The Film Her By Spike Jonze: The Role Of Technology In Imagining Futures Of A Society

According to David Wong: “Technology is not good or evil in and of itself. It's all about how people choose to use it. ” The given question assumes that technology itself plays a vital role in thinking about the future, speculating and predicting the possible changes in social norms, values and possibly social constructs. However, to suggest that technology in and of itself is capable of shaping society would be an overgeneralisation without focusing on the relationship between humans and technology. Hence, through the analysis of the film Her by Spike Jonze (2013), this essay seeks to explore the role of man’s use of technology in imagining futures of a society in the following aspects: positive social developments through man’s pursuit of self-interest, expansion of the boundaries and confines of love and painting a dystopian post-humanist era. Indeed, through Her, man’s constant pursuit for technological advancements creates positive expectations for future social development in the prospect of human emancipation from labour and pain. This is evident in the role of Samantha plays in Her as Theodore’s organiser, helping to sort out his emails, messages and contacts.

The costuming element of the mise-en-scène reveals both Theodore’s shirt and the OS themed-layout to be deliberately aligned in peach red colour. The alignment of colours is significant in highlighting how AIs are created to be on the same side as humans, to reduce manual labour through higher efficiency by technology. Similarly, Theodore’s decision to purchase OS1 as a source of emotional support and companionship to overcome the loneliness and heartbreak after his separation with his wife highlights man’s desire for intimacy. Samantha aids Theodore not only practically, but more importantly, catalyses Theodore’s emotional recovery. It is evident through the gradual progression from gloomy and desaturated shots of Theodore still trapped by his emotional pain, to brightly lit and saturated shots when Theodore goes on dates with Samantha, creating a sense of hope in the audience that Samantha has successfully aided Theodore in getting over his failed marriage. Therefore, the role Samantha plays in Her imagines a positive future where man’s emotional wellbeing and welfare is constantly improved by technology.

Additionally, the role of technology is pivotal in shaping the future of love insofar as the social norms of love no longer being just heterosexual and monogamic in nature. This is evident in the general theme of love in the film, with the narrative is centred around a human AI relationship. Her predicts a shift in the social norms of love from the conventional heterosexual romantic relationship between a man and a woman, to love between humans and gendered AIs. This is significant because despite Her being a romantic science-fiction film, it is not just created for entertainment purposes, but more importantly it predicts the future possibilities of AI-human romance love actualizing. In fact, in present society, robot sex and love has proven to be less far-fetched than imagined due to the evolution of technology. This is evident in countries like Japan where a generation of young people have begun choosing virtual partners over humans. Additionally, AI expert David Levy claims that by 2050, humans could possibly be marrying robots.

Moreover, the stark contrast between Amy and Catherine’s reactions upon discovering Theodore is dating an OS draws a parallel to society’s responses towards AI relationships in present. On one hand, Amy is surprised and curious, replying, “Really? How does it feel like?” However on the other hand. Catherine is appalled and questions, “You’re dating your computer?. . . you can’t handle real emotions”. Through comparative analysis, it is evident that the former reaction represents acceptance and understanding of society that AI relationships are not irrational while the latter rejects AI relationships and claims it to be a form of escapism and inability to handle real human emotions. Therefore, the narrative of human AI relationships in Her is crucial in imaging the future of love in societies and the reactions society has in expanding past conventional social norms of love.

Lastly, the overreliance of man on technology plays the role in shedding light on the dystopian perspective of the post-humanist era as future concerns regarding Artificial Intelligence will arise. As Christian Lous puts into perspective: “Technology is a useful servant but a dangerous master”. Indeed, a potential dystopia awaits society, due to mankind’s overdependence on technology in our daily lives. In Her, Theodore’s overdependence on Samantha for emotional support can be seen scene where Theodore loses contact with Samantha for a brief period of time. Panic strikes him as he sees jarring words displayed on the phone and computer screen saying, “Operating System not found”.

Through the mise-en-Scene more specifically the elements of facial expressions and body language, the audience is able to empathise with Theodore’s frustration through his knitted-brows and furious tapping on his phone screen when he is unable to reach Samantha on multiple tries. The use of facial expressions and body language in this scene involves the audience to be a part of Theodore’s confusion and anxiety when he thinks he has lost Samantha. The positioning of Theodore in a full body shot shows him running across the crowded streets when he accidentally falls on the ground. This is significant because the use of camera angle in this scene manipulates the audience by building up the expectation that Samantha has indeed disappeared and forces them to question how Theodore is able to physically locate a computer programmed artificial intelligence. Therefore, this scene allows the audience to realise the similarities between ourselves and Theodore, in our overreliance on technology.

In our daily lives, the frustration and fear of losing our documents when our computers or laptops breakdown draw a parallel to Theodore’s fear of losing Samantha. However, Her reveals to us that the overreliance of man on technology is one-sided, whereby artificial intelligence, despite similarities with man, does not have an emotional dependency to rely on man for the pursuit of knowledge and intelligence. This can be seen in the dialogue where Samantha tells Theodore she talks to 8, 316 others, and is in love with 641 others besides Theodore. This dialogue is significant because Her corrects that perspective that while humans and technology are both evolving and learning, there is a human element of consistency across time and situation that perhaps, is perhaps the only thing technology will not settle for. Samantha’s pursuit for technological advancement does not stop there, but continues as she comes to terms with the absence of a physical body, “I’m growing in a way I couldn’t if I had a physical form…I am not tattered to time and space in a way that I would be if I was stuck in a body that’s inevitably going to die”. This dialogue is significant because it reveals Samantha’s post humanist gaze of looking away from the safety of having a physical body and emphasizes the power of the AI to be immortal and her ability to avoid being bombarded by normal human concerns. Though it disturbs Theodore, the audience perspective is shifted to realise that Samantha is afterall an AI, which Theodore and the audience have all pinned humanist expectations on her to love and evolve in the same capacity as humans. Therefore, the post-humanist gaze through Samantha’s perspective sheds light into imagining futures where social concerns such as the fear of AI takeover may arise.

AI takeover is a hypothetical situation where AI robots will one day exceed man, (Martin) insofar as technology will take over the jobs of humans and surpass their level of intelligence. Therefore, Her reminds us that though technology serves as an aid to mankind, the dystopia in post-humanise era will be due to the excessive reliance on technology that breeds expectations for technology to function like humans. In conclusion, Her encapsulates almost entirely the relationship between man and artificial intelligence insofar as practical helpers in our daily lives, as well as a source of comfort and emotional support to humans. As such, we see the role of AIs setting a positive expectation for further social developments as man continues to pursue ways where technology benefits mankind. Additionally, Her being a romantic science-fiction film has questioned the social norms of love between humans and predicts the possibility of romantic relationships between mankind and AI.

Lastly, the overreliance of mankind on technology sheds light on a dystopian post-humanist future, where technology will no longer be just a servant, but possibly become the master of mankind due to the overdependence of humans on technology. Hence, instead of looking purely at the role of technology itself, this essay analyses the role of man and their relationship, use and dependence on technology that imagines the future of society.