Her (2013) [1]

[6]Theodore Twombly is an introvert going through divorce. After he purchases an operating system designed to be a virtual friend, Theodore become emotionally attached to 'Samantha' and enters into a romantic relationship with her. - her being the artificial intelligence in his computer. Her [6] follows their relationship through the typical trials most human relationships go through, with the added issues of a virtual companion who attempts to satisfy their 'lover' through a variety of emotional and romantic experiences.

At its heart, Her [6] is a relationship film set around two very different people, one made of code, attempting to find common ground. It explores the variety of their relationship from Theodore's viewpoint, though Samantha's growth and issues are also represented throughout the story. As the story unfolds and the relationship goes through its ups and downs, we get a sense of this new and fragile pairing.

Nominated for five Academy Awards, Her [6] won best screenplay in addition to being nominated for best picture. With a laid back, futuristic setting and a story presented through conversation and emotion, Her [6] isn't just science fiction, it's a brilliant look at a future where artificial intelligence, and also artificial emotion, impacts the individual.

Why you should watch this
As the age of the robot approaches and promises many things, including companionship, we are ever closer to assimilating human to sythetic personality coupling into our society. It's probably inevitable this will happen, as human companionship is a need, identified at the third stage of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs [7] as Love/Belonging [8] and includes friendship, family, and sexual intimacy. Robots, with sexbots [9] among them, promise something that will probably feel like love and belonging, especially if the programing is good enough.

But there is a dark side with risks to this type of relationship. Sherry Turkle [10] is an MIT professor who is concerned about our dependence on technology and, perhaps more importantly, cause us to pull away from each other. Her concern is that our dependance on technology may offer a way to escape the issues of human to human interaction, using technology as a crutch. Dr. Turkle's Ted Talk pairs well with Her [6], as it identifies the exact reasons Theodore chose a non-human for companionship. (I felt it added a lot of depth to my perception of the story.)

Her [6] looks at the dependencies and the fragility of a relationship that is omnipresent and yet has no physical presence at all. It plays in opposition to Lars and the Real Girl [11], where Lars creates a personality for a sex doll to avoid his issues with human contact. Her [6] makes me wonder how much leverage an artificial construct might have, specifically whether Lars would have returned to humanity if his sex doll had the same wittiness and playfulness of Scarlett Johanson's Samantha.

[6]The film allows us to watch the social issues unravel as a human lacking the social skills to maintain a mutually satisfying relationship with other humans turns to an interface designed to trick him into feeling loved. That, I think, is the real benefit to watching the film: to understand how a technology offering synthetic relationships takes individuals away from the opportunities of personal growth.

While it's clear there are individuals with significant issues for whom human to human relationships are nearly impossible, and that they should benefit from having a Her/Him in their lives, Dr. Turkle's warnings stayed with me through the film: For some, the attraction of power and control, the ability to modify a synthetic personality to offer unconditional and friction free love will be attractive and, for some, addictive. How it plays out when the future reaches us will be interesting to witness. Her [6] offers a believable glimpse of that future today.

For more insight into the film, the following short documentary (15 minutes) provides individual responses to the film. It holds many spoilers, but offers many individual insights on the film.

"I think technology has obliterated boundaries, so we are all sort of unified and accessible in a way wa haven't been before. Emotionally, it makes it trickier." Mark Maron

Topics Covered
Futurists will enjoy the topics explored in the movie, including:

• Sythetic personalities
• Omnipresent relationships
• Contrasting the difficulties of relationships with humans vs relationships with synthetic personalities
• Addictive qualities of technology

If you enjoyed this review and intend to buy this film, please consider buying through this link [6].