AHHHH WHAT THE FUCK! THEY MADE A DEEPFAKE AL DAVIS AND PUT IT ON ESPN

-IN THIS DOCUMENTARY FOR ESPN’S 30 FOR 30 SERIES OF FILMS, WHICH ARE NORMALLY VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD AND INOFFENSIVE TO THE POINT OF CRITICISM IN MANY CASES, THEY DECIDED TO USE DEEPFAKE MODELS OF THE TWO MOST CRITICAL FIGURES IN THE FILM

-THEY DID PETE ROZELLE TOO???? WHAT THE FUCK

-WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS? WHO APPROVED THIS??

-THERE ARE MULTIPLE ISSUES THE MOST IMMEDIATE BUT PROBABLY NOT MOST SIGNIFICANT OF WHICH IS THE FACT THAT THIS TECHNOLOGY CLEARLY IS NOT THERE YET BECAUSE THIS GIVES ME THE UNCANNY VALLEY ASMR THING VERY BADLY

-NOT THE GOOD KIND OF ASMR THE BAD KIND WHERE YOUR SPINE FEELS BAD NOT GOOD. GRANTED I DON’T GET THE GOOD ASMR THING ANYWAY MAYBE THAT’S THE ONLY KIND OF ASMR MAYBE I’M USING THE WRONG TERMINOLOGY

-WHY DOES IT MOVE LIKE THAT??????? WHO IS THE EDITOR HERE AND HOW CAN THEY LOOK AT THIS THING MOVE THIS WAY AND THINK “LET’S PUT THIS ON ESPN”

-WHOSE FAULT IS THIS? INTERVIEWS SEEM TO PUT IT AS A STYLISTIC CHOICE ON THE SHOULDERS OF THE FILM’S DIRECTOR WHICH I GUESS I UNDERSTAND I MEAN YOU CAN’T GO OUT AND GET REAL INTERVIEWS WITH THEM BUT STILL COULD YOU HAVE HIRED AN ACTOR TO PORTRAY THEM AND JUST KEEP THEM IN DARKENED AREAS MAYBE LIKE THE JIMMY THE GREEK 30 FOR 30 DID TWELVE YEARS AGO???

-ANYWAY THE LESS IMMEDIATE BUT PROBABLY MORE SIGNIFICANT ISSUE IS THAT BOTH OF THESE MEN ARE DEAD

-THE REASON YOU COULDN’T GET REAL INTERVIEWS WITH THEM IS THAT BOTH OF THESE MEN ARE DEAD

-I REALLY THINK THE RESPONSE TO THIS DILEMMA WHEREIN THE SUBJECTS OF THE FILM ARE BOTH DEAD IS THAT YOU SHOULD PROBABLY MOSTLY UTILIZE EITHER INTERVIEWS WITH THEM WHILE THEY WERE ALIVE OR INTERVIEWS WITH PEOPLE CLOSE TO THEM

-I REALLY DON’T THINK THE RESPONSE TO THIS DILEMMA WHEREIN THE SUBJECTS OF THE FILM ARE BOTH DEAD IS DIGITAL NECROMANCY

-AND NOT EVEN GOOD DIGITAL NECROMANCY EITHER, THAT’S THE BIGGEST PROBLEM. THIS LOOKS LIKE THAT COMMERCIAL FROM THE 2000 SUPER BOWL WITH CHRISTOPHER REEVE. AND THAT WAS TWENTY ONE YEARS AGO!

-WELL NO THAT’S NOT THE BIGGEST PROBLEM, I THINK THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IS THAT BOTH OF THESE MEN ARE DEAD AND IT STRIKES ME AS OBSCENE, LIKE INCREDIBLY TASTELESS, TO DO THIS SORT OF DIGITAL MARIONETTING HERE, ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THE FACT THAT DEEPFAKE RIGHT NOW DOES KIND OF MAKE THE SUBJECT LOOK LIKE AN ANIMATED CORPSE IF NOTHING ELSE

-THIS TECHNOLOGY IS JUST NOT THERE FOR THIS, EVEN IF YOU JUMP THAT HURDLE, EVEN IF YOU COULD COMPLETELY AND ACCURATELY CREATE THE ILLUSION OF A REAL PERSON IN A WAY THAT’S NOT COMPLETELY UNCANNY IT STILL REALLY CHILLS ME THAT THE DIRECTOR THOUGHT THIS WOULDN’T BE UNBELIEVABLY TASTELESS, IN A WAY THAT I DON’T THINK GETTING AN ACTOR TO PORTRAY THEM AND JUST ACCEPTING THAT THEY’RE NOT GOING TO LOOK 100% ACCURATE WOULD BE.

-ULTIMATELY WHILE THIS STORY IS INTERESTING AND RELATIVELY WELL-TOLD THE PRESENCE OF THESE TERRIFYING DIGITAL RECREATION OF DEAD MEN TOOK ME OUT OF THE STORY AND TURNED WHAT WOULD’VE BEEN A DECENT IF UNREMARKABLE DOCUMENTARY INTO SOMETHING THAT I’M GOING TO REMEMBER MOSTLY FOR MAKING MY SKIN CRAWL WITH A DEEPFAKE AL DAVIS

-Also the Rozelle impression just is not very good. The Davis one was fine but the Rozelle one was just like, bad enough that it really took me out of the film. I know there’s like AI deepfake voice stuff too but it’s just as bad at the moment as the image stuff is right now