Puppets

Objectified

Something which has been objectified has been identified as an object. Objects are items that can be used as a tool or cast away if we choose. Such as an ordinary stone on the beach, the choice wither keep if entirely depends on how useful we think the stone would be.

If it is a particularity beautiful stone we may wish to keep if an grow fond of it but still objectify it as we still view it as a tool, a means to an end with no feelings, beliefs or desires within it.

An example of a classical robot which is objectified is a microwave. It is non living mechanical/electrical machine that performs work when required until it breaks or gets replaced. We do not project feelings onto a microwave. Even if the Microwave looks great and performs well for years we do not think of it as alive with feelings or emotions

Subjectified

The opposite this is when something has been subjectified. This means that is is not just a tool or a means to an end, but the main character in its own story with its own beliefs and desires. It is simple to think these things of another person but sometimes non-living objects also are subjectified, meaning they are believed to have emotions, feelings and a purpose for their behavior.

An example of robot subjectification are A.I talking robots are not alive but are designed in a way to imitate humans to the extent that some people subjectify these robots a lot and belief that they have feelings, beliefs and desires.

An example of a non-robot subjectification is from when I was a small child and had a teddy bear. It was just a non mechanical stuffed toy but I did subjectify him quite a lot, even now just accidentally calling the bear 'him' shows the subjectification still lingers. I lost the teddy bear on holiday and cried a lot. It is still a clear memory to this day and shows that I really did believe that the toy had feelings.

Puppets

Shadow puppets on a curtain can portray figures that seem so realistic it is believed that a real person is standing just behind the curtain, when the curtain drops however it is reveled to be a wooden marionette that is 20 times smaller than a person. In this instance we are subjectifying the shadows on the see through curtain. Puppeteers go through extreme lengths to exploit the feeling of subjectification as there whole art consists of getting an audience to belief that this small toy stuck onto the end of their arm is alive and speaks.

Looking real vs feeling real

The problem with some CGI and A.I. talking robots is that they are trying to hard to look realistic. Some people are unnerved by the appearance of Sophia, the worlds first A.I humanoid robot as she looks very close to being human but something in the back of our minds is telling us very clearly that it is not real.

I remember a story about a painter who drew from a picture, his dog running on the beach. When he finished he thought it was so good it was almost like a photograph but something still felt wrong with the painting so he went outside to think. When he came back his 7 year old daughter had copied the picture also. Although the picture wasn't as accurate as the fathers he loved it and thought that it had the thing that his was missing, the immediate feeling of the dog running on the beach. On his picture the dog is not as noticeable as everything else in the picture is drawn to the same quality. On the daughters painting however, the dog is center stage and its features exaggerated, with more detail and care given to the dog than anything else on the painting.

Puppeteers use this phenomenon to great effect. Some puppets, especially on kids shows like the muppets, have exaggerated features and gestures that enhance the belief that they have feelings and are alive. Despite looking more ' unrealistic' the puppets move and act in a way that portrays extreme emotion. For example when they are surprised they wave their arms in the air and shake their heads wildly, whereas human beings are usually more refined. This exaggerated way of doing things is all for one purpose, to bring the focus onto the puppets feelings and desires, in other words to subjectify the puppet to its utmost.

This subjectification of puppets has been going on so long and to such a degree we now have puppets on TV shows doing interviews as if they live a normal celebrity life and have opinions, stories and emotions. At this stage the entire audience is drawn in and even people at home are as well, and therefore it is kind of a mass subjectification.