In today’s world, you can hold “face-to-face” meetings online. You can ask your phone to send someone a text message. You can ask your car for directions. Technology has become an avenue by which you can accomplish almost anything. Countless innovative technological feats have been featured in popular culture throughout the years. From residential space stations to biometric classification, many of such technologies seem unimaginable within the span of our lives. But the real question: are these movies and stories an exaggeration of our reliance on technology, or could they be foreshadowing the technological future that lies ahead for us?
In “Her,” a recently released science fiction romance drama film, technology has developed to a point where operating systems are designed to fulfill individuals’ specific needs. They converse, learn and feel like real people, described in an on-screen ad as a “consciousness.” The movie depicts several relationships between the people of its fictional society and their respective operating systems.
Charles, though a rather minor character in the movie, is the ex-husband of Amy and original owner of an operating system. When he and his wife Amy divorce, he leaves behind their life together and his operating system. Amy, ex-wife of Charles and longtime friend of the main character, discovers the complexity of the new operating system when her ex-husband leaves it behind in the divorce. Amy embraces her relationship with her operating system, creating a happy and healthy friendship. By the end of the movie, she regards her operating system as a close friend. Theodore, the main character of the movie, is a lonely, introverted writer that ultimately falls in love with his operating system, Samantha. As the movie progress, the two become closer, ultimately even attempting to consummate the relationship through a surrogate body. His every day life becomes dependent on her and their relationship.
These varying relationships can be interpreted as predictions of the result of our growing technological dependences. Charles represents the in-control, technology consumer. He is the user that technology was originally meant for: the one who turns to it for convenience and utility, but is neither reliant nor overly attached. He treated his operating system as such, and was even willing to leave it behind. Amy represents the more invested user. Though she has some sense of boundaries, she heavily involves herself in her technology and uses it consistently. She illustrates the modern day consumer, the type of consumer we are starting to see more and more in our own society: attached, emotional, and willing to invest more of her life into it than is normal. She goes beyond the intended purpose of technological advancement and involves such innovations in her day-to-day routine. Lastly, Theodore represents the most extreme consumer. In his usage, he ignores all customary limitations and social norms. He not only is overly involved in his technology, he is consumed by it. Every day his thoughts, emotions, and routines are largely dependent upon his operating system. He reaches a point where technology becomes questionably the most integral part of his life.
Is Theodore merely a criticism of the slippery slope we have descended upon through our use of technology? Or is he a reminder of a concerning yet very possible future consumer? If I can leave my phone home on vacation can I be guaranteed to be Charles? If I rely on Siri every day will I become Theodore? Does our current attitude toward technology predict our future reliance? Can the lifestyles we lead now influence what they could be 20 years from now? The movie, though meant to be a fantastical love story, exposes this growing societal issue of our reliance on technology usage.
As we have become more and more innovative, we’ve also pushed the limitations and inclusion of technology in our lives. It is possible that one day we will develop operating systems advanced enough to mimic the human consciousness. It is possible that one day we will develop technologies advanced enough to customize themselves to your own needs. It is possible that we will one day develop such things that go beyond what we ever imagined possible. But is it possible that we will befriend such technologies? Regard them as our closest confidants? Will it ever be possible that we could really truly fall in love with them? Though technology presents us with opportunities that accelerate our lives in unprecedented ways, the attraction to such convenience and versatility can be a dangerous trap. Ultimately, it is up to us to determine the role technology plays, to determine if technology belongs to us or we belong to it.
The conclusion of this essay is much stronger than the introduction. I was a bit disoriented when I started reading, and it wasn’t until the end of the first paragraph that I had some sort of idea of what you were trying to accomplish. But the essay just gets better and better as it goes on, especially because you do such a great job of presenting the sci-fi characters as allegorical explorations of the relationship between people and technology in our society. Well done.
I was a little confused in the beginning of your essay. Your thesis is clear (you’re going to talk about sci-fi movies in relation to technology today); however, it kind of came out of no where. You hadn’t really talked about science fiction other than a brief mention of popular culture and then said “these movies” so I was a little thrown off. This is a super easy fix though, I would just add more into your opening paragraph about what you’re going to be talking about. I don’t think your essay needs an entire summary of the movie “her.” It was long, and I think your argument would be stronger if you completely eliminated the very long summary and just gave a short example from 2-3 movies and then compare them to real life. Lastly, there is one paragraph that I think is entirely written of questions. While 1-2 is okay, I think this is too many, and statements of what you think would be more effective.
This essay was very interesting to read; I thought that the topic was extremely eye-catching and posed some really great questions. How should we interpret the wave of futuristic scenarios that are thrust upon us? Should we roll our eyes at it and call it exaggeration, or should we open our minds to it and take caution? I also thought that the questions you posed – about Siri and how our actions can indicate whether we are a future Charles or Theodore were thought-provoking. They made me think consciously about my own lifestyle and actions and how I fit into the picture. The largest piece of advice I have to give on this essay is that the “real question” you posed at the end of the first paragraph didn’t seem to be clearly answered or addressed at the end. Other than that, great job!
The title of this essay drew me in immediately. I also think you picked a really good topic. This is a new movie that a lot of people want to see, and I imagine few have had the time. You also did a good job relating the story to our lives and the lives of consumers. My only caveat is that the second paragraph seemed a little repetitive, so maybe there is a way to synthesize that? However, overall I think you raise a lot of good points and questions.
This was a great concept for a paper. I haven’t yet seen the movie but I loved the way you analyzed each character and described their significance within the context of our consumer and technological society. The organizational flow of the essay was very effective as your argument combined with your analysis were both clear and fluid through each paragraph. Great title, too.
Gina, I really liked your essay! The way you incorporated the movie characters into your thesis and meaning was very creative and helped me understand both your thesis and the movie better. It was very well organized: one paragraph introducing the characters and their relationships in the movie, the next analyzed how they relate to real life relationship roles with technology, and a third paragraph asking questions and reflecting on how they relate to you/society. Also, the questions in the last two paragraphs were very thought-provoking. If I could change the essay in any way, I would take out some of the questions in the last few paragraphs and maybe attempt to answer some of them. Overall great essay and I like to original take on the topic!
The essay effectively made the movie relevant to real life, especially when relating the characters to the consumers present in real life, and I really liked how the movie was analyzed beyond just the love story. But I think that the content/plot of the movie took up a lot of the essay, partly because of all the rhetorical questions relating to the movie in the second to last paragraph. I think maybe instead of just listing the rhetorical questions, answering/explaining a couple of them might give way to a deeper analysis.