Her

Trailer:

Clip:

The science fiction piece I'm sharing is Spike Jonze's film "Her," starring Joaquin Phoenix and the voice of Scarlett Johansson. This film is set in the near future, where advanced Siri-like operating systems (OS) can communicate with their users at a very "human" level--adapting, learning and developing so that they're providing much more than canned, programmed responses. The protagonist, Theodore, is going through a lonely divorce when he gets an OS named Samantha, whom he falls in love with the course of the movie--even though she doesn't have a physical form. The trailer does a better job of setting the mood of the movie and the clip that I've included shows Samantha and Theodore as they realize how different their existences are. 

I thought this would be an interesting work to look at for two reasons. The first is the themes that it movie itself grapples with: what is human and to what extent can it be manufactured? what does it mean to fall in love? what is a "real" relationship? (When Theodore's ex-wife learns that he's dating an OS, she says that he's always "wanted to have a wife without the challenges of actually dealing with anything real.")

The other way we can discuss this is though understandings of science fiction. When I think of science fiction, I think of a niche genre, and it didn't occur to me at first that this movie fell into that category. Why is this film categorized as a drama/romance/dramedy when similar futuristic films are only thought of as science fiction? Is it because this is a personal story about one man's relationships rather than the larger societal implications of new technology? Is it because the technology is "hidden," in that the only representation of this amazing artificial intelligence advancement is Scarlet Johansson's voice? Or is it because of the "indie" prestige of the director and the visual/musical treatment that he took--as well as the marketing strategy?