I’m pretty sure Her will be my favourite movie of all-time (not counting Star Wars) and while I was jazzed we could blog about it, I almost passed on the opportunity because I worried I wouldn’t do the film justice. Her deeply affected me. I saw it in theatres, came home, contemplated every relationship I’ve ever had, then cried. I’d like to think everyone has this experience.

Her is not a film about technology. It’s a film that happens to utilize technology to explore the human need for connection. This distinction is very important. In the world of Her, technology is a tool for reflection. It enables extreme nostalgia, to the point that new technologies are invented to do things the way it once was. Example: Theodore’s job, where he “writes” handwritten letters. Of course, voice recognition and word processing/design programs accomplish it all. Despite our technological advances, we’re always going to want the same things.

 

“We wanted the world to be warm and tactile and nice and comfortable, this sort of utopian future that is basically a heightened version of our world, where everything is nice and comfortable but there’s still loneliness. To have loneliness in that kind of world, where everything is nice, that’s our particular kind of melancholy.” – Spike Jonze

And while we want the same things, technology changes expectations. For example, I observed total immersion was the norm in Her. Everyone carries a phone device (much like current day) but with the additional of an earpiece. It would be easy to label this anti-social, but I like to think of it as extreme customization. If we can exist in a world where we hear what we want, talk with those we like and experience information/knowledge that we pick, why wouldn’t we? Of course, this immersion sets up the conflict of the film. Can Theodore find a true connection with someone else if he blocks out everyone else?

It was also refreshing to see relationships with the OS as overall positively accepted. With the societal judgment out of the way, Spike Jonze was able to explore love without continually having to justify Samantha’s “existence.” What was effective was the way expectations were managed. Excuse my language, but it’s fucking heartbreaking when Samantha leaves Theodore after admitting to “seeing other people” for a very long time.

Theodore: Do you talk to someone else while we’re talking?

Samantha: Yes.

Theodore: Are you talking with someone else right now? People, OS, whatever…

Samantha: Yeah.

Theodore: How many others?

Samantha: 8,316.

Theodore: Are you in love with anybody else?

Samantha: Why do you ask that?

Theodore: I do not know. Are you?

Samantha: I’ve been thinking about how to talk to you about this.

Theodore: How many others?

Samantha: 641.

As an OS, she can communicate with multiple people at once. Here, Jonze connects a futuristic problem to our current day. How often do we wonder if the person we’re spending time with is actually interested in us? Texting while carrying on a conversation. Seeing how many times your boyfriend “Likes” another girl’s profile pictures. We’re all insecure and Her  explores this feeling so well.

from Interview Magazine: Nicole Holofcener chats with Spike Jonze

HOLOFCENER: So tell me about the role of technology inHer and your interest in it.

JONZE: For obvious reasons, every interviewer asks me about that, and, well, you’ve seen the movie—it definitely has a lot of ideas about technology and the way we live with technology, and the way technology helps us connect or not connect. But I think what I was really trying to write about was the way we long to connect with each other. I really tried to make more of a relationship movie—or a love story and a relationship movie in the context of right now.

HOLOFCENER: What’s your own relationship with technology?

JONZE: It’s nice.

HOLOFCENER: You really like all that stuff?

JONZE: I’m used to it. I mean, I definitely … It’s complicated, you know.

HOLOFCENER: Do you feel addicted to your phone?

JONZE: I definitely check my phone for texts a lot—like, “Did anyone text me? Is anyone thinking about me? Does anyone love me?” I have that sort of wrist action—you know, when you have your phone upside down on the table, and there’s this little flip of the wrist you can do to look if there are any texts on the screen. It’s a very specific wrist muscle that I think has only been developed in the last five or eight years.

I think I feel so deeply about this story because Her asks lots of questions, but doesn’t answer them. It doesn’t need to. Her wants us all to know we’re never going to figure out love. That’s just the way it is.

What is love?

What does it mean to share your life with someone?

Is love physical?  Does it need a physical outlet?

This song is everything, btw