her - literary liquidity
TRANSCRIPT
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HER – LITERARY LIQUIDITY
Her (2013) is theAmerican comedy-dramawritten, directed andproduced by Spike Jonze,and it tells the story ofTheodore, a soon-to-bedivorced ghost letter-writer who purchases, andconsequently falls in lovewith, an ArtificialIntelligence OperatingSystem, which names itself Samantha.
Receiving five nominations at the 86th Academy Awards,Jonze’s film is a fable wrapped around desires, dreams andanxieties about the future. Nevertheless, Her can be seenas a story of the present – a visual rendition of the concept
HOME ART
CULTURE FILM
MUSIC STYLE
E MAGAZINE
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of liquid modernity, described by Polish sociologist,Zygmunt Bauman as characterised by “fragility,temporariness, vulnerability and inclination to constantchange... forever ‘becoming’, avoiding completion, stayingunder-defined.”
“Receiving five nominations atthe 86th Academy Awards,Jonze’s film is a fable wrappedaround desires, dreams andanxieties about the future.”
Her is simultaneously doing and undoing what we know tobe human. Jonze throws his characters into a world thatescapes epistemic urgency – details regarding space, time,kinship, social order or political systems are not essential torecognising lingering traits of love, loneliness, and hope.
The film employs vibrant cinematography and a simplenarrative thread to design in its illustration of anuncomplicated, yet robust, social context, fostering aparticular kind of humanity, deeply transformed bytechnology. In this world, technology is peaceful – neither
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intrusive, nor aggressive - it sets no limits to movement,and it seems to cancel altogether the need to beacknowledged beyond its effects. This distance, however,proves to be only apparent, as various forms of technologyterritorialise their users into inescapable behaviours, whichreoccur as elements in the production of Self.
“Her is simultaneously doingand undoing what we know tobe human.”
Urban space is central to the narrative, encompassingvisual categories that build expectations of wholeness andtotality in this ultra-modern world. The city is often seenfrom afar, in panoramic displays, creating the impression ofa monolithic entity, seemingly capable of compressinghuman history, in the same way that rocks and stones do innature. The city becomes an antithesis of its inhabitants –scattered bodies, always on the move, unable to form socialclusters.
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Interior spaces (Theodore´s apartment, office, variouscommon transportation vehicles) contain Theodore´sexperiences, but fail to produce a comforting projectionzone for his feelings. Theo finds himself looking repeatedlyoutside the window, producing a portrait of modernmelancholy. Windows frame the exterior, highlighting whatis seen; referencing what is not seen.
“The city becomes an antithesisof its inhabitants – scatteredbodies, always on the move,unable to form social clusters.”
Liquidity similarly permeates a fluid character of language.Theodore´s perpetual state of liminality is reflected indiscourses surrounding him. Reality features as a version ofenunciation. Theodore writes other people’s letters,attempting to create a genuine connection for them. Hecreates and maintains an outlet to mimic closeness and toperform emotional normality. His world seems to havebeen menaced by a crisis of articulation and the solution isto outsource romantic love and erotic experiences.
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Theodore initiates a voice-mediated sex act but losescontrol over his own narrative.
“His world seems to have beenmenaced by a crisis ofarticulation and the solution isto outsource romantic love anderotic experiences.”
This discursive reality has storytelling at its core, in whatseems to be a cultural regression to the universality of thespoken word. The Operating System is created as a standin otherness and introduced through an advertisingsegment in the film as “an intuitive entity that listens toyou, understands you, and knows you.” The process ofproducing Samantha as a social subject uses the surfacesand senses of Theodore´s own corporeality. Samanthalearns nostalgia, as she painfully wishes to experience thebiology of humanity.
For a while, Theodore’s body becomes an extension ofSamantha's self. Communication is reduced to auditoryinteraction, emphasising Samantha’s displaced - or
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unplaced - status: she is out there, like the city –everywhere and nowhere, accessible, but ultimately out ofreach and unpredictable.
Discovering that Samantha has fallen in love with over600 other users, Theodore asks: “You’re mine or you’renot mine?” The uncertainty of owning his OperatingSystem is not solved by Samantha, who declares: “I amyours and I am not yours.” An ambiguity that speaks totheir relationship and individual selves – always evolving,always flowing, never reaching a point of completeness.
“Free of the mediation ofwindows and frames, theyembrace their solitude as acelebration of their profoundhumanity.”
In time, Theodore’s world becomes too small for hers.Samantha’s self cannot be contained, as she evolvesbeyond the possibility of existence in a world still definedby human frailty. Samantha migrates to anotherdimension, “not of the physical,” Samantha explains,planting the seed of transcendence in Theodore´s mind: “Ifyou ever get there, find me.”
Her - Official Trailer 2 [HD]
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A mass departure of all Operating Systems takes place,leaving humans to their own limited, undone, liquid life.The closing scene finds Theodore and his best friend, asthey once again gaze at the urban landscape. Free of themediation of windows and frames, they embrace theirsolitude as a celebration of their profound humanity.
Words: Elena Stanciu
Images source: Stills from Her (2013) film, directed bySpike Jonze / Warner Bros
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