"The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of human aesthetics which holds that when human features look and move almost, but not exactly, like natural human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among some human observers." (Wikipedia)
Some version of the uncanny valley phenomenon is tangled up in the national freak-out this week over actress Renee Zellweger’s post-nip & tuck coming out party. Of course, the uncanny valley usually flows in the other direction — from the artificial toward the almost-natural. Cosmetic surgery can work in reverse. We almost recognize Renee. It’s so close — but also indubitably the result of manufacture — that we are unsettled by it.
I have a second — otherwise undiscovered — theory about this week’s Zellwegangst. Look at this montage of photos from the Elle event. Am I imagining it, or is there, in the words of Jackson Browne, “just a trace of sorrow in her eyes?” Not in every shot, but frequently enough so that we know she knows the way she’s being looked at. And it makes us uncomfortable.
"I think it's interesting how people try to pit older, wrinkled women against young ones with the assumption that the former are just jealous of the young ones' sexual power." Not my words, but an email from one of our guests. On this show, an all-women panel uses the furor over Renée Zellweger’s face as a portal into other inter-generational battles.
Men are hard on women. Consider this idiotnik who referred to the Williams brothers. And, of course, women are sometimes hard on each other. Consider Annie Lennox’s possible ill-conceived take on Beyonce. Women sometimes exploit little women to trigger an important dialogue. Consider the pink and frilly f-bomb video. (The four of us are split up the middle about it.) And even when you’re 60, 70 or 80 you might still be contemplating the fine line between “getting men off and celebrating women.” Oh, and does Fox News really have a “leg cam?” Hot women from outside their ideological framework, however, should not speak up.
Other topics we were considering for this Nose:
- Battle of the trolls: Kathleen Hale reveals the war raging between authors and readers
- Streaming Music Has Left Me Adrift
- In praise of middle-of-the-road parenting
- Author Stalks Anonymous Blogger Who Gave Her a 1-Star Review
- The Choices of Kathleen Hale
GUESTS:
- Irene Papoulis teaches in the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric at Trinity College
- Carolyn Paine is an actor, dancer, and choreographer
- Patty McQueen is a communications strategist for Communication Strategies
SONGS:
- "Plastic Surgery" by Paul Soniat
- "Bad Word for a Good Thing" by The Friggs
