Repurposing, however, occurs when filmmakers choose to re-contextualize an actor’s likeness with the goal of completing a project that the performer had never been a part of when he or she was living (“No Longer Themselves?”, 50-51). In most cases, digital resurrection done in the case of film completion is morally permissible, while repurposing a deceased actor is mostly an unethical endeavor.

“Digital Heroes in Contemporary Hollywood: Exertion, Identification, and the Virtual Action Body”, the rise of CGI is resulting in the “death” of the live actor, who now is being taken over by the “synthespians” of the modern age (5). This reasoning explains why so many living actors are strongly against the rise of CGI and digital resurrection;

Repurposing a dead actor’s image is a completely different matter than film completion, wherein the morals become increasingly complicated.

Recently, the film Furious 7 (one of the latest movies in The Fast and the Furious franchise) used digital resurrection to complete Paul Walker’s performance after he died in a brutal car accident. The film released to a moderately high critical reception, and became the 6th highest grossing movie in cinema’s history according to www.boxofficemojo.com. Clearly, it seems that critics and audiences alike accept digital resurrections as a means of film completion.

As summarized by Bode, digital resurrection is practiced in two different scenarios: film completion and repurposing. Film completion occurs when an actor dies during the production of a film, and the filmmakers turn to posthumous performance in order to complete the movie. Repurposing, however, occurs when filmmakers choose to re-contextualize an actor’s likeness with the goal of completing a project that the performer had never been a part of when he or she was living (“No Longer Themselves?”, 50-51). In most cases, digital resurrection done in the case of film completion is morally permissible, while repurposing a deceased actor is mostly an unethical endeavor. Additionally, the level of expertise of the digital resurrection can play a prominent role in its ethicality (whether done in film completion or repurposing), with poorly executed resurrections coming across as highly insulting to the late performer.

I must first address that digital resurrection is only part of a larger controversy in the cinematic world, one that encompasses the use of CGI in general.

The practice of digital resurrection is a morally dubious one, and it very often results in unethical behavior. Not only does the practice provide the power to exploit a deceased celebrity’s image for personal gain and profit, but it also has unhealthily redefined the status of celebrities as immortal figures in the eyes of the public.  However, our culture’s fascination with nostalgia proves to be a commendable defense of digital resurrection, despite the complications that arise when practicing it.