A Gentle Satire of How We Communicate

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2014)

Those already familiar with Spike Jonze's work are aware of two fundamental things. One: his directorial mastery is unimpeachable. Jonze has an erudite instinct when it comes to human characters and backs it up with a big, bold vision. It's as if he instinctively knows we're not all 100% happy in the world we occupy so to thoroughly reach his audiences he bothers to create a world anew. The second fundamental thing to understand about a Spike Jonze movie is they're all insanely imaginative.
Her (2013) continues her maker's creative streak providing a story that turns heads. Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a socially awkward man rearing from a bad break-up, falls in love with his new operating system Samantha (voiced by Scarlet Johansson). The new OS is capable of artificial intelligence advanced enough to explore and learn the spectrum of human emotions and self-reflect, so it's not like dear Theo is falling in love with Siri or his toaster. As the relationship matures and becomes something more than just flesh, blood and wiring, we as the audience are meant to explore our own relationships and what it truly means to communicate.
The marvel of coming up with an A.I. so advanced is largely ignored in favor of exploring human desires and vulnerabilities. Before the love story even begins, Theodore's place in the world and inner emotions are presented. He's an introvert, withdrawn from the world and worried that he has experienced all the deeper emotions a human can experience and can now only feel lesser versions of those feelings. His time off from work involves playing videogames alone and ignoring emails from friends who goad him to go out and meet people.
The fact that Theodore's job consists primarily of writing personal "handwritten" letters for hire is a perfect metaphor for the society he lives in (and maybe the one we live in too). While being technologically advanced and living a life of convenience, people are steadily finding it harder to communicate with each other in any meaningful way. When Theodore and Samantha's relationship begins to blossom, those who discover their relationship for the most part act blasé about it. As if it's understandable in this day and age for a man to fall in love with a machine.
There are some people who find the romance to be beguiling. Michigan reviewer John Serba of MLive states "One of Jonze's great achievements with 'Her' is turning a potentially creepy, unnatural scenario into something sympathetic, believable, downright feasible." While I agree with the feasibility part, I don't believe the director meant for the relationship itself to be sympathetic. The audience is meant to be unnerved by a relationship casually accepted by on screen onlookers. This is especially true when Samantha says something to the effect of, "I can understand how the limited perspective can look to the non-artificial mind."
Now I'm aware how limited American ambivalence is when it comes to adopting new A.I. technology. Not to sound like a raving lunatic with Terminator-syndrome but I was half expecting a mushroom cloud by the end of the movie. What it means to be truly human is a captivating philosophical question that we have a species still cannot answer, so it's ironic that we can imagine a story where a computer can explore the same ideas; ironic but downright scary when you get down to it.
Theodore's friend Amy, played by the delectable Amy Adams, makes a seemingly weighty observation when both characters are questioning the impact of their respective relationships; "We are only here briefly, and in this moment I want to allow myself joy." When I heard those words I was reminded of Gyorgy Lukacs's 1968 paper Democratization Today and Tomorrow: "the mentality of capitalism drove people to a seemingly unquenchable desire for instant gratification and personal hedonism. Under capitalismaccomplishments in the fields of technology, with all the self-indulgence these successes created, prevented any return to the community of feeling."
Cold war mentality aside, there is something to be said about our inflated sense of narcissism and declining empathy. The University of Michigan recently published a scientific article professing a decline in empathy among college students. Is there a correlation between that and increase technology use? Perhaps, but if new technologies based on "capitalist hedonism" means better MRIs, safer water filtration and healthier food, I'll take that if it means we'll soon be dating our computers. It's a double-edged sword is all I'm saying.
The only person who questions Theodore's relationship with Samantha is Catherine (Rooney Mara), the protagonist's ex-wife. "I'm glad you found someone who's able to accept you're inability to deal with anything real" she says right after Theodore explains his dating life. Harsh words, but true words that were spot on even before Samantha. After the first scene, the lonely Theodore takes the transit system home ignoring his emails, the daily news, weather and so forth. But when his phone informs him pictures have been taken of a pregnant half-naked young starlet, he absolutely must take a peek. After a failed date he confesses to Samantha that all he wanted to do was find someone to have sex with, and who would want to have sex with him. Theodore may yearn for a real human or human-like bond yet he doesn't want to go through all that work. Through Samantha, Theodore ultimately finds he is no longer afraid to connect.
All-in-all, Her is a touching and heady portrayal of humanity told through the foibles of a singular relationship. My perspective is a little less romantic than some so I encourage readers to watch Her and decide for yourself whether the film is charming or foreboding. Out of the many ambiguous themes present in Her, one thing is certain; Spike Jonze has accomplished what is a sad rarity these days. He accomplished in making us think on a very deep, deep level.
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