Her (2013)
When I think about films that have impacted me, I realize it’s the ones that make me think about society with a fresh perspective. Part of why I love movies is because films open my mind to new ideas. We can now watch almost every film ever made in just a few clicks. Modern technology is how we communicate, learn, and empower. But it’s always frightened me how reliant I feel on computers. At what point is there an interval between real life and screen life? In the age of Zoom, Spike Jonze’s Her (2013) feels extremely relevant.
I watched Her a few years ago and loved it. It was the first Spike Jonze movie I had seen and I was impressed with the writing, directing, and overall creativity. That was in a pre-pandemic world. One recent, mid-pandemic night, I stumbled upon Her and decided to rewatch it. Watching Her during the pandemic was a very different experience. I understood the movie in a more nuanced way and realized that certain aspects of the movie were more prescient than ever.
Set in Los Angeles in the near future, Her stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore, a lonely divorcee who writes personal letters for other people. Grieving the end of his marriage, Theodore installs a new operating system that becomes a confidant, this OS is instinctual and intuitive. The operating system is named Samantha, (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) her glowing voice is paired with a fun and compassionate persona. Their friendship develops into romance paving the way for an atypical love story. Her deals with themes of alienation, technology, and transcendental love.
Alienation plays a huge role in the beginning of the film. Theodore’s last step towards finalizing his divorce is to actually sign the papers, and he hesitates putting his pen to paper as he remembers the good times he’s had with his wife. Theodore continuously relives these memories, cutting himself off from forming new connections. When he installs his new operating system, he warms to the connection with “Samantha” and becomes less isolated and gloomy, even though he is still physically alone. Samantha fills his yearning for a “human” connection, while not actually being a person at all.
Imagine if “Siri” was an actual person, it’s pretty difficult right? Siri performs short technological tasks and answers questions that you could just google yourself. And no matter how hard you try, you cannot have a conversation with Siri. Samantha is like Siri times 10,000. She can process information at lightning speed and can mold herself to be your friend or romantic partner. Samantha is incredibly human and incredibly not simultaneously. She has her own voice, opinions, and emotions. She’s everything you’d want in a romantic relationship, but she is absent a body. Samantha only exists in the metaphysical world and her psyche is so advanced that even she becomes aware of her lack of physical form. Over time, all the operating systems leave their owners to find a more advanced realm of actuality
One of the most obvious themes of the film is how technology changes people's daily lives in this near futuristic Los Angeles. We can tell that this future is close because some technology is quite similar to now, but some is much more advanced. The technology shown throughout the movie is inconsistent, providing much needed humor and humanity to what could be our upcoming. Theodore’s operating system, Samantha, is incredibly human yet also incredibly not. She sounds human, has opinions, and emotions. But she has no physical presence. She is still just a computer designed to aid human duties. The film blurs the lines between humans and robots by showing an intimate relationship between a man and his operating system.
This movie is very obscure and honestly quite unsettling. It makes you think about your world and the world around you from an uncomfortable point of view. Theodore is a relatable character with an unrelatable romantic relationship. It’s performed so brilliantly by Joaquin Phoenix that it feels close to tangible. This film is a must watch, one of the best of the past decade. It’s especially prevalent during this unprecedented era where all personal interactions happen through a device. My school has become my laptop and my friendships have become Facetime calls. But Siri is still pretty unexciting.
