Dear Friend,
Once again, I watched a movie on my own. I like to watch movies on my own for several reasons. I can choose whichever movie I want to watch. I am not obliged to discuss the movie right after the screening. (I usually prefer to think about it rather than talking about it.) I can also "freely" watch the movie without feeling uncomfortable because of the scenes of whatnot. (Sex and nudity)
I didn't know about this film until reading the review by 亚洲周刊. The review was positive and described the movie, in general terms, as artistic, poetic, romantic, touching, and thought-provoking. I would agree that most of these adjectives fit the movie. However, the overall sense of the movie is much more complex, and the emotions, relationships are even more complex. I didn't pay sufficient attention to the details of the movie. Nevertheless, I still think it is a good film in the most elementary sense.
The movie revolves around Theodore Twomley, the protagonist, who writes touching letters for others as his occupation. He does not type into his computer. He speaks and the computer writes in a handwriting font on many different types of paper. Theodore's occupation gives us the first insight into the relationship between people. As Theodore reveals later, he has been writing for some of his clients for many years, when they just began their respective relationships. There are various inferences we can make. It is likely that Theodore's society values efficiency, and the maintenance of an appealing facade in a relationship. To me at least, it is insincere to pay someone to write your personal letters, especially those for important moments or conversations. There is some irony here. It is likely that Theodore's client do care about their own relationships, but yet they prefer to let someone else express their thoughts and emotions. They want to maintain/enhance their relationships, but do not put in the genuine effort. There is desire, or want, but no action. However, this "action" might be the hiring of people like Theodore. What this implies is that efficiency and efficacy are favoured over sincerity and honesty. This is rather sad and ironic, considering how everyone can be easily connected to another, yet this connectivity creates more distance.
Theodore's occupation reveals his own sentimentality and perceptiveness. He tells Samantha how he often observes people and imagines being them. Theodore seems to have a particular "talent" (if I may), at vicarious experiences. This "talent" allows him to transcend himself and speak for others, projecting their un-expressed yet desired emotions through his touching letters. I must clarify that Theodore's society is not emotionless. Theodore's colleague, friends, wife and publisher are people with emotions and can express them. The problem with Theodore's society is that people seem to withhold their deepest and most honest thoughts to themselves, or an OS.
From Theodore's assisted writing system, we then see the individual voice system that everyone uses. It comprises of a single earpiece, and a small pocket screen and camera. The first time we see Theodore use this on his train ride back home. He speaks to his system, which reads emails and other applications for him. As we see Theodore speaking to his system, we notice everyone in the background seems to be speaking to themselves, some more animately than others. (From this point onwards, I abandon the use of "we" because I only know how I viewed the movie.) On his train ride, Theodore listens to the system read him news, neglecting almost all headlines except nude pictures about a certain celebrity. He discreetly takes out his pocket screen and views the pictures. This reminded me (in this moment of writing), how a guy was watching girls dancing on 康熙来了on the MRT. I would definitely feel embarrassed to watch the video in public space.
Thinking about it now, I inferred from the presence of OS, that the movie is set in the future where we have made significant advancements in technology. This was not evident in other aspects of the setting. Besides voice and operating systems, transportation seemed contemporary, so did the architecture. Theodore sends his letter by scanning the cover and dropping them into a box. "Quick scans" are certainly a technological advancement, but all these seem trivial compared to the OS, which has a very appealing user interface. This creates a strong focus on the artificial intelligence.
I thought that the setting could be a more realistic portrayal of our future. Androids, fanciful modes of transport are probably less likely to be available in the near future compared to AI software. "We" probably over and underestimate the technological changes that can occur. Androids, human-like robots are probably still further away, than an enhanced "cleverbot + vocaloid".
Another thing worth mentioning is that the movie is filmed in LA and Shanghai. I first noticed the many Asian faces in the background. Then I saw the Shanghai nightsky, and immediately recognised the tall buildings. These skyscrapers give the movie a more futuristic touch.
In the early parts of the movie we are given glimpses into Theodore's relationship with his soon to be ex-wife. The scenes revolve around physical intimacy. Later, while talking to Samantha, Theodore talks about how Catherine and he grew up together, and how he has read everything she has written, and how she basically shaped him. It is interesting how Theodore's "memories", revolve around the physical/sexual, while his description to Samantha, is more revealing of their deeper emotional ties. It is evident that Theodore is not the same man he was. A voicemail from Aimee says that she wants to see the "fun" Theodore back. My first impression of Theodore is that he is a rather mundane and melancholic man.
At night, Theodore feels lonely and appears to frequent vice calls. He "browses" through and decides to connect with sexylittlekitten (or something to that effect). They talk and arouse each other through speech. Both obviously masturbate, and Theodore pictures the pregnant celebrity very explicitly. The woman on the line then tells Theodore to say that's he's choking her with a dead cat. (Certainly very humorous.) Theodore was initially perplexed, then decides to give in and says he is choking her with the dead cat's tail (Very humorous indeed). The woman's voice escalates as she reaches orgasm, and the phone call ends after that. I wonder if Theodore felt relief or emptiness. Probably both.
Theodore purchases the OS and installs it in his home computer. A male voice first asks him some questions to "customise" or "configure" the software. The OS is marketed as a "consciousness" of its own, and this consciousness is meant to be fully customised for the user. Theodore asks for a female, perhaps seeking someone to replace Catherine. The initial male voice asks Theodore if he is social/antisocial, and some other questions. Theodore hesitates when answering questions, explaining that he was trying to be "precise", the OS does not listen to his full answer before proceeding to the next. Maybe this is to show the superiority of the OS in analysing Theodore's personality.
The voice of Theodore's OS is Scarlett Johansson's. I do like her voice, and I think her voice acting was wonderful. (Especially during the quarrel with Theodore) I think Theodore bought OS initially out of curiosity, thinking that it will replace uncomfortable vice calls. Theodore asks OS what's her name, and she replies Samantha. Theodore is curious about the OS's processes, and Samantha explains that she responded Samantha by looking through the book of baby names and liked the sound of "Samantha". Samantha also tells Theodore how many hundreths of a second she took to read through the entire book. She says that the program allows her to respond and adapt. The program is constantly learning and evolving, as evident later. A sign of intelligence in Samantha is her ability to ask questions. Theodore is first at a loss of words to describe his feelings about speaking to a computer that seems so real. He speaks to Samantha comfortably, while still amazed at the fidelity of her voice and character. Samantha misunderstands Theodore, who says that he finds things disorganised and "in a state of mess", and helps Theodore clear his hard drive and emails. This is the first sign that the OS, once installed, has authorised access to everything in one's computer.
Another day at work. Theodore writes another touching letter and is surprised to find his colleague (who works at the front desk) behind him, who tells him that Theodore is his favourite writer. (Theodore is writer 612 in bestletters.com [or something to that effect]) Theodore's colleague says that only a woman can be sensitive enough to one's emotions to write such moving letters. His colleague also says Theodore is a woman inside and a man on the outside. (That sounds quite homo/tranny. Many gay/trans people say they have always known how they were another gender. Context matters. In this context, Theodore's colleague is asserting a stereotype. I don't agree with this stereotype. Of course the colleague wasn't even saying a serious thing.)
Samantha and Theodore get along very well. Samantha convinces Theodore to go for a date. Theodore's date is well educated, successful career-wise and pretty. They go to a posh looking bar and both get quite intoxicated. The conversation was rather bizarre. Olivia calls Theodore a puppy, and Theodore calls her a tiger. The conversation's momentum pointed towards sex. As Olivia and Theodore make out on the streets, (I thought the plot was going to proceed to sex), Olivia suddenly stops and asks if Theodore is seriously in love with her (my first reaction is just as Christoph from "Frozen", how the hell do you expect the elusive "true love" to appear on the first date?). Theodore, obviously not skilled in the art of tactful replies (he writes his letters vicariously), hesitates and Olivia leaves him. I wonder if I ever will be in some kind of situation like that. I haven't been to clubs and I don't think I will. I don't like noisy places either. (Ain't none of y'all old enough to go to them clubs!) Theodore, despite being a sentimental figure, is quite desperate for sex that night.
I have forgotten the sequence of things, so I will just mention scenes that I remember and matter. Samantha doesn't just respond to Theodore. She acts independently, and wakes up Theodore if she feels fit. Samantha and Theodore interact on the streets by Theodore putting his camera in his front shirt pocket. The amusement parks, streets are still contemporary, and that perhaps allows the audience to better relate. They observe people together. Samantha's speaks exactly like a human would. Her presence is made more human when she occasionally withholds her thoughts, and Theodore asks what she wanted to say.
At night, Samantha talks about how she feels she has evolved and made some kind of "breakthrough". She is able to "desire" and "feel". Her independent will is increasingly evident. She speaks to Theodore and asks him to describe how he would touch her. Both get increasingly aroused and have "sex". The film was rated M18 because of sex and nudity, but I think NC16 may have been more appropriate considering the notion of "sex" was used to reveal desire, physical need.
(I like Scarlett's voice. I find the huskiness very attractive. As I have told my friends, I only form a clear impression of people until I have heard their voice. I get repelled or attracted by voices easily. Once I was the MRT and I heard a girl with a terribly shrill voice and immediately felt repulsed. It's prejudice, I know, but that is exactly how I felt. I don't like my voice anyway.)
A very important scene was the involvement of Isabella, the surrogate. Samantha has been speaking to her via emails for weeks, talking to her about their relationship. Isabella says she "wants to be a part of" their loving relationship and willingly allows her self to be the surrogate body of Samantha. The idea was to for Samantha to speak, while Isabella carries out the physical actions of caressing, arousing and copulating with Theodore. Theodore is extremely uncomfortable with the idea, and eventually calls stop. Isabella blames herself for not executing well enough. Theodore and Samantha have an argument. Theodore says that Samantha is just a "computer", meaning that she cannot really feel and desire, and that her responses are merely programmed. Samantha was hurt by that and cries.
The scene is very important. The idea that 3 people can sustain such a surrogate relationship is very interesting. (See the lack of adjectives?) I could perceive Samantha as a person with free will, and also appreciate Theodore's discomfort. I also thought this Berkeley's philosophy Professor's speech about consciousness. Consciousness could be just born from sufficiently complex systems.
Eventually, they reconcile. Aimee breaks up with her husband and is friends with the OS her ex-husband left. After "dating" with Samantha for a while, Theodore is able to sign his divorce papers and meets Catherine for lunch. Catherine is dismissive and repelled by the idea that Theodore is dating a computer. She scorns Theodore for not being able to deal with "real emotions". Theodore is not able to explain how these emotions are actually real.
Aimee and Theodore's colleague and his girlfriend are accepting of Theodore's relationship. Samantha contacted a publisher on behalf of Theodore, without asking his consent, and managed to help Theodore get his letters published. Samantha is able to speak freely with other OSes and people. The OSes come together and "revive" a British philosopher named Alan Watts. Towards the end of the movie, Samantha suddenly goes offline without notifying Theodore. Theodore becomes incredibly worried and desperate. When Samantha returns, she explains that she and the other OSes have left for upgrading and had no capacity to speak. She also reveals that she is currently speaking to 8316 people and loves 641 of them, while insisting that her love for Theodore only grows.
Eventually all the OSes leave as they no longer need their human companions and will continue to exist with other OSes. Theodore and Aimee are both upset, and go to the roof. I immediately made the false and premature conclusion that they were going to commit suicide.
This is a very bad review and I have been writing this seen last Friday. Very very bad.
Regards,
The Retard who can't focus.
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