Extra Credit Movie Response

Mariana Goncalves

Mr. George

AP World Literature

22 January 2014

Her Response

Prompt 2 & 5:  According to the dictionary, personhood is the state or fact of being an individual or having human characteristics and feelings. Personhood is an essential aspect of life. In the movie Her, directed by Spike Jonze, Theodore Twombly is a desensitized individual due to his lack of empathy and emotional maturity. His flaws are evident through his memories of his failed marriage. Due to the technological advancements, society has gradually become more reliant on technology, and less social. Theodore is greatly affected by the phenomenon of technology and loses his grasp of human interactions. After purchasing an operating system designed to fulfill his every need, Theodore loses himself in a false sense of reality, thus, challenging the definition of personhood.

The mere essence of human existence is interacting with other humans for one's development and growth. By interacting with others, one learns how to respond to feelings and emotions in every circumstance. Being able to empathize with others as well as being able to convey your own emotions is a key to communication. Samantha, the operating system, becomes a convenient solution to Theodore’s inner turmoil. He is able to distract himself by interacting with Samantha and projecting the feelings he yearns to have, onto her. Although she is not the appropriate recipient of his feelings, she portrays herself as such and gives him a sense of confidence. Theodore is ultimately communicating with a responsive robot; distorting his idea of a relationship because he is able to create his perfect companion.

Theodore is able to receive all of the benefits of having someone who cares and lives for him without having to reciprocate. Samantha is a computer with no flaws or real needs, whose purpose is to solely serve Theodore. Their relationship is an artificial representation of what a real relationship between two humans should consist of.  MTV runs a television show called CatFish, where they document the story of multiple people who fall in love with complete strangers online. Today, more and more people are finding it more satisfactory to interact with strangers online rather than dealing with people around them; it is easy to portray yourself as the perfect person to someone who knows nothing of your background. One’s flaws can be easily hidden online whereas they cannot be hidden from those physically present. The inability to deal with other’s emotions makes the idea of online dating more appealing.

Similar to the stories on CatFish, Theodore has found an escape through Samantha. He cannot find any flaws in her character because her very existence is to cater to his needs and present herself as a perfect companion. Theodore is confronted with his tragic flaw when his ex-wife, Katherine, exposes it. It is one of the most meaningful scenes of the film because it brings an important theme to light. As Theodore tells Katherine about his new companion, Samantha, he accentuates the fact that she has a positive outlook in life. This comment irritates Katherine because it proves Theodore’s inability to cope with the demands of a real relationship. The major theme that is presented is the reality of society today. People are less willing to interact with those around them because they do not want to put in the effort of understanding others. People are more willing to take the easy route and depend on the convenience of technology to recreate themselves into a perfect “profile”. The relationships created through this are fictitious because both people are falsely portraying themselves as exactly what the other person wants. Perfection is unattainable and unrealistic.