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Her: Spike Jonze’s Coded Rabbit Hole

By Jameson Brown · March 2, 2014

It’s the year 2014. We wake up. We make coffee. And we open a computer, an app or a game. It’s part of a contemporary routine that has been slowly engraved in us for years. Some of us do it for family. Some of us do it for work. I am a mobile worker – my computer, in some ways, is my best friend. I have real friends. I have real family. And I play real, outdoor games. But this newer portal of digital connection is addictive and can be dangerous. Spike Jonze’s her unfolds a story that shows this danger and how it can affect us. New technology is not bad. It is a progressive, positive aspect of our culture that needs to advance. With Jonze showing us the balance that is needed to sustain this technology (and sanity), we understand that if thrown off kilter, technology can impact us negatively. Just like Theodore, we go down a coded rabbit hole that is unforgiving in the most engaging of ways. her tells a story that we all need to hear. So, start listening.

“Sometimes I think I have felt everything I'm ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I'm not gonna feel anything new. Just lesser versions of what I've already felt.” –Theodore Twombly

The little negative feedback I have read regarding her is that the script has cheesy parts written into it and certain sequences are too unbelievable to validate the characters that are walloping around in this new age world. I respectfully disagree… almost. Jonze’s script, one of the best of the year, blends the quirkiness we all think, but are sometimes too scared to say – those half-breathed words we almost let out, but never do. Theodore represents this person in all of us, and Samantha brings it out. Is this cheesy? Yes. Is it real? Very. There are films that audiences can recognize the production and theatrical play easily. That’s fine. Certain films are supposed to be produced this way and we as onlookers are supposed to be fine with this setup. her avoids this theatrical trap door and pierces us with a form of connection we can’t avoid – one that might make some squirm. Between the brutally honest script and the talented cast to pull it off, we are provided with a film that resonates with us profoundly. That message that resonates being “connection is everywhere, and we need it, but are the outlets we are seeking out to find it the best ones?”

Mr. Wombly is a genuine wanderer who is looking for a safety net to explain what has happened in his life. This is something, at least at times, we all need. Mr. Jonze shows both the positive and negative effects of what can happen when we blend technology with this emotion. It can become a dependency that tugs at us in strange ways that are not always left and right, causing new confusion. Be it an operating system or a human being, connection always comes with confusion (another main thesis of this story). Joaquin Phoenix depicts this with beautiful subtlety that allows us to be invited in to see his pain, while still holding up a wall that shows us his hyper-insecurity of becoming vulnerable.

I ask one thing after reading this piece, and that is to watch this film with a sense of vulnerability to Theodore’s invulnerability. Obviously, it will have a different effect on every viewer, but take note of the world Jonze has created and the wandering characters he has plugged into this world. For some, it might be found that doing this will be beneficial in the creepiest of ways, and the idea of balance will become front-of-mind.