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Seems harmless enough.

I’m sure by now most of you have heard the uncomfortable news that a company called Worldwide XR will be digitally resurrecting screen legend James Dean to play a part in a new movie. Finding Jack takes place in Vietnam and will deal with the thousands of support dogs that were abandoned at the end of that war. As of now a release date has been set for Veteran’s Day 2020.

And according to a press release this is only the beginning:

Worldwide XR holds and represents the rights for more than 400 celebrities, athletes and sports teams. In addition to James Dean, it will also enable creators to bring back stars like Bettie Page, Burt Reynolds and Andre The Giant, sports legends like Lou Gehrig, and artists like Maya Angelou.

This has understandably drawn the ire of actors and fans alike including Chris Evans who made some interesting points:

“Maybe we can get a computer to paint us a new Picasso. Or write a couple new John Lennon tunes. The complete lack of understanding here is shameful.”

He’s not wrong but we should remember this isn’t exactly new.

From 1991:

https://youtu.be/YnmkfP47-gI

Or this!

From 1997:

They also had Fred Astaire hocking Dirt Devil Vacuums:

And Elvis using his pelvis to get everybody drooling for some Pizza Hut pie in 1998:

These were gimmicks, impressive technical feats, but gimmicks nonetheless and outside the accomplishments seen in movies such 1994’s Forrest Gump, seemed financially impractical.

Tupac Shakur was brought back to “light” via hologram for a concert as were Michael Jackson, Billie Holiday, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, Roy Orbison and Whitney Houston.

Ambitious fan service but ultimately a failure because the look was off and sort of creepy, certainly not legacy affirming anyway.

Not right.
Ditto
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Play, ghost, plaaaay!

It was only a matter of time before technology became inexpensive enough to exploit our long and not so long dead legends and it seems that day is here. Being dead is officially no longer an excuse to stop earning:

Worldwide XR wants to not only license celebrities’ likenesses, but also help creatives make use of existing assets as they look to transform them to digital humans. The way this is done depends on both individual projects as well as the recognizability of each celebrity.

According to a press release on their website they have imminent plans for such people as Bettie Page, Andre the Giant, Burt Reynolds / Turd Ferguson and Bette Davis.

They also have a big roster of dead sports stars like Jim Thorpe and Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, Shoeless Joe and Sugar Ray Robinson, Arthur Ashe and Joe Louis.

Haha, you say! You plebian tools deserve to have your false idols denigrated. I’m into cultural things which can never be sullied!

Best hold the antique rotary phone there, snoots.

Your idols will live again only to be besmirched as well. Malcolm X, Rosa Parks and Maya Angelou will not be programmed to complain about pay equity or script quality nor will Amelia Earhart or Neil Armstrong!

I can’t really say how I feel about any of this except a little dirty.

I guess it’s an awareness that today’s stars and influencers don’t seem to have the same clout as the icons of yesteryear.

Worldwide XR CEO Travis Cloyd acknowledges:

“Influencers will come and go, but legends will never die.”

I can’t say I see a fault in his logic there but like everything these days, it all comes down to the caliber of the creative team so achieving that level of quality remains the challenge then as it does now.

Bear in mind that none of these “legends” nailed it every time.

No, you didn’t agree to any of this. That’s the beauty!

For every All About Eve, there was a Return To Witch Mountain.

For every The Princess Bride there was “André el Gigante” of the Mexican Universal Wrestling Association.

And we don’t get I know Why The Caged Bird Sings without a whole lot of misery, poverty and stomping the boards off-Broadway.

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On his way to fight Maya Angelou. Or Ghandi. Amy Winehouse! The future is limitless. Dignity sadly is not.

Becoming a legend takes time and patience, commodities in short supply today when everyone’s career rides on the financial success of a scant few movies. No one has the patience to really nurture genuine talent these days.

The very legends they hope to exploit grew out of having their talent not only recognized but nurtured, by being truly supported and pushed through challenging work and continuing despite challenging time and by laying their careers and the careers of their people on the line time and time again to do what their muse demands.

Sadly for today’s flock, unless a muse is helping you make the cash register sing you can and will be replaced. This has always been the case, it all eventually comes down to economics but now, instead of worrying about the next pretty face that steps of the bus they also have to worry about dead people who built the very industry they are trying to thrive in.

These are the times we live in.

What are you going to do about it?

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We all knew how this will end.