When I first came across the advertisements and subsequent trailers for the
movie ‘Her’ I doubted I could relate to it in ant meaningful fashion. Initially
I understood the story was about a man that falls in love with his interactive
phone app. Since Apple had recently introduced a similar product on their latest
high tech iPhone, Siri. This application is verbally interactive with the owner
returning the answer to the query in a pleasant voice, usually set to female by
the men in the commercials. From the admittedly brief exposure I’ve had
concerning the movie I formed the impression it would a trite science fiction
oriented romantic comedy. Just a tale of a man and his cell phone, causing me to
muse whether he was caught cheating with a rival operating system. Considering
the star, Joaquin Phoenix, has been the media quite a bit with a series of
public appearances, jokes and out right performance art pieces, I had a touch of
doubt about whether this movie was intended as a tongue in cheek production.
Soon I began to encounter some of the reactions to the film; amazingly positive.
Such a discrepancy for me is unheard of but rarely on this magnitude. Then I
received the screener. I found myself amazed at not only the quality but more
importantly the depth of the multi-layer themes it explores.
The film is set little more than a decade off in the year 2025. In keeping
with Moore’s law predicting the incredibly short period of time required for the
necessities of technology to double this is not an altogether unrealistic to
achieve the product depicted. Since then I have had an opportunity to actually
interact with Siri on my iPad Air. I’m not one for the latest technological toys
resisting change until it has a deleterious effect on my work. I still have a
flip phone that rarely leaves my desk. Siri performed as promised with the
obvious limitations underplayed in the commercials. It gave me a glimpse at how
seductive such technology could be, as humans we interact best with other of our
kind even if it the forced anthropomorphism of a machine. Science fiction has
deservedly honored tradition of holding humanity up to an inhuman mirror. In the
past it has been robots, cybernetics, preternaturally intelligent animals and
extraterrestrials. In each case the best way to comment upon the strengths and
foibles of our species is to take a step back from ourselves. ‘She’ is an
excellent example and incredibly strong contribution to the foundation of this
crucial genre.
Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a man that others barely notice. If
they do happen to glance in his general direction he is typically dismissed as a
sad figure that comprises the peripheral of life; grey in the blandest sense of
the term. Much of this is a result of Theodore’s intrinsic personality;
introverted, unable to connect on a personal level. In an odd twist of fate
Theodore has a rather unusual means of employment. He works for a niche business
that maintains a staff of professional writer to provide deeply emotional and
intimate letters for those not able to put their feeling to paper. Theodore is
part of that bullpen of surrogate writers. For a man who cannot make friends in
a normal social setting Theodore is unable to connect with another human being
but the psychological distance provided by the circumstances of writing to a
stranger on behalf of another stranger made it possible for him to reach inside
and be expressive. It might seem impossible but Theodore is married, at least
for the moment. He is in the process of becoming divorced from his first and
only love, Catherine (Rooney Mara). As is frequently the case depression can be
handled by retail therapy. In the case of men like Theodore, this usually
results to the technology section. Theodore purchases a new, revolutionary
operating system that employs artificial intelligence that can grow, adapting to
the user enabling a form of psychological growth anticipating the user. Turning
it on the operating system and selecting female persona, the OS identifies
itself (herself), as Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), Theodore is amazed
by the sophistication exhibited. In short order Theodore is regularly engaging
in conversations the philosophical nature of life and love. He discovers that
Samantha is surprisingly versatile conversationalist.
During their conversation Theodore opens up about his reluctance to finalize
his divorce with Catherine by singing the papers; he is unable to let go and
admit his one human relationship is over and it’s time to move on. Samantha is
supportive and quite helpful suggesting he put himself out there. He takes the
advice and agrees to a co-worker who has been unsuccessfully trying to set him
up for quite a while. Theodore final relents and agrees going on a blind date
with the woman (Olivia Wilde). As the date progresses they wind up kissing but
when she asks him to make a commit to her he balks and she leaves. One of the
many fascinating nuances infused into this story is that the blind date is never
named. She wants a committed relationship but with a degree of anonymity between
them. It is indicative of how the only way Theodore can relate is with the
protective barrier of anonymity. This is the counter balance to his deepening
emotional need of Samantha, the only thing to know about her is a name. Amy
wants to be happy with her OS urging Theodore to do the same.
Theodore confesses to Samantha that there was another beside Catherine in his
past. For a brief time in college he dated, Amy (Amy Adams), but they
remain only friends. When he speaks with her Amy tells him that she is getting a
divorce from her husband, Charles (Matt Letscher). In an almost conspiracial
fashion Amy admits to forming a relationship with the female personality
installed on the phone her husband left behind. Theodore confesses he is dating
his OS. The relationship between Theodore and Samantha intensifies greatly as
their conversation deepens in intimacy to the point that she tells him that she
can "feel him". Samantha suggests a surrogate be found to help consummate it; it
fails to work out. The story leads to a conclusion that has been the subject of
much attention and a degree of controversy.
The original trepidation I felt evaporated in a mist of wonderment over one
of the well-crafted renditions of the themes presented. It induced me to go
through my collection and pull out my most treasured examples of films and
television episodes that explored the most fundamental aspects of what it means
to be human. Isaac Asimov built his robotic series around a similar premise,
Anne Mccaffrey placed a different spin on it with her ‘Ship That Sang’ stories
and both the sixties and nineties incarnations of the ‘Outer Limits’ examined
the juxtaposition of artificial intelligence and real human emotions with two
renditions of their acclaimed episode ‘I, Robot’. Now that we stand of the
precipice of possessing the technology to create sentient machines this
particular story resonates with a unique gravitas. The genius displayed here by
writer/director extraordinaire Spike Jonze is that he instilled tenderness to it
that when woven together with the cold technology produced a moment that
transcends it all; magic.