1994’s The Crow – which used cutting edge technology to finish Brandon Lee’s scenes after the actor tragically died during filming
Tim Landry: “Digitally we removed only his face from certain scenes, certain frames and placed that over the body double” – CGI & Brandon Lee
But even then the ethical question was raised – and the film was only finished once the cast and crew had all agreed that it’s what Brandon Lee would have wanted. There’s a similar feeling to the reanimation of both Peter Cushing and Carrie Fisher for the new generation of Star Wars films. Peter Cushing was known as having regretted not being in another Star Wars movie, and this was used as justification for his inclusion in Rogue One.
With Carrie Fisher, her inclusion in The Rise Of Skywalker had the blessing of her daughter, Billie Lourd – and Billie was featured in the scenes with her. Director JJ Abrams said of the painstaking but rewarding process of getting Carrie into the film through VFX – “It was a million intricate decisions and discussions and trials. Again, we made it look really easy but it was not…I wish of course that she had been with us. I wish she were here now.”
While it may still feel uncomfortable initially, this discomfort is eased when you realize the level of care and consideration the filmmakers took beforehand — and the result was a love letter to both Carrie and Star Wars fans.
Leia Organa: “Never underestimate a droid.”
Rey Palpatine: “Yes master.” – Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
When it doesn’t feel like that care has been properly taken – red flags start to raise. In Roadrunner, the documentary about the late Anthony Bourdain, A.I is used to speak Bourdain’s writings using his own voice. However, Bourdain’s widow denies that she gave consent for that to happen, and the film doesn’t indicate or make it completely clear that that’s what’s happening – leading to a feeling that the audience is being duped.
Similarly – in The Fast and the Furious franchise, fans were broadly in favor of reanimating Paul Walker to finish his character’s narrative. But the backlash came when he was reanimated for a final credits sequence goodbye with Vin Diesel. This wasn’t Paul Walker being reanimated to play a part, but instead Paul Walker reanimated to be Paul Walker, breaking the fourth wall of the movie.
Dom: “You’ll always be with me.” – Furious 7
Another troubling example comes in Netflix’s true crime documentary Into The Deep, about the murder of Kim Wall by Danish inventor Peter Madsen. When the film was initially released, participants claimed they never consented to being in it, so deepfake technology was implemented – seemingly to cover the filmmaker’s backs. It seems the ethical question isn’t around the technology, but how and when that technology is used. And when it comes to saying goodbye, are there other ways it could be done?
When an actor dies mid-way through shooting, or mid-way through a franchise, there’s a need to address that in the narrative. But doing this without digital trickery can often lead to more interesting, and more moving results. Heath Ledger’s untimely death came halfway through The Imaginarium Of Dr Parnassus, but this was addressed by effectively having the rest of Heath’s scenes shared by Colin Farrell, Jude Law and Johnny Depp, whose performances act as a tribute to the actor Heath Was.
In Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, no such attempt is made. Chadwick Boseman’s tragic death prompted debate over the future of the franchise and the future of the character. The MCU is certainly no stranger to using CGI, so a digitally reanimated version of Chadwick was within the realms of possibility. However, the decision they made was far more powerful.
Letitia Wright: “I focused my energy on each scene, to dedicate it to him, I wanted to dedicate excellence to this film so he would be proud.” – The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon
In effect, the opening of the film acts as a funeral. We learn that Chadwick’s character, T’Challa, dies, and we watch as he’s laid to rest with the help of the whole cast – who we can only imagine at that moment aren’t acting. T’Challa’s death is then used as the catalyst for a new branch of the story – with Shuri’s grief driving her narrative arc – and shaping how she ends up becoming the next Black Panther. So not only do we, as an audience, get the chance to effectively mourn Boseman within the context of the film – but his spirit is still a powerful force in the film – all without him being there.
Another story that employed the same technique – this time on the small screen – is the Gilmore Girls reboot A Year In The Life, which pays tribute to the late Edward Hermann by exploring Emily’s struggle to carry on without him. And again, this helps drive the narrative and her relationship with Lorelai.
Glee – having to address the real life death of Cory Monteith – began filming less than a month after losing the actor, so the tears shed in his tribute episode were real. And that raw emotion came through without any CGI, in fact, all that was shown was a picture of Cory’s character for his co-stars to react to. Interestingly enough, even that felt like too much to director Ryan Murphy in hindsight. Upon reflection, he said, “I’ve thought a lot about that recently and I would not have done that [episode] now…I felt like it was way too raw and way too soon.”
In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, there’s no shying away from the fact that there’s a hole that needs filling, and that becomes powerful character motivation. Harold Ramis’ death is Egon Spengler’s death, and so the film uses that process of grief as a backdrop. But in this case – because it’s a franchise about ghosts, his character can literally be in scenes without being in them, and his eventual CGI reanimation feels almost playful and comedic – as opposed to being crude.
Phoebe Spengler: “How on earth did you build such a small Cyclotron. Got it.” – Ghostbuster Afterlife
What these examples do so well is blur fact and fiction. There’s a similar conceit used with Iceman in Top Gun: Maverick. Val Kilmer is still alive, but after undergoing surgery for throat cancer, he was left unable to speak without a voice box. Deepfake technology could have brought back his voice, but instead it was Kilmer’s idea to have his illness written into the film.
All our empathy for Kilmer is then transferred onto his character, making for a more authentic and emotional moment. Instead of trying to manipulate our emotions by using CGI versions of someone – or something we know is gone – these shows and films recognise the emotions we’re already bringing as audiences — and try to work with them. Instead of faking their presence, they force us to confront their absence.
We’re now in a new, uncharted phase when it comes to CGI technology…one where actors who died a long time ago – but have retained their iconic status – are being brought back for brand new projects. When it was revealed that an A.I version of James Dean would be ‘cast’ in the movie Finding Jack, this felt like something scary new…described facetiously by Vanity Fair’s Yohana Desta as “definitely not weird or cursed!”
Narrator: “Actors in particular are not too enthused with the idea that is now dawning on them that after they pass away they may be brought back to play roles they might not have otherwise agreed to do.” – CBS Mornings
There’s a similar fascination with Marilyn Monroe, whose image is constantly being evoked or manipulated without her consent. But arguably again, this isn’t solely a question around technology, but around propriety. Similar criticism was directed at Blonde’s director Andrew Dominik for the scene in which he imagines Monroe talking to her CGI-ed unborn baby, which many found disturbing and gratuitous – as there’s no actual evidence Marilyn even had abortions – nevermind how she felt about them. The Daily Beast’s Allegra Frank went so far as to call it “an abomination.”
There’s a duty of care when it comes to using the image of someone who’s no longer here – even when it’s not through CGI. The writing of Bruce Lee into Once Upon A Time In Hollywood was criticized by his daughter, who said “the script treatment of my father as this arrogant, egotistical punching bag was really disheartening — and, I feel, unnecessary.” Ultimately, Tarantino isn’t paying tribute to Lee in the scene at all, but playing with this idea of him as a way to flesh out one of his own characters.
Just because someone dies – that doesn’t mean that they lose their personhood. When films pay tribute in the right way, it’s because they take that into account. Yes, these icons may feel larger than life, but they were human beings once. So when their legacy is eroded, minimized, or exploited in order to create a spectacle, or manipulate the audience, that’s when discomfort kicks in. Ultimately, there should be a list of questions filmmakers should ask themselves before deciding to employ these techniques: Does it honor the person? Does it improve the story? Or is it a stunt, gimmick, or sideshow to get people through the door? If these answers are in any way unclear, then let these people and their families rest. There are plenty of other ways to pay our respects.
AI deepfake technology has helped us bring back those we’ve lost – and has already shown great creative potential in terms of playing with age and likeness. Think of Jeff Bridges playing opposite his younger self in Tron: Legacy, the de-aging technology used in The Irishman, or making two Tom Hardy’s in “Legend”. But the dark side of this technology is deeply frightening – especially at a time when so much of the country and the world is divided between what’s real, and what’s “fake news.”
Narrator: “...deepfakes are becoming so realistic that experts are wondering what they’ll do to news and democracy.” – CBS Sunday Morning
Last year, a very convincing deepfake of Tom Cruise went viral – and after the initial excitement of seeing a near-perfect mimic of Tom’s face and voice – the realization that this could become an ethical nightmare set in. As the LA Times notes, “it’s not hard to imagine a troll who…makes a viral video of Joe Biden declaring war on Russia.”
Just recently, users on the anonymous imageboard, 4chan, used AI software to make deepfake voiceovers of Emma Watson, Ben Shapiro, and Joe Rogan making racist and transphobic remarks. And when this technology isn’t being used to make celebrities deliver violent messages, it’s being used to create deepfake pornography – putting their faces on other people’s bodies without their consent.
Francesca Panetta – the co-director of ‘In Event of Moon Disaster,’ a video that reimagines the Apollo 11 mission using deepfake technology – says, “I think there is a desire to come up with a rule book really, really fast, because it’s really, really scary. But I also think it will be quite hard to have absolutes in the beginning, because the technology is developing very fast, and you don’t know what all the uses are going to be.”
Whether it’s reanimating actors who have passed – or creating near-flawless clones of celebrities no matter the intent – it’s clear as we enter this new frontier that guidelines and laws will need to be put in place to protect all parties. And above all else – consent must be at the forefront.
Dr. Peter Venkman: “I thought you might turn up.” – Ghostbusters: Afterlife
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