But an older impulse is embedded in these works: the impulse of The Prince and the Pauper, or Batman, or Mrs. The rise of digital anonymity-the Fortnite avatar, the burner Instagram account-would seem an obvious explanation for what’s going on here. The series ostensibly follows the spirit of The Masked Singer, the freaky costumed competition that Fox imported from South Korea in 2019. Sci-fi technology, we’re told, will help people be more like themselves-and Alter Ego’s dullness hints at the way that identity has become a suffocating concept in the 21st century. But the viewing experience is not as bizarre or dystopian as you might expect: A wacky premise and judging panel (will.i.am, Alanis Morissette, Nick Lachey, and the “musician, innovator” Grimes) just disguise the same schmaltz and strained belting that have been common on network TV ever since American Idol premiered in 2002. The long- prophesied future in which holographic performers replace real ones is here, according to Alter Ego, a singing competition that has amateurs inhabit CGI avatars. What otherworldly wisdom does this being have to share? Standing before a panel of human celebrities in the first episode of the Fox reality series Alter Ego, Seven sheds a big, glistening tear and says, “I am who I think I am. Amber eyes and feline bone structure make her strikingly beautiful. The aspiring pop star Seven has blue skin, finned forearms, and a mohawk of writhing tentacles.

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