Those of
you who know me in real life know that I still (yes, still) don`t have a
smartphone. This makes me incredibly annoying if we are meeting up somewhere
I`m not familiar with (not least because not only do I have no GPS, I have
absolutely no sense of direction whatsoever – one friend of mine rather
historically had to `navigate` me to a club for all of two hours. I was very
lost.). Anyway, so I`m oldschool. I check my e-mail from home. I can`t tag
myself in venues. The concept of a selfie is slightly lost on me and I don`t
have Instagram. Now, 2014 may well be there year Sedef converts to smartphones
but for now my little old `dumb phone` does me just fine. So when you guys all
whip out your smartphones and get stuck to them doing this and that, I will
make fun of you. My favourite quip is that you are surgically attached to your
phone, or that you are in love with the thing. My quips a little more than
jest, but Her makes the very valid point that artificial intelligence is here
to stay and that well… Where there are intelligent beings capable of personal
development … There will, inevitably be love.
Theodore
(Joaquin Phoenix) is a writer. He works as a writer at the `handwritten letter
company` composing letters for other people. He is good at what he does – he is
considered one of the best writers in the company. He was once the life and
soul of the party, he and his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara). All that is gone
now. Theodore and Catherine are getting divorced and this has pretty much knocked
Theodore for six. Theodore seems to be closing in on himself more and more and
getting more and more depressed with each passing day until, completely on a
whim, he buys a new, artificially intelligent operating system, OS1. OS1 is an
artificially intelligent operating system designed to meet the users every need
and be as close to being human as possible without having a body… Thus begins a
very extraordinary relationship. Because the one thing Theodore needs from life
is love. And Samantha (as the OS decides to call herself – voiced by Scarlett
Johansson) may just be the girl for him…
Human VS
Artificial Intelligence used to be something merely for the sci-fi geeks. You
know, something you thought about if you happened to be a fan if writers like
Isaac Asimov or series like Star Trek. But the technological developments of
the last couple of decades mean that now artificial intelligence is,
potentially, part of our everyday lives. Which in turn means mainstream art has
begun to think about it. I mean fair dues; Spike Jonze is by no stretch of the
imagination mainstream, but the point is that this is a film that was seen by a
good many people, was awarded an Oscar and a good many other awards besides. I
has raced its way through lists of iconic films and ``to watch`` lists. It has
clearly struck a chord. And although relationships with computerized beings
(what DOES one call them ??!!) are, for now, only really frequent in high-tech
countries such as Korea and Japan, well, this may well mean that the trend is heading
our way…
I think
this film has struck such a chord because it touches on a very sensitive point.
A point only single people in their thirties will get. Your thirties is a time
of life where most people around you are settling into their relationships. If
not already married, people are moving in together, having children and
generally taking step after step in that particular area of ``adult life``. Now
don`t get me wrong, I am one of these single people. I am not discontent with
my singledom either. But come on guys, put your hand on your heart and admit
it. More or less frequently – depending on your nature – there are moments when
you are filled with the sense that you will never find ``your other half``.
There is a moment you look around at all the happy (or seemingly happy –but
that is a different post all together) couples around you and think ``that will
never be me``. And if you have been a confirmed bachelor, this is one thing,
because you do probably know by now that just because you are single at the
moment your world is not actually coming to an end. If however you exit a
long-term relationship, it may feel as if literally all is lost. The whole
story line with the friend Theodore got set up with annoyed me at first. It
seemed to me, for a second, that it was a re-hash of that hoary old chestnut
about clingy and slightly mad single women in their thirties (and there is
definitely an element of this thought in the film. Think of the ``choking on
the cat`` bit if you have watched the film.) Because clearly, if you are above
a certain age and single there must be something very wrong with you *sigh*. But
when I thought about it a little more calmly I began to get it. Because more
often than not that IS how you approach potential new relationships if you are
in Theodore`s shoes. If you were dumped I mean. Nothing and no one measures up
to your ex who was, clearly, the most perfect person ever in the world. All
those other people `left on the shelf` couldn`t even begin to compare to that
perfection. Hence at first any new potential partner is riddled with faults.
Even if they are not.
The other,
not completely disconnected point is most clearly put across by Theodore when
he talking about Samantha. On more than one occasion he says of Samantha that
it is ``great to be with someone who is excited about the world``. I see what
that is about completely, although I find it hard to put into words. We all get
hurt at some point. We all get jaded. And rather unfairly we desperately search
with this joie de vivre in others, without exactly being generous with handing
it out ourselves. We have in Samantha someone who is only just discovering the
world, combining all the qualities of a child, truly excited with new life,
with the sensibilities of a grown woman.
Her is a
very, very deep film. It asks a lot of serious questions about love and
relationships. And although if were to go into a detailed analysis of what I
think of each one I would have to possibly start up a new blog or something
like that, I think there is one last very valid point to be made. In a world
where we are more and more obsessed with appearances, Theodore ends up
bypassing the gorgeous single woman he gets set up with and falls for a woman
without a body. They have ``phone sex`` and go on dates ``via camera``. So
whatever other points the film makes, I think Her makes it perfectly clear that
for a relationship to truly work out you have to know to look below what is
only skin-deep.
On the
surface a simple boy meets girl… Only with so many twists and turns… Spike
Jonze has truly outdone himself this time. Definitely a must-see.
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