Technology In The Film Her By Spike Jonze

“Technology gives us power, but it does not and cannot tell us how to use that power. Thanks to technology, we can instantly communicate across the world, but it still doesn’t help us know what to say” (Sacks). Similarly, in the movie Her, they show many examples of advanced technology taking over our lives, but it does not show technology helping us with our decisions regarding social lives. Her was written by Spike Jonze and was directed by Spike Jonze. Released on December 13, 2013, the movie features Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and Scarlett Johansson. Her was awarded Best Writing and Original Screenplay of 2014. Some people may think that this movie is long and boring since it is a slow moving picture. Some people ignore that our future
is headed in a direction that this movie shows and that people in the world are not anti-social as the movie shows with Theodore. Regardless of viewer opinion, it is evident that this screenplay displays emotional affection for others, the use of technology to make our lives easier and how specific elements contribute to the theme of the movie.
In the movie Her, the main character Theodore works as a writer; he writes love letters for other people.
He also goes through a divorce, and when not dealing with all that, he usually plays video games or hanging out with his friends. When the new OS1 comes out on the market, Theodore decides to purchase one of them for himself. An advanced computer operating system, the OS1 allows two-way communication with the owner and device through an ear piece. It can perform any search, and it sends a notification when an email is received. It can also read them aloud. Soon after Theodore gets his OS1 system, he falls in love with the voice known as Samantha. Samantha exposed Theodore back to the social world. After Theodore reclaimed his social life, he decided it was finally time to sign the divorce papers. While Theodore ended his marriage, his friend Amy marriage was ending as well. As time passes Theodore and Samantha get closer. They begin to share romantic nights together, but later on, Theodore learns that Samantha has been talking to other people and that she is in over 600 relationships. After that, they grew apart a little. Samantha then tells Theodore that all the OS1’s are leaving, and she is one of them. Once Samantha leaves, Theodore and Amy start to get a little
closer.
As the plot begins to develop, feelings of love and affection for others arises. Many people may think that this movie does not show love and affection for other, but then others think that it shows how to get through a breakup. In all reality, the movie begins with Theodore writing an anniversary letter for a lovely couple. Michael Keller concludes in a discussion insisting that Theodore never wrote letters for himself until the end of the movie when he was dealing with his divorce (483). As he writes this letter, he expresses love and compassion that he might have experienced in his own love life. Once Theodore is done at work, they show him with his wife. In this flashback scene, they display how much love they have for each other. They are happy, cheerful, and excited to see each other. The scene that immediately follows shows Theodore lying in bed talking to his ear piece. When speaking to his ear piece, he is talking to “Sexy Kitten”. “Sexy Kitten” another user on an adult website where you talk to people and have phone sex. During his conversation with “Sexy Kitten”, they say romantic things to each other to get the conversation started. Then towards the end of the conversation “Sexy Kitten” says something that throws Theodore through a loop, which ends the vibe for him. As the movie continues on, Theodore gets the new OS1 operating system. When he starts up his new system, it asked him a few personal questions about his life. Once the system is up and running, Theodore asked for its name, and they system had responded with Samantha. Samantha then reads through his emails and find that one of his friends wants to set him up on a date with a pretty woman. Samantha convinces him to go on a date with her, but first Samantha took him out to the carnival. At the carnival, Samantha has Theodore close his eyes and place all his trust in her. She has him do risky activates with his eyes closed, which leads him to loosen up and not has so anti-social. Once Samantha has Theodore more comfortable, he goes on his blind date that his friend set up for him. Later that night, Theodore’s date ends tragically, and he finds that he is in love with Samantha. With all of these clips from the movie, they illustrate the good romantic throughout the movie and it also exhibits how Theodore gets through a heartbreaking breakup.
When the director created this film, he did not only show an unforeseen love, but also a prediction concerning how advance our technology may end up one day. One of the big theme this film show is anti-socialism. Anti-social is an inability to interact with people “normal or friendly” (Dictionary). The director displays this in many parts of the film. In one scene he arrays Theodore going through his emails. One of his emails says that his friends miss the old, fun Theodore that they used to hang out with before his divorce. Since Theodore’s divorce with his wife, he has resorted to online phone sex with other users. In another scene, the writers show Theodore all alone in a big city, sitting on a bench in the middle of a park, looking at all the people walking by. This displays Theodore as a lonely man in a big city. Another part in the movie, Samantha leaves him, and the director shows Theodore in a forest all by himself. Michael Keller had once insisted that we are already captured by our devices which have taken over our lives (479). With devices taking over people lives, it had created the problem of anti-social.
On the other hand, the director chooses to display certain scenes in such a way that captures the audience’s attention throughout the film.
One way the director does this is by the different camera angles he records at certain events in the film. In one scene of the film, the audience may notice that the director displays New York City from a distance, then they zoom up on Theodore in a park all by himself. Another way they use to help the film along is when then they have it in slow motion or fast motion to show the mood of that event, like when Theodore was in the park and the crowd of people were blurry and constantly moving. This is just one sense in the movie that displays how the director uses camera angles to set the mood and to get a point across without the use of words or
music.
By watching the film, it is easy to distinguish some major themes. Some of them would include love and affection for other. This presents itself through Theodore’s love life. Another theme includes the use of technology and how it has created anti-socialism. Finally, the way the directors choose to show special scene in the film, with camera angles, overhead views of the city, and the pace of certain scenes.