“Her,” a story in which a timeless romance meets the modern age of computers. Directed by Spike Jonze, “Her” is an Indie classic that shares a secret so deep and meaningful, that your eyes cannot be removed from whatever screen it’s being watched on for all 126 minuets that it plays.
Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, is a lonely writer who spends his days writing poetry and love letters for clients. At night he is holed up in his apartment, spending hours alone with video games and various forms of pornography.
Theodore’s life only changes after he begins to fall in love with his computer operating system, Samantha. Played by Scarlett Johansson, Samantha was designed to meet his every need, however, Samantha is described as more than just an operating system – she’s described as a “consciousness.”
*Photo by Adrien Olichon on Unsplash.
Despite his complete adoration for Samantha, Theodore finds himself struggling. Her unmatched intelligence lights up his life in ways no human had ever been able to do. Yet, she is unable to help him with one simple inner turmoil – he is head over heels in love with an operating system.
“Her” has a significance in our society that remains unmatched by any other film. Slowly, we are all turning towards our computers for love. Maybe we aren’t falling in love with our computers, but we are falling in love on our computers.
The rise of Tinder, Bumble, and other dating apps have gotten people out of bars and other social settings where they could meet people. Instead, we stay holed up in our rooms hoping that we may swipe right on the love of our life.
*Photo by David Švihovec on Unsplash.
This isn’t just happening with meeting people. Everything we buy is online from makeup, clothes to even our groceries can be bought online now.
All of our conversations are being had online. Texting is more prevalent than phone calls and real human interaction is disappearing.
Theodore’s social anxieties are being reflected in everyone now. No one has the skill of face-to-face communication because of the emphasis we place on computers. We as a society are failing at being together.
The truth of the matter is that we are all becoming increasingly more reliant on our technologies. Go out in public and nearly everyone will be glued to their phone. Instead of everyone talking to each other, they’ll be listening to music even as they walk side-by-side with their significant other.
Photo By Julian O’hayon
We need to close the screen, turn the phones off, and really truly get to know the people beside us, the people who matter the most.