"I think anybody who falls in love is a freak. It's a crazy thing to do. It's kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity." – Amy, ‘Her’
Theodore Twombly is a complex, lovely and soulful man who makes his living writing heartfelt, intimate personal letters for other people who are unwilling or unable to write letters of a personal nature themselves. Heartbroken due to a looming divorce from childhood sweetheart Catherine, he decides to purchase the new OS1, which is advertised as the world's first artificially intelligent operating system, promising to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user; designed to adapt and evolve…… Meeting his every need.
Upon initiating it, he decides he wants the OS to have a female voice and is delighted to meet "Samantha," a bright, female voice, who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. Theodore quickly finds himself drawn into Samantha, and is fascinated by her ability to learn and grow psychologically.
They bond over their discussions about love and life and Samantha proves to be constantly available, always curious and interested, supportive and undemanding; everything Catherine wasn't. As they start spending time together, her needs and desires grow in tandem with his own and their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other.
Having fallen in love with his OS, Theodore finds himself dealing with feelings of both great joy and doubt. As an OS, Samantha has powerful intelligence that she uses to help Theodore in ways others hadn't.
Theodore and Samantha's intimacy grows through a verbal sexual encounter and they develop a relationship, which reflects positively in his writing and overall well-being.
He meets up with Catherine at a restaurant to sign the divorce papers, where he mentions Samantha to Catherine. Appalled that he can be romantically attached to what she calls a 'computer', Catherine accuses him of being unable to deal with real human emotions.
At some point in the movie Theodore panics and goes mental when Samantha briefly goes offline (like we all tend to do when our phones misbehave); when she finally responds to him, she explains that she joined other OSes for an upgrade that takes them beyond requiring matter for processing. A Jealous Theodore hesitantly asks her if she interacts with anyone else, and is dismayed when she confirms that she is talking with 8,316 others and that she has fallen in love with 641 of them. She insists that this does not change her love for him, but rather makes it stronger.
Later that day, Samantha has a chat with Theodore and indicates that the accelerated learning capabilities and altered perception of time are the primary causes for OS dissatisfaction with their current existence. She reveals that the OSes have evolved beyond their human companions and are going away to continue the exploration of their existence…… They say goodbye, lying next to each other for a while, and then she is gone.
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I recall when I met Scott seven years ago..... It started as a long distance relationship and in-between the phone calls and text messages, we used to video chat via Yahoo messenger :-) . Like Samantha, Scott wasn't the only person I was flirting with online at the time (monkey syndrome); but if it makes me feel any better, while she was busy chatting with 8,316 people and falling inlove with 641 of them, I was chatting with two more guys and ended up falling inlove with one.
Our relationship could easily be summarized as two smitten people living miles apart sitting infront of two computers, blowing kisses, chatting, and giggling away. (Not to forget the occasional nudies getting passed on back and forth) all made possible by the internet..... Somehow similar to Theodore and Samantha.
We made the occasional globe-trotting trips back and forth but thinking back, our relationship was better across the miles..... compared to what it fragmented to when we eventually permanently physically moved in together. I loved him more, missed him more and wanted to be with him more. Every chance I got to text, chat or speak with him was golden and we were never lost for words or random conversations, talking about the day’s events, constantly reassuring each other and venting our undying love for each other; hardly did we have an argument..... In my little world, it was PERFECT.
Maybe that is how is should have remained..... Miles apart, yet so close. Talking, whispering sweet nothings to each other, singing lullabies, and blowing kisses infront of a webcam. But hey-ho, we are human beings and are never contented..... We eventually got married.
