Casting Dead Actors Via CGI is Unethical and Disrespectful

            In November 2019, it was announced that the late James Dean had been “cast” in the Vietnam War drama Finding Jack. The reactions were negative, but this isn’t the first time Hollywood has resurrected a dead actor for their own purposes such as Audrey Hepburn in an advertisement or Peter Cushing in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. What’s so laughable about the “casting” of James Dean is that it is for a role in a film about a war that he didn’t even live through; the Vietnam War began in November of 1955, just two months after Dean’s tragic and untimely death. This recent controversy opens up a conversation about the ethics of subsequently resurrecting the dead.

James Dean as Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

            Many actors spoke up against this casting choice, namely Elijah Wood who very succinctly tweeted, “NOPE. This should not be a thing.” The visceral reactions from actors and fans alike stems both from an issue of morality and fears of job instability. Zelda Williams, daughter of the late Robin Williams, puts it into words by saying, “this is puppeteering the dead for their ‘clout’ alone.” The choice to cast Dean was very obviously made because of the fact that he is one of the most famous and impactful actors despite only starring in three films. The team behind Finding Jack is hoping that his name will draw people into the theaters and garner some form of attention.

            Kristy Puchko believes that using CGI in this manner was bound to happen, but in her words she claims, “its inevitability doesn’t make it less atrocious.” There is a huge difference between making a living Sam Jackson appear younger in Captain Marvel and the casting of a dead James Dean in a film meant to be released in 2020—65 years after his death. Deceased actors, such as Dean and Hepburn, cannot consent to being a spokesperson for a brand or acting in a new film. It strips real life people of their autonomy and ability to choose. This passes the ownership of people and their images over to studios who can grossly reanimate and puppeteer them for money and clout, as Williams said. Studios can take the likeness of the dead and use them for whatever purposes they deem appropriate and necessary. It’s frankly disrespectful; just because one is dead does not mean their autonomy and being should be violated.

            If more studios decide to also resurrect the dead for new casting decisions, this also sets a dangerous precedent for those currently working in the industry. Animated Antic on Twitter claims that, “it doesn’t allow the casting of new up and coming talent.” This could, if taken too far, push living actors out of the industry in favor of working with CGI copies of the dead. This threat to many jobs could also explain the reaction of working actors. Whether it is the threat of unemployment dangling over their heads or a need to take a moral stance, the opposition to this casting is valid and necessary.

            The casting of a CGI James Dean speaks to a bigger issue: the commodification of human beings. According to Colin Leys, “Over time, everything that enters into capitalists’ costs of production, whether it is a material good or an activity, becomes commodified, while more and more things enter into capitalist production.” Studios could quite literally begin to trade the likeness of the dead for profit instead of simply hiring those who are currently in the industry and more than capable. Trading art and morality for money is and always will be repulsive. Everything, under capitalism, can be twisted in order to earn money out of it—even human beings who have since died.

            To thwart the continued efforts of studios to reanimate corpses who cannot consent and take jobs from the living, we must reject these films. One should not engage with it—don’t purchase a ticket. The “casting” of James Dean in Finding Jack is a slippery-slope that is disrespectful to both the living and the dead.

Works Cited

@Animated_Antic (Animated Antic). “Casting actors in films who have been deceased for many years and…” Twitter, 6 November 2019, https://twitter.com/Animated_Antic/status/1192116855827132417?s=20.

Ehrlich, David. “Are the Special Effects in ‘Rogue One’ Unethical?—IndieWire Critics Survey.” IndieWire, 19 December 2016, https://www.indiewire.com/2016/12/rogue-one-peter-cushing-dead-special-effects-ethical-1201760566/.

@ElijahWood (Elijah Wood). “NOPE. This shouldn’t be a thing.” Twitter, 6 November 2019, https://twitter.com/elijahwood/status/1192221224228683776?s=20.

Leys, Colin. “Commodification: The Essence of Our Time.” Open Democracy, 2 April 2012, https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/commodification-essence-of-our-time/.

@ZeldaWilliams (Zelda Williams). “I have talked to friends about this for YEARS and no one ever believed me…” Twitter, 6 November 2019, https://twitter.com/zeldawilliams/status/1192141551171854338?s=20.