Critical Theory in a Digital Age, CCU, ENGL 483 2017

Cocco Page 7

The uncanny can be described as something that sinks deep into one’s stomach and nauseates at the mere sight or thought of something portraying to be animate when truly, it’s inanimate or reanimated back to life. This feeling is what makes humans of all ages second guess their original thoughts or freeze up when something moves without anything to initiate the action. Hollywood has been playing with these feelings arguably since horror first became a genre. The uncanny can be seen in examples such as The Shining or I, Robot by playing with these emotions/feelings through each of the stories. Each of these movies delivers the audience a sense of unknown— The Shining gives of this sense by introducing characters in the film, in the beginning, and allowing the main characters to finally see the truth behind those characters and I, Robot does this by opening up the idea of strictly controlled androids/AI units being altered in a way to begin the extinction of the human race. With the future ahead as well as the increase in sophisticated technology, the rise of smart AI and androids, such as Sophia, are here with physical, human-like attributes with additions such as skin, eyes and facial movement. Harroway’s piece, too, goes into the depths of the uncanny by opening the door to altercations to the human body leading into the life of androids; all three works can be unified by the one term, uncanny, due to each piece not allowing the audience to figure out the truth behind the curtains.


 

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