Nothing Left to the Imagination



The attitude beginning sometime in the 1980s and continuing well into the 1990s that computer animation is somehow "cheating" by being too good. The usual complaint, originally lodged against some music videos but also applied to early CGI films like Tron, was that the computer graphics leave "nothing to the imagination", implying not only that were the viewers expected and required to fill in any lapses in production values, but that it was in fact a virtue that they do so. There's an old saying that radio and books can thus beat television because "the pictures are better".

The obvious corollary, that low-quality work that doesn't look good is somehow better than high-quality work, never seems to have occurred to anyone who made the complaint. Well, except for some fans of classic Doctor Who, who insist that wobbly sets and rubber monsters are "part of the show's charm" (which also generally extends to fans of Toku, because most, but not all, of the effects are physical and done using make-up and costumes à la Doctor Who).

However, compare Conspicuous CG. Also, consider that black and white is still a relevant artistic choice despite the technological superiority of color. Even better is the fact that nearly all visual media are still portrayed in 2-D even through several methods of 3-D projection and viewing exist (though admittedly of varying quality and convenience).

See also Three Chords and the Truth, which is the same idea applied to Rock Music.

Not related to outfits that leave little to the imagination. Can be related to Nothing Is Scarier or I Liked It Better When It Sucked, or may be a protest against Gorn.

Real Life

 * In 1982, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences explicitly disqualified TRON from receiving a special effects Oscar, declaring the use of computers to be "cheating".