Just about a month ago, it was revealed that the late Val Kilmer’s final film “As Deep as the Grave,” directed by Coerte Voorhees, is set to release later this year. Kilmer was cast back in 2020 when the movie was initially titled “Canyon Del Muerto.”
Due to the 2020 pandemic, the production of this film was pushed back and is finally being released. The main issue with this is not the storytelling but Kilmer’s performance.
The late actor is never actually in the film. Instead, it is an AI-generated version of Kilmer that took his place. His entire performance is actually just a digitized version of himself.
The first look of this performance was posted on March 18. Many fans of the actor and movie-goers were outraged.
Many individuals on X, formerly Twitter, did not know how to take the news. Many users on the app commented about how they want the movie to fail.
For myself, I was very disappointed. Kilmer was a household name in my family as I grew up with a cowboy-movie-loving and The Doors fanatic dad; this news was just a shock. Especially when I discovered that the whole process was approved by Kilmer’s family, mainly his daughter, Mercedes Kilmer.
In an interview with Today, on Wednesday, Mercedes Kilmer spoke on the backlash and shared that this was something her dad wanted.
Her dad fought a long cancer battle, which led to a tracheal procedure that damaged his vocal cords. This impeded his ability to speak, which, according to Kilmer, was a reason as to why her father had approved of the AI use while he was alive.
Kilmer claimed that this use of her dad’s likeness through AI was ethical. What they are trying to show other filmmakers is that there are ethical ways of being able to use AI.
This only reminds me of an episode of the Adult Swim cartoon sitcom, Smiling Friends, created by Zach Hadel and Michael Cusack called “Friend-Bot.”
Smiling Friends follows a group of employees who work for a small company dedicated to making people smile and laugh.
This one particular episode follows main characters Charlie and Pim as they go to their first client and find that they weren’t actually sad, but just unhappy that their servant robot wasn’t completing the job fast enough.
Charlie and Pim take Friend-Bot back to the office and find that Friend-Bot can actually do anything and everything. This left the entire company out of a job as Friend-Bot began to do their jobs.
Pim realized that he had become replaced and was left out of a job. When he went to ask Friend-Bot not to take his job, Friend-Bot claimed that he could actually do his job a lot better and faster than Pim.
This scene from this episode is a message to the world currently, as we are slowly seeing the growth of AI usage. Not only is it affecting the environment, but it is also affecting people’s ability to create.
The art of movie-making should be sacred. No actor should ever be replaced with an AI-generated version of themself. It is inauthentic. It destroys the whole purpose and career of an actor. The craft becomes tainted as it no longer becomes a unique talent.
I hope that creatives realize that not everything should be seen through a rose colored lens.
Unfortunately, it’s only the beginning but we should strive for a faster end.
Art and expression are human and should remain human. We should not allow it to fall through the cracks of AI.
Marina Bravo is a senior journalism major and arts editor for the Campus Times. She can be reached at marina.bravo@laverne.edu.
Marina Bravo is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations. She is arts editor and a staff photographer for the Campus Times, and has previously served as a staff writer and photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine. She enjoys going to live shows and everything spooky.
