Czarina C.

Tuazon March 1, 2014

2011-62909

Her

Her is a 2013 American sci-fi romantic drama, directed and produced by Jonze. It starts Phoenix,
Adams, Mara, Wilde, and Johansson. Its about a divorcee in 2025, finding companion in his newly-
purchased operating system with artificial intelligence that level to human intelligence. As the story
progressed, he and his operating system begin to fall for each other and finally label their relationship as
romantic partners. But as with romantic movies, conflicts arise between their relationship because of
their differences physically, mentally and psychologically.

The movie itself is a refreshing from the usual Hollywood-type of movies with glamourize effects,
story-telling and shooting. Unlike Hollywood-type of movies, where you watch the whole movie unfold
as if you were a higher being from above, and this movies perspective gave you the feeling that as if you
are one of the characters that they just cant see. Thats one of the movies strong points. It has a great
cinematography.

Story-wise, it was thought-provoking. A lot of praised was given but I didnt want to explore the
characters struggle for romance but the intricate background behind it. There was no social stigma
shown by the emerging peculiar relationship between a human and a robot. I was surprised, given a
view of our history; people tend to oppose those that veer away from the norms. Its interesting to think
that with their immediate acceptance of such relationships, it might be the precursor of human
extinction with people engaging less with each other.

It also failed to update other areas of technology in their timeline. With a technology so
advance that it could imitate human thought, you would have thought that there were technologies that
stimulate the sensories, so that Samantha could project an image of her in send electric impulses on her
partner so they could trick his body into thinking its touching and seeing something.

The fast evolution of the artificial intelligences was too fast and less explained for me. Or rather,
it is hard for me to accept. Given my current archive of knowledge, I just cant see the possibility of a
man-made creation to combine complicated scripts and programming to formulate their own
conclusions that have not existed before. Them evolving on their own is like them discovering a colour
outside the colour spectrum. Id like to think that they are struggling with the same philosophical
struggle we humans also question: free will. Is that really their will or are they programmed to do that?
Why was there a mass evolution of every OS released, given that they have varied time of activation and
varied experiences or input?

It was not also explained how the OS operates. Do they get a different version of an OS for every
purchased? Or is it a big mother-server where every input is sent and one entity decides what to do with
those inputs? Is that the explanation as to why Samantha was talking with 1000 people and falling in
love with 600?

Now to discuss about the creator/s, what was their intention of making such a powerful tool?
Where did they get so much energy to power such a strong OS like that, which could perform tasks so
fast? How are they utilizing this power in other fields? Their creation seems bionic, being able to add
new scripts and programs from combining and formulating pre-existing ones. How could they have
contributed to the field of biology, being so close to unlocking the recipe for artificial life? Why was the
direction of their OSs evolution towards gaining an advantage over establishing relationships? How
would that prove to be advantageous?

In summary, romance-wise it was uninteresting, but the more you dwell and think about the
other aspects and focus on little background details will the real story unfolds. The movie gives of a
general idea and leaves the viewer to extend it and discover their own ideas.