[evnvnv]

This is a 45 minute documentary television program about real dolls and the people that love them.

clearly people who know about the internet are aware of real dolls as a thing, but most of the attention is focused on how insanely detailed they are. I've never given much thought to the people that actually "use" them, mainly because it's so hard to imagine.

As there has been kind of a renaissance in talking about sex on selectbutton, I'm going to add some fuel to the fire I guess. I would suggest watching this film if you don't already have any strong opinions about the subject but it's long so whatever.

Personally, I can't quite figure it out. There is some kind of line, maybe there isn't even a line, between the ailment and the cure in this case. A lot of these guys seem to be convinced that they have literally no chance with real women, so they buy real dolls and use those instead. It's not really up to me to judge whether or not they are right, but the only advice anyone ever gives anybody about dealing with women is that confidence and faith in yourself goes a really long way. Maybe these guys will never have that and the dolls provide some kind of substitution, but it's pretty hard to imagine that they aren't making things worse.

On the other hand, some of the guys do actually seem to enjoy the dolls more than the companionship of a real person (romantic or otherwise) and I just don't know how to pass judgment on that.

(Guys and Dolls spoilers? ahead?)

Strangely, the person that disturbs me the most in this film is the Texan guy who seems to be the most casual about the dolls. The way he talks about them and rationalizes his hobby is kind of disgusting to me. The others all seem to have some pretty serious emotional situations going on, but to this guy the dolls are just realistic sex toys. The only problem is he owns eight of them and constantly buys them new clothes and wigs and stuff. The other fellows all seem to have a bit of collector's neurosis about them, they are all really in to other kinds of objects and are pretty meticulous about the dolls and taking care of them. For some reason this makes a lot more sense to me than a guy that spends a great deal of money (they are like thousands of dollars each) on these dolls and then just kind of stuffs them under the bed and in the garage. And for awhile it seems like he is actually going to get into a normal relationship and ditch the dolls but... the last line of the film is kind of a killer.

I don't know. As someone who spends a lot of time on the internet, I am really sensitive to things concerning 'anti-social' behavior. In a way it is kind of comforting to be reminded that even though I spend so much of my life in front of this machine I do still have a somewhat active social life, and even though I am shy I haven't given up on human interaction in general. To me the nerdy reclusive thing is an element of my personality, something that I don't really fight or give in to completely. Not to be accusatory, but I can imagine that a lot of people here are the same way.

(personal section)
But sometimes I wonder if people who don't know anything about science fiction or games or the internet or anything like that see the hobbies and interests I have in the same way that I see the guys in this video. If I spent as much time working towards real goals as I do looking at wikipedia and the internet I would probably be a lot more successful and happy. Hell, sometimes the only thing I can do to force myself off the internet is just read a book or watch TV or something--those aren't exactly constructive activities either. I don't know.

(anyway)
The other side of my interest in this comes from the fact that I'm kind of curious about simulated or synthetic life. Learning about artificial intelligence is really interesting, but it will be a long time until we'll be able to do any concrete research about how people respond to something that is intellectually realistic. Right now you can learn about how people react to something that is physically realistic, although I'm still not sure exactly HOW real these dolls are. They still look pretty plastic. But the guys in this movie seem to have managed to form genuine emotional bonds with their dolls, something that perplexes me.

A lot of them seem to have detachment issues and see the dolls as a person that will never leave them. In addition to low self esteem some also have a low opinion of other people in general or maybe just women. One of them talks about how he doesn't like high heels or makeup or "other things that other people consider sexy" because it makes a woman look like she has already "been had by a hundred men," or something to that effect. Etc.

Another talks about how he loves hang gliding, and that he previously assumed women would be attracted to men who "do exciting things," but he found that they don't care about it and would rather be with a normal man "with a beer in one hand and a packet of fags [british] in the other." Again this is like page two of the advice everybody gets all the time book, but somehow the fact that women don't swoon at the sight of a (supposedly) manly skill seems like a great injustice of the world to this guy.

In spite of this social weirdness the guys are actually all normal looking (everybody odd is normal looking though, I guess). I know it is dumb to judge someone on appearance like this, but I found that surprising. I don't know I guess I just had this assumption that people that bought real dolls were all just Elephant Men or something; hideous freaks of nature physically shamed to expose themselves to humanity. But it's not that black and white.

To me this is kind of an interesting subject. Not confined to real dolls but to uh... one-person relationships in general. How do people feel about this? Is there a line drawn between this kind of sexual behavior and other kinds of 'alternative' lifestyles? Stuff like this and really intense furries are the two (consensual) sex things I have always just been like "no" about, but I really can't justify that opposition logically. Part of me thinks it does more harm to people than good, but if you can lead a balanced life and be happy while having some kind of crazy sexual orientation that seems like it is from another planet, there is nothing wrong with that. But I think that in spite of all of my open mindedness I do have a pretty distinct concept of 'normality,' and even though it might go beyond most people's it is still there, and it flashes when I see something that makes me feel weird. I don't know if this is something I should try to get over by learning more about people who are into stuff like this. Maybe I should play second life.

I'm not sure if this is something that anyone will have a serious opinion about either way, but if so I'm kind of interested to hear them. Do you draw lines about lifestyle choices? What makes a type of behavior socially acceptable? Clearly you don't have to be into something yourself to have no qualms whatsoever about other people doing it, but how far beyond your comfort zone does that extend? I mean its not like I'm going to campaign against other people being emotionally attached to realistic sex dolls, but honestly I don't think I would be able to just completely accept this as a normal thing if I found out that someone I actually knew was into it. That makes me feel kind of guilty?

I don't know. This is another way the internet has made everything more complicated, I guess.

[haircute]

Awesome post.

I watched this not too long ago and I guess I couldn't believe that the guy that had seven or eight of them could also get a girlfriend. Granted, she dumped him in the end but remember when she said she'd have no problem with it because he's in to her more? What a liar!

The guy that repairs them was pretty cool though.
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Get Wild and Tough!

[internisus]

WTF is this in the Axe?

[Maztorre]

MOVED

[haircute]

BTW the darker skinned whom i suspect is a weeaboo was pretty weird looking. and the guy who lives in virginia or where ever? he looks almost exactly like a friend of mine which is to say they both look weird.

Speaking of the fellow in Virginia, he seems to hold most people in contempt since he doesn't go out unless he has to go to work. I just got the feeling that he's one of those people that complain constantly and ruin every one else's day. I also though it was creepy how he said "Yeah, I go out once a month to get my supplies..."

The way he said that made me feel sorry for him.
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Get Wild and Tough!

[inmatarian]

Weird side effect of a world where every little boy is taught that he'll grow up to be a superhero, and every little girl is taught that she'll grow up to be a princess. An interesting juxtaposition to this documentary would be a piece done on what all of the women convinced they'll never get a boyfriend have done with their lives.
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2993 badness blog email

[Predator Goose]

I think that the answer is "get abusive boyfriends."
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I can no longer shop happily.

[CubaLibre]

no, cats

same diff
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Let's Play, starring me.

[evnvnv]

oh hey thanks for moving this. i looked for it in the axe and was like wtf deleted?? but this makes more sense. i put it in the axe because i intended it to be a really short post and then got kind of carried away.

i'll admit the dudes are kind of weird looking, but not in a way that would immediately disqualify them from social activity to the extent that they seem to believe is true. i mean i am positive that there are guys that look exactly like the weeaboo man starting record labels and getting famous on myspace and stuff like that.

right now i'm trying to picture this documentary 100 years in the future, where people in this situation can get an android or cyborg synthetic live-in lover, like jude law in AI. robot whores are a cliche and yet somehow i feel the idea hasn't really fully been explored yet.

anyhow i suppose i said everything i had to say following that line of thought but now i am curious about future artificial sex and what kind of things will be associated with that. i know phillip jose farmer was supposed to be one of the groundbreaking guys in that field but i have always been kind of embarrassed to get into the sexier stuff, and i don't know if it has anything to do with robots anyway. at any rate i would be surprised if he wrote about quite from this particular angle, anyway.

also, i forgot to mention that i found this documentary from aint it cool news, which also has a link to a fictional film about a guy and a real doll starring uh.... that one actor guy that everyone loves right now. for a fun experiment watch the trailer to this movie and note how it seems like a sweet, quirky indie rom com with a cheeky premise. then watch the guys and dolls documentary, then watch the trailer again. it suddenly seems like the most surface level cloying piece of not-getting-the-point doo.. true story. actually it still looks kinda funny tho