This week's episode of "30 Rock" featured a storyline in which Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) attempts to create the XXX holy grail of 21st century pop-culture artifacts: a porn video game--because he wants to leave a legacy of import behind for his children. Kotaku has the clip in which Frank explains why it can't be done and teaches Tracy about the Uncanny Valley. Which reminded me of the graph above, which I made last year. The whole episode is pretty fucking funny. In all this Grand Theft Auto IV handwringing over the issue of sex and violence, there's been little discussion of this theory. The fact of the matter is that the simulated sex in GTA IV isn't very graphic--or very realistic. The satire inherent to the game is taken to the level of parody when you watch the way the pixels try and make the girls' jiggle wiggle realistically. I think what I find most striking is how exquisitely embarrassing this whole debate will be in hindsight, a few decades into the future, when our digital renderings of human sexuality look like Lascaux cave drawings to the perverts of the future. Of course, the consequences of the virtualization of pornography are of great interest to me. As it turns out, it's this kind of sex that will be what kills the real porn industry in the end--not Bush or his anti-porn replacements of the future. Porn stars will be replaced by fem bots who fuck the way our controls them to. Who knows, maybe we'll all be the better for it.
When I was an adult, I picked up a hooker in Vice City. After my car swayed gently to her moaning, I let her get out of the car and I then ran over her, got out of the car and took my money back.
Did I feel bad? No. She was made up of pixels and artificial intelligence, not life, and I guess I could tell the difference.
Completely off subject, but I wish we would hurry up and make some robot hookers. I'm looking at you Japan. -- Billydeville
