Her, Final Movie Review by Kevin Masters & Chris Hofmann

Her Poster

Her Movie Review

Her (2013)

R| 2h 6min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi | 10 January 2014 (USA)

Director: Spike Jonze

Screenwriter: Spike Jonze

Lead actors: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson

Trailer: Trailer #2 (2:32) |Her (2013)

Source: "Her (2013) – IMDb”

In the not too distant futuristic Los Angeles: Theodore Twombly, the main character in “Her” has been divorced by his wife. Since the split, he has been very down and has not been going out with friends or started dating again. One day a software developer comes out with a new interactive operating system which personalizes itself to each user. Theodore purchases one of these OS. Quickly after booting up the software Theodore becomes very comfortable with the new operating system, who calls herself Samantha. He talks to her on his phone and computer as though she were a physical human being. With each day, Theo becomes more and more comfortable talking to Samantha and finds himself falling in love with her.  Theo starts to “become himself” again as their relationship blooms.  The relationship makes Theo make many realizations about himself and re-open his mind in a new way to the ideas of love. In the end we see as Theo connects with Amy and they walk up to the roof. The Operating Systems have left them, but they did not leave them alone. They have built interpersonal skills through their relationships with the OS and have turned to each other with new eyes to develop a relationship with one another.

Sound and lighting both played important roles throughout the film. They both helped set the mood and attitude of different scenes. There were very bright scenes and in contrast some very dark scenes throughout the film. The contrast of lighting gave meaning to parts of the film that would otherwise seem neutral and be difficult to interpret. The darker moments in the movie represented sadness and loneliness, as one character could be seen alone in their feelings for example. Secondly, the brighter moments in the film were used to show the happiness and good spirit that was present in the characters’ moods and thoughts. The music played in the movie was the same as what the character(s) heard. We found this really allowed us to immerse ourselves into the shoes of the main character, and the situation he/ she was currently in. The musical photograph that Samantha makes is a perfect example of this. The music heard in the film was diegetic, however it was enhanced and could be called non-diegetic to some, to increase the importance of the sounds and the music heard by the characters. The music that both the characters and the audience heard really allowed for a much deeper connection into what they (Theodore/Samantha) were both feeling at the time.

Theodore on a boat with Samantha

            The plot was very well constructed. Main themes, like love and relationships, carried their way throughout the film. The ending leaves us with a slight feeling of suspense and is open to interpretation.   Why did Amy and Thea go to the roof, after Theo left a message apology to Catherine? Was he going to kill himself or was he moving on with Amy? … 

The film played out in a variety of different locations but seemed to focus in on a few more than others. The main locations that the film took place is Theodore’s workplace, where he wrote beautiful hand written letters; his home and the city. Each location displays different emotions and connections that Samantha and Theodore share. His home displays some of the good and bad moments of their relationship. The ups and the downs. The lighting in his home was warm but dark. There were moments where reality strived (hence the warm colours) and other moments where a different reality set in. This reality was that Samantha did not have a true human physical form and that was hidden away by the darkness, which did not show any artificial light or natural warm light. It was a blurred line as Theo himself started to believe and “feel” a physical form of Samantha. The city shows the fun “adventures” they share with one another. Where Theodore starts to bond and feel alive again.

The main characters were portrayed and developed well. Theodore was sad, mad, confused, and somewhat depressed in the beginning but he underwent a huge development, changing and growing as the film progressed. He grew in personal ways, his view on relationships, on love, on his work. His life was changed and heavily impacted by the presence of Samantha. Samantha was made out to be a computer program, an OS. A sort of artificial intelligence that grows and adapts to its surrounding environment. Samantha began by giving herself her name. She adapted to a life with Theo, who is a Human with a physical body, a job, a life... She started to feel like she was equal; like she too had a physical body and a life of her own. She started to develop feelings that she thought she never could and was constantly amazed by herself and her development. Theo saw it too as he connected with her. He fell in love with Samantha, she became more that the OS she was made out to be.

Her, a Spike Jonze love story

 Joaquin Pheonix is an actor that we personally haven’t seen in another movie. For this reason, We felt it was easy to understand the development as a character. 

Scarlet Johansson, in this film, existed only in the voice of Samantha, the OS. This allows us to listen carefully to the voice and the voice acting that Scarlet is capable of. She was an amazing voice and it is no wonder why she was used in the making of the film. The development and ability she has to speak as the robotic OS that Samantha started out as and to develop into the very real Samantha as the film progressed. There was so much emotion in her voice, during times of love, admiration, surprise, anger, etc.  Scarlet Johansson was an incredible actress to be chosen as the voice of Samantha.

This film talks about many different themes, but there is one that stands out from all others, loneliness. The sense of wanting company. Theodore wants someone to share the world with, he doesn’t want to be alone. The struggle and difficulties of having relationships is seen again and again. He finally gets this with Samantha, but then he is faced with the question: “Is this relationship even real?”. The film also makes us think of the increasing role that technology plays in our daily lives and in certain cases we even beg the question: is it connecting us, or is it disconnecting us even more?

Many different techniques were incorporated throughout the course of the film. Many allowing you to understand what or why something is what it is. For example, flashbacks were used to show what Theodore used to be like. He was happy and had someone to share his life with. His divorce drives him to sadness, even depression. This lets us better understand that all Theodore wants is not to be alone. 

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Her was a completely new experience for us. We never saw a movie quite like this one before. It always made us think, ask ourselves different questions, and imagine what our lives might be like in a similar situation. Can AI’s replace human love? was just one of the many questions the film threw our way. The way in which the story progressed was fluid and simple to follow. The themes present in the film were important and related directly with what we discuss every day in our class about the self. The movie is perfect for our day because with advancement in technology it is very possible that these interactive OS may be available in our lifetime. The possibilities of our lives connecting so much with the film and the ideas brought up make the film so much more interesting and enjoyable in our present day. 

                                                                                                                      Course Connections:

           1)      The self. Samantha, the OS that Theo uses and ends up in a relationship with, was programmed to converse with a human and have proper interactions while controlling or essentially being controlled by a computer. She has given herself a name and communicates with Theo in such a way that made it possible for them to have a loving and sexual relationship. She had the ability to read his feelings, respond to her own, have questions about emotions and know how to deal with others’ emotions. Many could then claim that she has a self-aware self, “This self can represent itself. It is the subject of experience but can also be the object of its experience. It can reflect. It can introspect. It knows it exists. It is an “I” with symbols of an “I”. It can represent its own consciousness.”. (Class Notes). All in all, this would classify her as a self from what we have discussed and learned in class.

"The past is just a story we tell ourselves" -Samatha

         2)      This leads to another topic we covered in class. Personhood. “define as the status of being a person. A legal or social category that will vary across cultures and across history. ‘Not all humans are persons and not all persons are humans.’” (Class Notes). The question of personhood is addressed in respect to Samantha. Theodore must decide if Samantha has personhood, even if she is just a voice in a computer. One could say she is her own person, as this is referenced and talked about numerous times throughout the film. The first time, for example, is when Samantha is first installed, she chose the name, Samantha. When Theodore asks why, she responds, “because I liked it”. Samantha uses the term “I” to describe herself, leading one to believe that there is more to her than just code. This is seen again when she is trying to convince Theodore to go on a date with a girl. Theodore says, “why am I having this conversation with my computer”, where Samantha responds, “you’re not having it with your computer, you're having it with me”. Again, she refers to herself as a person, disassociating herself from the computer. Further on in the movie, the idea of personhood is again put into question when Theodore is having an argument with Catharine. She claims that the emotions are not real, where Theodore responds, “they are real emotions. She’s not a computer, she’s her own person”. At this point, Theodore believes she is her own person, indicating that Samantha does indeed possess personhood. He then doubts himself and his relationship when he realizes that Samantha is acting like a person when all she is a voice in a computer. He even points out the small “gasps of air” she takes. “Why do you do that? People need oxygen, you don’t need oxygen, you are not a person. We shouldn’t pretend your something you’re not. Maybe we shouldn’t be in this right now.” Theodore is between two different ideas. That Samantha is not human, but that she does have personhood. This is asked by his friend right after Theodore had this big argument with Samantha. “Is it not a real relationship?”, making Theodore decide whether or not he can accept Samantha for who she is. 

Theodore with Samatha in the city

         3)      The ideology of the “uncanny valley”, “Mori's original hypothesis states that as the appearance of a robot is made more human, a human observer's emotional response to the robot will become increasingly positive and empathic, until a point is reached beyond which the response quickly becomes that of strong revulsion. However, as the robot's appearance continues to become less distinguishable from that of a human being, the emotional response becomes positive once more and approaches human-to-human empathy levels.This area of repulsive response aroused by a robot with appearance and motion between a "barely human" and "fully human" entity is called the uncanny valley. The name captures the idea that an almost human-looking robot will seem overly "strange" to a human being, will produce a feeling of uncanniness, and will thus fail to evoke the empathic response required for productive human-robot interaction.” (Class Notes). Samantha talks and acts exactly like a real person, but is just a voice. She even gasps for air when she talks, when Theodore and the audience both know she doesn’t need to. This clearly makes Theodore uncomfortable, as he brings it up and questions her about it in the movie. Another moment which has an uncanny effect on Theodore, as well as the viewers, is the scene with the OS surrogate. The OS surrogate is hired by Samantha in an attempt to give her voice a body. Theodore's facial expressions clearly display discomfort, especially when the interaction between him and the surrogate become sexual while Samantha speaks to him through his ear. It reaches the point where he can no longer continue, and the evening is cut short.

Theodore receiving a call from Samantha

 Questions for fellow Bloggers:

1. On what level do interactions with AI help us to develop and discover new things about ourselves?

2. Is it truly possible for a computer, OS, AI… to have a mind indifferent than the human mind? Is there anything that they do not have that is essential to human life?

3. If a social robot could love you back, could you imagine loving them? 

Amy and Theodore sitting together on the roof 

More information:

1.  https://gointothestory.blcklst.com/movie-analysis-her-5651e6e0c0be#.414a3s2mw Her is analyzed and discussions here arise on the OS and whether they have a self. Theodore Twombly evolves enormously in the film, as mentioned in this blog post.

2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2628150/Robots-NEVER-feelings-Mathematics-reveals-droids-experience-emotions-like-us.html According to this article, mathematics proves that robots are unable to have real emotions. They can carry out actions which we relate strongly with emotions, however they do not have to capacity to have feelings.