Her: Intimacy in a Digital World
How has the definition of intimacy changed with the rise of social media? The definition of the word intimacy has always been entirely subjective, and varies greatly among different demographics. The differences in our definitions has grown with the expansion of the digital world. The definition is different to me than to someone who grew up before the digital age, and this is solely because of our experiences. The plot of Her is engrossing and entirely believable in our day and age. Set in the near future, there is a hopeful sentiment hidden in the visuals and the music, which is matched with the narrative that at the same time makes us fearful of the future. After years of watching Catfish on MTV, I have observed as relationships have grown from and flourished in digital mediums. While these are relationships based entirely in digital reality between humans, there is no actual physical intimacy between them, only emotional. This begs the question, is intimacy is possible between a being and a non-being, or even between two non-beings? The film tells the story of a lonely man who falls in love with his operating system, which speaks to our relationship with technology and how it shapes the world around us. It has redefined our basic human needs and redefined what it means to fall in love. Does technology make people more lonely? Unclear answer because how does one define love? Theodore is defined by the classic romantic comedy trope of a sensitive and unlucky in love man. Samantha does not have a physical body--how does that redefine intimacy? They decide to use a sex surrogate to simulate the experience between Samantha and Theodore, but Theodore ends their encounter because he is shocked by the absurdity. Does that mean that he cannot deal with real human emotions? Theodore is representative of the impact of technology on human relations. Technology has changed the way we think and the way we interact with others. Our relationships have changed with our friends and family, whether we recognize it or not. We are addicted to our technologies and have stopped communicating with people in person, which has changed our definition of intimacy.
