Post Prompt #11 Using "the uncanny".

The first example of "the uncanny" that I could think of is the 1999 film "Bicentennial Man", starring the late Robin Williams. This film (set in 2005?!) experiments with elements of the uncanny, as Williams' character transitions from a robot with very rigid movement, then an "android"- a more upgraded model, and eventually into a "human body", which eventually leads to the end of his life. Towards the later half of the movie when the robot named Andrew transitions into his more human form, we start to feel that familiar uncanny feeling.
Bicentennial Man has the advantage of having a real human actor playing this "robot coming to life", but there is still an attempt to make the "robot-ness" of the character apparent. I think the use of the uncanny in this film is to remind us of our feelings about the mixing of human and robot elements. I'm not sure how successful this movie was in its effort to show... well, I'm not sure. "Robots have feelings too?" I remember this being a pretty strange film.

I think the uncanny can obviously lend itself to horror, but some elements could be used in comedy. There are some who can find a lifelike Japanese humanoid robot very humorous, because it is an attempt at a human-like form that does not quite make it there. Some may find the inadequacies of these robots creepy, while others may find them humorous. It depends on the context in which they are set.
I'm sure that the more technology advances, the more experimentation with "live but not alive" performance we will see. My current view is that a performance that is not alive is not one that engages me as much as one that is alive.

The feeling for the uncanny is an important sense for artists to develop so that in the future, the fine line that can be tread when using this technology in an art form that is meant to be viewed by the public isn't crossed. The artists wouldn't want to make their audience feel unnecessarily uneasy.