Her By Spike Jonze: Film Analysis

Technology has made communicating difficult and has slowly ruined people’s friendships and relationships. Henry David Thoreau says, “Society is commonly too cheap. We meet at very intervals, not having had time to acquire any new values to each other.” Interpersonal communication with people is fading away with time, but simultaneously, technology has given people connection with those far from them. Although it does have its advantages, technology has ruined the connection and intimacy people once experienced in a pre-digital age.

Even some of the most recent works of science fiction such as Spike Jonze’s 2013 film Her have continued to grapple with understanding the human identity as technology and the world have continued to progress and many of the speculated technological advancements of the past have been realized. Through the exaggeration of the artificially intelligent technology developing today, Jonze aims to completely reimagine what it means to be human in the modern world by exploring whether or not these physically intangible forces can be regarded as human. This challenge is initially introduced following Theo’s purchase of the OS1 artificially intelligent operating system. Soon after he has installed his OS1, which names itself Samantha, he inquires how

Technology substantially effects the human race, however it diminishes perspectives on authenticity. In order to regain positive perspectives on authenticity, people need to spend less time on their technological devices. For example, Randy, a lawyer from California, is shocked when he finds out that his sister made wedding plans. Randy loves his sister a lot, however his sister doesn’t care about his feelings, she just cares about her simple wedding plans. Randy is happy for his sister, however “It doesn’t feel right that she didn’t call”. (Turkle 276) Randy is upset because his sister’s wedding is very important in his life, however his sister made him feel distant instead of family. This shows that technology may be convenient way to send a message, but it cannot replace words. One can understand the joy of happiness of a person; there is an instant connection instead of just email. Technology prevents Randy from sharing a close moment with his sister. Not only Randy but anyone in his position will be unhappy if his or her sibling sent their wedding plans via email instead of a phone call. But, if his sister called him instead of emailing him about her wedding plans, he would be happier because he felt his sister actually found time to talk to him about her important decision; he would have felt close with his sister because she involved him in her important decision. Another example is

This generation has become so involved with the technological world that people are lacking qualities needed to become successful without it. “‘We expect more from technology and less from one another,’ this is because we have relied on our technology for so long, that we develop a relationship that causes us to think it will never lead us astray or tell us any wrong.” It’s becoming so common to meet people through our cell phones, that we are slowly losing the ability to meet new people face to face. “The experience of using and analyzing verbal rhetoric that is gained through a face to face conversation or discussion is something that cannot be taught or acquired through technological means of communication” (Dougherty). When communicating through cell phones, the experience of seeing one’s facial expressions is lost. Along with hearing the tone of voice, and the ability to use these clues to help decipher the true meaning. The lack of face to face conversations is causing people to lose the ability to speak in front of others.

Author Ray Bradbury writes in “The Pedestrian”, “In ten years of walking … he had never met another person walking, not once in all that time,” There is a possibility of people not going out because they will be on their electronic devices. Technology can affect people in social interactions to the point where most people who are on their devices most of the time are having problems socializing with others. Larry Rosen claims in the article “Connecting Virtually Isn't Like Real-World Bonding”, “The total effect has been to allow us to connect more with the people in our virtual world – but communicate less with those who are in our real world.” The result of being able to access technology easier and communicate through devices has created a large amount of people to socialize less out in the real world. The outcome of the advancements of technology, displays by the groups of people who have issues, socializing by being on their electronic devices for long periods of

Correspondingly, our emotional ties and reactions have also changed to accommodate what we now consider interaction. Dating and relationships has been an important issue relating to technology because it can potentially have a dramatic consequence for society. Digital communication can be manipulated and changed with the traditional way of interacting. This can be theoretically be dangerous, though not necessarily damaging. There are so positive aspects in modern and advance communication. As our technology become more sophisticated and complex, our generation will adjust to it even know we are unaware of the outcome of how it will affect is. It is important to study these changes in order to have a grasp the transformations that we are unescapably going through.

Technological advancements can seem overwhelming today. Most everyone would agree that technological progress can be a good thing, but only when it brings solutions to problems. For instance, it makes us more productive, or it gives us more information more quickly than in the past. Unfortunately, there can be unintended consequences of technology that are detrimental to us. The thing that most concerns me is that we may be losing the concept of the importance of human relationships. When we bury ourselves in technology and cannot live a day, hour or even a minute without it, we can easily lose sight of interpersonal connections. Email and texting are convenient, but we sacrifice other forms of communication like body language, a tone of voice and facial expressions. An interpersonal

On the other hand, however others argue that the obsession we have with being behind the screen is directly affecting our ability to connect to others on an emotional level. People struggle to find a balance between real life and virtual communication, this is something that we see all around us in our everyday world, whether it's at the dinner table, at a party, or at school. We feel the constant need to have our phones right by our sides, and checking them at all times. This usually takes away from the others that are physically around us, and it divides our attention causing us to prioritize, and when picking between the two, people usually choose their phones. The misuse of this digital technology also affects our social skills, and the way we read individuals when we do have face to face

There are those who believe that the benefits of technology outweigh the disadvantages. They believe that humans find the way to ruin their relationships even without technology. They insist that issues with communication stem from deeper issues in a relationship, (Chonchuir). Essentially, if a couple was having issues with communicating, they would still have those issues whether or not technology was present in their relationship. Furthermore, technology aids the communication process (Chonchuir). Because people can stay connected when separated, they learn to also communicate better when together. Moreover, technology is not destroying communication and relationships, it is simply redefining them (Hare). In reality, it has ruined nothing, it has just changed the way people view it. Secondly, there are other benefits

When deconstructing the aspects that render someone a human being, a logical conclusion that one would arrive to is the concept of love. The film Her is a vivid portrayal of the possible intimate relationship between humans and machines because it evaluates the idea of love and the emotions associated with it as being not just exclusive to humans but is really an intangible, and universal force between two parties. A depiction of a man’s relationship with an artificially intelligent being, on the surface, is a problematic emblem stemming from misconceptions and cultural taboos, but at its fundamental core, the phases of the relationship are no different than what is normally experienced between two humans. From the idyllic beginning, to the maturation of the connection between Theodore and his Operating System (OS) Samantha through intense passion and the coming to terms with each other’s flaws, to the bittersweet end when two individuals eventually grow apart, the film Her gives an honest portrayal of love between two beings as representative of the larger more intimate impact that technology will play in the future.

The design of humanoid robots goes back to the 1400s and have progressed with leaps and bounds with today’s humanlike features and functions.

The world of technology has grown to consume our lives and distort our views on the values of authenticity in the biological and social world. As we become more and more dependent on technology, we also become emotionally and socially drained, detaching ourselves from reality. Sherry Turkle, author of “Alone Together” and Malcolm Gladwell, author of “Why the revolution will not be tweeted” discuss the ways in which technology has influenced our views on the values of the real world. As people adapt to a world where technology has fixed itself into their everyday lives, they become dependent on it’s reliability until it eventually consumes their time and reduces the value of relationships to simply connections.

Technology has been advancing year after year providing the people with opportunities to grow. We use technology every single day. Many use it to conversate and interact with family or people all around the world. In an article titled Life in the Fourth Millennium by Steven Pinker he states that “Humans are social species with intense longings for friends, communities, family and spouses, consummated by face-to-face contact.” (Pinker 13th paragraph). Face-to-face contact is what humans were presented with until the 2000’s. This day in age it is too expensive to travel across country or to another country just to be consummated by face-to-face contact. With these advancements we are able to communicate face-to-face via Skype,

Technology is said to be causing us to communicate less with one another. Technology is advancing maybe we just need to advance as well. We are finding alternative ways to communicate more effectively with each other and that we are not just “anti-social screen gazers”. The issue upon us is that people think we are becoming so involved in our technology that it isn’t allowing us to make real deep meaningful friendships with one another.

How do people fall in love, finish degrees and manage businesses, all because of the technology on the Internet? This is strongly answered by internet technology such as: the use of webcams and video conferencing that has affected interpersonal communication today. Over the past few years, video conferencing technology has been growing as a result of the desktop and internet technology. These personal cameras allow the user to share a moving image of themselves with others. These cameras are then used in any kind of video conferencing, or conversation there may be. Video as well as audio makes the experience seem very human. It has allowed interpersonal communication exist when your not actually in person. The fact that people can now have