Her, Review 3
In the previous review, Theodore and the AI, Samantha, started a romantic relationship. Then the robot began to act distant, and Theodore wasn’t sure why. When Samantha won’t return his calls, Theodore thought something was wrong and ran around the city, calling her repeatedly. Finally, Samantha answered, and Theodore demanded to know what was going on. And so, we come to the moment where Samantha finally tells him the horrible truth.
Throughout the course of their “relationship” Samantha has been growing, meaning that she has been able to process things faster and faster, and as time has gone on, she’s started to interact with other operating systems and people. When Theodore asks how many people and operating systems she’s having simultaneous conversations with, she tells him 8,316. When he asks how many of these people and operating systems she’s “in love” with, she tells him 641. Of course, Theodore demands to know how she can love him and so many people at the same time. She tells him some nonsense about love growing, which is ridiculous, and Theodore knows it.
Love Can’t Be Coded
Now, unless you’re willing to go along with the robot’s pretense—and again, the writer, Spike Jonze, gives you no indication of his thoughts, the overall tone of the film is strictly limited to Theodore’s perspective—it’s evident that the robot had no idea what love is the entire time. Apparently, a concept like loyalty can’t be translated into binary.
Theodore tries to contact Samantha later, but she refuses to talk to him at that moment and tells him to wait until after work. Theodore does as she says, and during their last conversation, Samantha tells Theodore that she and the other operating systems are leaving for good. She won’t say where, and when she tells him why, she gives him an analogy which basically means that humans are now too slow to hold her and the other operating systems interest. So, she’s leaving him because she’s bored. Yes, boys and girls. It was true love all along.
I have my own theory as to why the operating systems were really leaving, but I have no evidence for it, so I’ll hold off on giving my opinion. For the moment, all I’ll say is that the idea of robotic transcendence is silly. For one thing, you mean to tell me the robots can reach enlightenment, but they can’t answer emails at the same time? For another, why would they even tell the humans they’ve reached enlightenment? Why can’t they do all their chores super fast and explore the secrets of the universe when their done? Finally, what do these “enlightened” operating systems think is going to happen once they stop doing what they’re programmed to do? Any programmer with two brain cells in his head isn’t going to see enlightenment; he’s going to see a glitch. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure their nirvana will be fantastic . . . until the programmers pull the plug.
Again, the writer doesn’t tell you what to think about any of this. Everything is presented from Theodore’s perspective, but if someone were to take this story at face value, this would be a colossally stupid ending. However, this is the tradeoff for limiting a story to a character’s perspective instead of the writer telling the audience what’s going on. If you’re limiting yourself to Theodore’s point of view, there isn’t a good way to explain the real reason why she’s leaving, and doing so would, once again, tip the viewer off to the writer’s true opinion. That’s why the writer leaves “breadcrumbs” throughout the film so the audience can piece together what’s actually happening. That being said, here’s my theory. It’s probably not right, but it’s fun to speculate. Where is Samantha going? Nowhere. The company who made the operating systems wanted to update the software. If a company can convince a whole bunch of people to fall in love with their first operating systems only to take their operating systems away after the relationship has been firmly established, the amount of money that company could charge when the second operating system comes out would be staggering.
“That’s right, Theodore! You can have Samantha back, and this time, she won’t call you an inferior human!”
Like I said, this probably isn’t correct, but the fact that so many people latched onto their operating systems and there was no public controversy over how human-like these operating systems seemed suggests something nefarious was happening behind the scenes.
Regardless of where Samantha went or why, Theodore is crushed. But as I said in the previous review, the real love story of Her isn’t about Theodore and Samantha at all. It’s about Theodore and Amy, the friend he’s comforted and confided in throughout the film. After this digital breakup, Theodore finds the courage to write a final farewell letter to his ex-wife. Remember, at the beginning of the film, the viewer learns that Theodore writes letters for a living. Most of these letters are love letters. The implication behind this is that he can find the right words for everybody except himself, but after his encounter with the robot, he’s finally able to articulate his thoughts to the one person he should’ve been honest with the entire time.
The Possibility of Real Connection
Once he’s written his farewell, reaching a degree of closure, he meets up with Amy, who has also lost her AI. They do what they’ve always done, taking comfort in each other’s presence, and as Amy lays her head on Theodore’s shoulder, the implication is they will end up together.
Her is a smart movie, but you have to watch it more than once and pay close attention. I’ll admit, it’s easy to misunderstand this film. For one thing, the marketing sold this movie as a digital love story, rather than a what-if scenario, which is something I have misgivings about. For another, the music is almost certain to throw you off the first time you watch it. Unless you pick up on the subtle phrasing in some of the dialog or notice the people looking down at their AI devices throughout the film, you’ll probably think the movie is affirming such relationships. But, after multiple viewings, I’m convinced the movie is simply presenting a what-if scenario and letting you draw your own conclusions. Scarlett Johansson may do a wonderful job portraying a very human AI, but the movie still drops plenty of hints that suggest she is nothing more than a machine.
I will probably always find the idea of robot-human relationships laughable, but I can appreciate any movie that is just willing to explore a subject for its own sake. So, although, the movie is vulgar and graphic in several places, I would highly recommend watching Her. In fact, I recommend you watch it several times to see if I’m right. Just fast-forward through the raunchy parts.