The Vision and his newly created family are just as intelligent, if not more so, than
us lowly humans.
The only real distinction between the two is the way they operate and thrive vs. how
we go about our daily lives.
So why is it that, as evidenced by Tom King’s run on the character, people are still terrified
by the android?
Hello and welcome to the Show With Issues, I’m Auram, and the issue on the table today
is all about Vision so for those uninformed, let's do a quick recap of the famous android’s
origin and history!
Hank Pym, then Ant-Man, was working on an artificial intelligence that would come to
be known as the classic Avengers villain Ultron.
The newly sentient AI is actually the one responsible for Vision’s creation.
After being beaten by the Avengers for a good while, Ultron decided to change tactics and
create his own android using the brainwaves of Wonder Man and body of the original Human
Torch, his Vision of a perfect being.
Ultron sent Vision to lure the Avengers into a deathtrap, but because of his exposure to
the mighty defenders of Earth, Vision realized the err of his ways and asked to join the
Avengers, which he soon did.
Of course there were years of shenanigans surrounding the character with him dying,
being resurrected, marrying and having “children” with Scarlet Witch, and even taking over the
world apparently.
But, all of that eventually led to 2015’s Vision by the amazing Tom King, which is what
we’ll be focusing on for this video, so spoilers for that!
Sometime before this series began in the Avengers zero issue, Vision decided to purge all emotions
associated with his past memories so that his systems could run smoother.
This gave Vision the clarity he needed to decide that he should start a family to further
pursue his “humanity.”
He first created his wife Virginia from the brainwaves of his ex-wife Wanda Maximoff,
the Scarlet Witch.
Then, Vision created Vin and Viv, Virginia and Vision’s children, from a combination
of the two “parents’” brainwaves.
They all moved into a house on 616 Hickory Branch Lane in Arlington, Virginia, and chaos
began to ensue.
The Visions were almost immediately met with disgust by their neighbors.
And even those who were nice to the family of synthezoids still showed apprehension when
interacting.
But it didn’t stop there, the family’s mental state started to deteriorate over time,
especially Virginia’s, leading to the neighborhood being more and more terrified.
The Grim Reaper, Wonder Man’s brother, showed up on their doorstep one day and was murdered
by Virginia with Vin and Viv bearing witness.
This started a snowball effect with Vin almost killing Viv’s lab partner who later died
at the hands of Virginia, causing Viv to slip into depression among many other things.
And, of course, Virginia just became increasingly more insane.
Now, the series isn’t over yet, but after the handful of issues that are currently out,
a lot has happened to make you afraid of this family.
It raises the question though, are we afraid of the Visions because of their actions, or
because of their being androids?
If all of these events played out the same way, but with a regular group of humans, would
this book be as terrifying?
I’d be willing to bet it’s because they’re androids.
Here’s why:
Vision has always been sort of an outcast.
He’s always been “not quite human,” and this scares people.
Just look at how the neighborhood was already cautious with the Visions when they first
moved in, there’s something hardwired in their brains to stay away from these synthezoids.
This is commonly referred to as the Uncanny Valley.
The Uncanny Valley is a term coined by robotics professor Masahiro Mori in 1970 and is largely
used to describe the theoretical “dip” in likability that a human expresses when
encountering a robot that is not quite human looking.
If that sounds confusing, look at these two images.
This one is super cute, you’d trust this guy immediately!
But this one is creepy and just somewhat off.
You probably wouldn’t want to be anywhere near it.
It disarms you to see something that looks human, but isn’t; it makes you question
if what you’re seeing is real.
This is what the Uncanny Valley is describing.
There is, of course, the other side of the Valley where the robot becomes so indistinguishable
from a human that you no longer feel uneasy around it.
This can somewhat be seen in today’s video games and CGI work.
The Hulk looked way creepier in Ang Lee’s film compared to how he’s looking today;
he escaped the Uncanny Valley.
In fact, special effects have gotten so good today that in Age of Ultron they used CG to
make Paul Bettany’s Vision look less human!
Some have also debated that the Uncanny Valley is nonexistent.
It is currently still just scientific theory, not fact, mostly because it’s a very subjective
idea that always brings back varying results.
That’s not to say it has no evidence backing it up though.
There has been a lot research done on the subject, so let’s assume, for the sake of
this video, that this is a real phenomenon that occurs in humans and dive into why it
happens.
One such reason for the Uncanny Valley is what’s known as “mismatch.”
Humans inherently seek patterns in things, it makes us feel safer, so when we see a robot
do something that doesn’t match up with what we expected it to do, it creates an alarming
sense of unease.
An example of this would be how Virginia sometimes randomly repeats repeats words or gets stuck
in a loop of her own speech speech.
We’re expecting her to finish her sentence, but she doesn’t and it terrifies us.
Another type of mismatch would be through facial expressions or body movements.
Often times androids are depicted as having no emotion.
They’re lifeless while doing things, this isn’t how humans operate.
If you’re able to truthfully talk about murdering someone casually with a blank expression
on your face, you might be labeled a sociopath.
This could be considered the norm for a member of the Vision family.
Going back to Age of Ultron, remember when Vision was being “born”?
In that entire scene he had this blank, almost curious expression on his face.
He declares:
VISION: “I’m not Ultron.
I’m not JARVIS.
I’m -- I am…”
And goes on to explain his motives with almost no emotion:
VISION: “Maybe I am a monster, I don’t think I’d know if I were one.”
Mismatch is also heavily used in today’s horror films.
That’s why you often see demons or ghosts or whatever move very quickly and randomly;
humans expect very methodical movement and demons don’t like this apparently.
Another reason for the Uncanny Valley phenomenon is whether or not we think the subject can
sense things or has the power to think for itself.
This is why artificial intelligences are used so heavily in horror or as fear devices.
A “living” computer goes against everything that humans currently know; we fear a robot
uprising, however silly that may sound.
That’s the thing though, isn’t it?
We’re so upset by these “uncanny” beings because they don’t match up with what humans
currently understand.
However, as technology continues to evolve, we shouldn’t be able to discern the difference
between human and robot.
That’s what the Valley proposes, as things get more human-like, the distinction between
human and robot becomes less obvious, thus being more comfortable.
Vision hasn’t quite reached this “point of no discern,” though.
He still has pink “skin” and operates very much like a machine.
However, Dr. Angela Tinwell, one of the lead scientists behind the Uncanny Valley theory,
proposes that the idea of technology becoming indiscernible from humans is impossible because
of the existence of an “Uncanny Wall.”
The Uncanny Wall states that as technology evolves, humans will also evolve to accommodate
this change.
Our senses will become heightened and we’ll be able to more accurately tell the difference
between human and robot.
This “Wall” is seemingly nonexistent in the Marvel universe, however, because of Life
Model Decoys, or LMD’s.
LMD’s look and act just like us.
They’re the same in every way except for them not actually being human.
If the Uncanny Wall did exist, every human on the planet would be able to know immediately
that the “person” they’re talking to is an LMD, or at least not human.
Fury, for example, had thousands of LMD copies of his younger self and no one was the wiser.
So at the end of the day, what does this mean for the Visions?
Will there be a time where humans just inherently accept them and are not put off by their being
a synthezoid immediately?
Probably not.
Humans inherently feel safer around other humans.
If you’re put into a room with Vision, or any intelligent non-human being really, you
will feel uneasy, no matter what.
One might even immediately stereotype them as a threat simply because they look different
than you, it’s how the human brain is wired.
Sure, after awhile of spending time with Vision, his state as an android might become a non
issue and you’d be two best friends.
And, hey, maybe the Uncanny Wall doesn’t exist and later generations will have no qualm
with robots, androids, or anything else that falls in that category.
We can all live in a perfect world where everyone is treated equally regardless of differing
physical traits.
But, even if we eventually accept Vision’s physical traits, does that make him a person?
What about all of the other things that make us, us?
What about emotions, souls, love --
SCOTT: Hey, I’m gonna borrow this.
Hi, I’m Scott from NerdSync!
You know me, I think.
Uh, I’m actually doing a video right now, today, about Vision and what it means to be
a person and whether or not androids qualify.
Does Vision have the capacity to show love?
Is that only a human characteristic?
And what about minds and souls?
Does he have one of those?
Do we?
I don’t know, but we’re gonna find out over on my channel, NerdSync!
Link in the description, I assume.
Ok!
Enough of whatever that was though, what’s your opinion on this?
Do you think that Tom King’s Vision series would be as scary if the characters were simply
human?
Or, the larger question here, do you think that the anger and apprehension toward the
Visions is justified?
Let’s talk about it all in the comments!
That all being said, be sure to subscribe before you head out so you don’t miss out
on anything I upload every Saturday and every other Wednesday.
And of course, thank you so much for watching!
Next time I put an extra lock on my door, cause this guy keeps coming in here for some
-- no!
I don’t --