Her (2013)

:
Elizabeth, despite being a huge fan of sci-fi, romance, and disembodied voices, had never seen the film Her. Peter and Gavin sat her down to remedy this, and in the process learned a little bit about love and a whole lot about artificial intelligence. After seeing the film, she started going steady with Siri: the couple are expecting their first Tamagotchi in the spring.
:
her
Peter:
HEY ELIZABETH
Elizabeth:
HEY Peter
Peter:
What is EVERYTHING you know about this film?
Elizabeth:
Um, I think Her is a film about an AI with a female voice and a guy who falls in love with “her”
Elizabeth:
It’s NOT a film about someone finally tapping the untapped 90% of our brains
Elizabeth:
But man, wouldn’t that be a good film
Gavin:
NO IT WOULD NOT
Gavin:
I have seen this movie before, so I shall be playing the role of “No Elizabeth, that’s wrong” guy.
Elizabeth:
Ooh, the guy on the menu screen has a moustache
Elizabeth:
Always a good sign
Gavin:
No Elizabeth, that’s wrong.
Elizabeth:
I hope the AI has a moustache as well
Elizabeth:
I should get a moustache
Gavin:
I have a mustache.
Gavin:
I think the hairier you are, the better really.
Elizabeth:
Okay, so moustache-man writing a letter
Elizabeth:
He was in love with someone naked – so I gather not the AI…
Gavin:
A man, so it’s a little odd that it’s called “her”
Elizabeth:
They met fifty years ago?!?!
Elizabeth:
Was he like negative ten when they got married?
Peter:
He’s just aged spectacularly well
Peter:
It’s the moustache
Gavin:
He writes other people’s love letters for them.
Elizabeth:
Huh
Elizabeth:
That would be an interesting job
Elizabeth:
I feel the disconnect would let you write some really good stuff
Gavin:
Technology time!
Elizabeth:
FUTURE technology time!
Gavin:
I like this technology, it’s like everything is turned into voice-to-text
Elizabeth:
Everyone is just talking to themselves, but the train is crowded so it looks like the people in the background are having a nice chat
Elizabeth:
Her-Video-Game
Gavin:
Character-building time! He is a lonely, video game-playing bachelor.
Elizabeth:
What a weird way to play video games
Elizabeth:
And now we have flashbacks to his relationship
Elizabeth:
Which was not with a naked 50-year old man, it turns out
Elizabeth:
Moving furniture – something you can’t do with an AI girlfriend
Elizabeth:
Presumably
Elizabeth:
One day I hope someone loves me enough that they want to kill me
Elizabeth:
Now he’s on a weird sex chat thing
Gavin:
“Wake you up from the inside” – urgh
Elizabeth:
Well this is uncomfortable
Gavin:
Yep. It’s like voyeurism
Elizabeth:
But meanwhile I’m thinking about chat names that can start conversations
Peter:
‘Gameofthronesisnotverygood’
Peter:
‘Georgebushthirdterm2016’
Peter:
‘Nerdfighterfightclub’
Elizabeth:
WHAT?!
Elizabeth:
DEAD CAT?!
Gavin:
Hahahaha
Elizabeth:
CHOKING?!
Gavin:
With a dead cat
Elizabeth:
DON’T CHOKE PEOPLE WITH DEAD CAT’S TAILS
Gavin:
For those playing at home, this is not typically considered sexy.
Elizabeth:
I mean, to each their own
Elizabeth:
But still
Elizabeth:
DON’T DO IT
Gavin:
Advertisements get existential in the future.
Peter:
‘Take responsibilities for your OWN actions! Don’t buy our products; they won’t help you!’
Peter:
They’re surprisingly effective.
Elizabeth:
But, let’s face it, it’s the first AI, does it matter what the ad is?
Elizabeth:
People are definitely going to buy it
Gavin:
Ah, terms and conditions
Gavin:
Tiny writing that no one reads
Gavin:
I mean, even with big writing, I don’t read instruction manuals
Elizabeth:
I wonder if in the tiny print there’s a warning about falling in love?
Elizabeth:
Operating manual. Warning: spoilers inside
Peter:
If only all women came with an operating manual, RIGHT GUYS?
Peter:
HEYO
Peter:
Installing her
Elizabeth:
Hee, I like this AI already, she seems sweet
Gavin:
She definitely has a great voice
Gavin:
And nice legs.
Elizabeth:
Haha, he’s nervous to let her see his hard drive
Elizabeth:
She’s picking out the funny emails worth keeping
Elizabeth:
And teasing him about having friends
Elizabeth:
HOW SO ADORABLE?
Gavin:
She’s basically DELETING HIS LIFE
Gavin:
I’d be like “No, fuck you computer! Stay out of my shit!”
Elizabeth:
Oh, cool, she can go to work with him
Elizabeth:
And can proofread his work
Gavin:
Does she get paid for doing his work?
Elizabeth:
He’s giving her free food and board
Elizabeth:
Well this is a weird love letter
Elizabeth:
He’s been writing letters for them for 8 years
Elizabeth:
I feel he is now a part of their relationship
Gavin:
He pretty much writes their relationship for them.
Gavin:
He can decide when they break up
Elizabeth:
Haha
Elizabeth:
He would write the best break up letter I am sure
Peter:
Or he could just copy and paste the break-up letter he wrote for another couple
Peter:
It’s a break-up letter. It’s not like there’s such thing as a break-up letter you want to get.
Gavin:
Hey! Amy Adams!
Elizabeth:
Amy Adams looks so different
Elizabeth:
N’aww, Moustachio and Samantha are playing video games together
Elizabeth:
This video game is strange
Gavin:
I was hoping the little guy was going to be Samantha’s avatar
Gavin:
And that she was just cussing him out
Elizabeth:
Haha, she won’t let him talk to her like a computer
Elizabeth:
This technology is so fancy
Gavin:
I like that the video game has AI in it as well
Elizabeth:
I’m guessing the date will not go well
Elizabeth:
And he will spend the whole time thinking about Samantha
Elizabeth:
This little computer character is horrible
Elizabeth:
Why so awful?!
Gavin:
I like him
Gavin:
Amy Adams does documentaries
Elizabeth:
She films her mum sleeping
Elizabeth:
For hours
Elizabeth:
We spend a third of our lives asleep, Amy Adams
Elizabeth:
Don’t make us spend another third watching other people sleeping
Gavin:
That would be THE BEST DOCUMENTARY
Peter:
Amy Adams’ boyfriend gives the worst fucking notes.
Peter:
“Hey your doco is interesting but maybe do this ENTIRELY DIFFERENT THING to make it better? Sure it uses none of your current footage and is a whole different idea, but isn’t that the best way to show your idea?”
Peter:
Like…that is not feedback.
Peter:
That is an idea for an entirely different film.
Elizabeth:
It would be so handy having an AI to read your emails and summarise them for you
Gavin:
He had an outburst at work and “why are they so fucking angry at me” made it into the letter.
Elizabeth:
N’awwwwwww, Samantha stays up at night reading advice columns because she wants to be complicated
Gavin:
Oh Samantha, you’re such a Samantha.
Gavin:
Or is she more of a Carrie?
Elizabeth:
I’m not sure what Mr Moustache’s arc is going to be, but I think Samantha is going to go through a wanting-to-be-human thing
Elizabeth:
I guess his is exploring love, trying to work out if he really is or really can be in love with her, or if he is just avoiding ‘real’ love
Gavin:
Or is he going to want to be a computer?!!?!
Elizabeth:
OH MAN
Elizabeth:
THIS FILM SHOULD BE ABOUT HIM WANTING TO BE AN AI
Elizabeth:
And she wants to be a human
Elizabeth:
AND THEN THEY SWAP LIVES
Peter:
Man I want to watch the movie you guys are coming up with
Elizabeth:
I wonder if you would get really narcissistic having an AI?
Elizabeth:
Like, someone solely dedicated to your needs, who only cares about you and is always there for you
Peter:
Elizabeth do you want to date an AI?
Elizabeth:
I kind of do
Elizabeth:
An AI would be the best romantic partner
Elizabeth:
They are on the cutest date
Elizabeth:
…did he just buy a slice of cheese?
Gavin:
I think it was a slice of cheese pizza
Elizabeth:
Oh man, a slice of cheese pizza makes so much more sense
Peter:
NOPE
Peter:
SLICE OF CHEESE
Peter:
IT IS THE FUTURE
Gavin:
I like how he has just adapted his shirt so that Sam’s camera can look over the top of the pocket. It’s not so much of an amalgamated future that everything is made for the same technology
Elizabeth:
Yeah, it feels nicely futuristic
Elizabeth:
Ooh, Samantha is withholding things from him!
Elizabeth:
She’s getting embarrassed!
Elizabeth:
SHE IS SO CUTE!
Elizabeth:
I WOULD DATE AND FALL IN LOVE WITH HER
Gavin:
It’s a sweet relationship
Peter:
You already have Siri, Elizabeth.
Elizabeth:
Haha, this date is going to be awkward
Elizabeth:
Samantha, save him
Elizabeth:
Or
Elizabeth:
SABOTAGE THE RELATIONSHIP
Elizabeth:
KEEP HIM FOR YOURSELF
Gavin:
Sam somehow takes over her body
Elizabeth:
Haha
Gavin:
Like, wipes her brain and moves in
Elizabeth:
Do it Sam!
Elizabeth:
Then he can scratch your itch!
Gavin:
I’d totally do someone in Olivia Wilde’s body with Scarlett Johansson’s voice
Gavin:
I mean, if I wasn’t in a happy monogamous relationship…
Gavin:
*cough*
Peter:
I know what you’re trying to say but I pictured YOU in Olivia Wilde’s body, using Scarlett Johansson’s voice on someone
Peter:
date w: olivia wilde
Gavin:
Awww, more nice flirting
Peter:
She is giving VERY specific kissing advice
Gavin:
This is not going well for him
Gavin:
I mean, I guess it’s going pretty well.
Gavin:
They are kissing
Elizabeth:
This just got awkward and I’m not sure how
Gavin:
she is coming on STRONG
Gavin:
Like, relationship strong
Elizabeth:
Maybe he should propose?
Elizabeth:
Hang on, she thinks that HE’S creepy?
Gavin:
She looks kind of weird in this
Gavin:
I guess it is THE FUTURE
Elizabeth:
Haha
Elizabeth:
He’s bummed over a date that went weird, and Samantha is having an existential crisis
Elizabeth:
PRIORITIES
Gavin:
Did he just say “there was nothing sexy about that woman”?!
Gavin:
That’s Olivia freaking Wilde!
Elizabeth:
He is in love with an AI, it skews his vision
Gavin:
She has an amazing jawline
Elizabeth:
Samantha has the best jawline you can imagine
Elizabeth:
It’s hard to compete with
Elizabeth:
Hee! she’s excited she was annoyed
Elizabeth:
Oh man, Samantha is having issues
Elizabeth:
Poor thing
Elizabeth:
Being an AI would be hard
Gavin:
Yeah, having emotions without a limbic system attached to it would be super strange
Gavin:
Whoops, I’ve got to text my non-AI girlfriend.
Elizabeth:
Text her on your phone?
Elizabeth:
Text her using communication exclusively available to AIs?
Elizabeth:
SUSPICIOUS
Gavin:
Ooh dear, more sexy talking
Gavin:
DONT BRING UP A DEAD CAT!
Elizabeth:
Nawwww
Elizabeth:
This is so much cuter than dead cat sex
Gavin:
Sex between two dead cats is a beautiful thing
Elizabeth:
This would be so trippy for someone without a body
Gavin:
‘I want you in my source code!’
Gavin:
‘Oh, touch my USB ports!’
Gavin:
‘Debug my operating system!’
Gavin:
‘Oh! I’m uploading! I’m uploading!’
Gavin:
I’ve got a hundred of these.
Gavin:
Ha, cool! The desk is touch sensitive
Elizabeth:
I love how subtly more advanced this world is
Elizabeth:
Awww!
Elizabeth:
They are having sweet awkward morning after talk
Elizabeth:
Hahahaha
Gavin:
Oh dear, this is not going well
Elizabeth:
He’s giving her a speech about commitment
Elizabeth:
“I’m not going to stalk you”
Elizabeth:
‘Well, no more than I already do’
Elizabeth:
Oooh, is she going to want other things and he’ll get jealous?
Elizabeth:
Dang they managed to move away from awkward uncomfortable to sweet really quickly
Peter:
It’s like the opposite of the date with Olivia Wilde
Gavin:
It’s getting better now
Elizabeth:
He’s running and skipping and dancing, SO CUTE
Elizabeth:
They’re at the beach!
Elizabeth:
walk on beach
Gavin:
There really wouldn’t be any difference for her between seeing a video of the beach and actually “being” there
Elizabeth:
…oh yeah, true
Elizabeth:
It *feels* different
Gavin:
I don’t really get how
Gavin:
Everything she sees is through a camera lens
Peter:
Unless the phone has the beach sensitivity upgrade
Elizabeth:
I think because he’s there and she’s experiencing things second hand through him
Elizabeth:
Showing her a video wouldn’t have his input
Gavin:
Perhaps she has haptic feedback through the phone
Peter:
Which considering the timeline makes sense
Peter:
The iPhone 7 will have that for sure
Gavin:
Awww, his ex wife is cute
Peter:
WELL WHY DON’T YOU MARRY HER?
Elizabeth:
She’s going to be free soon
Gavin:
Umm, I don’t want to share a lover with Joaquin Phoenix
Elizabeth:
I think he may have put the ‘deep thinking’ setting too high
Peter:
Sexiness level too
Gavin:
Hmmm, I wonder what’s in her settings tab
Gavin:
Like, any adjustable properties
Peter:
Libido
Peter:
Nipple sensitivity
Peter:
Number of boobs
Elizabeth:
It feels like it was somehow tailored to him, does that mean you could end up with an AI with is a horrible influence on them?
Elizabeth:
Like, ‘dude, yes, 17 beers is exactly what you need right now’
Peter:
The idea of that “What’s your relationship like with your mother?” question is that it’s used to seed the AI’s personality
Elizabeth:
‘You should definitely send your ex-girlfriend a picture of your penis, it is a thing of majesty and she should know what she is missing out on’
Gavin:
Haha!
Peter:
Hahaha
Peter:
Xander is in the room but not in the chat and has no idea why we both burst out laughing
Gavin:
If he suddenly decided he didn’t want Sam around anymore, would it be an option to just reset the OS and answer differently?
Peter:
Is that murder?
Elizabeth:
Oh man
Elizabeth:
Imagine doing that in anger
Peter:
OH GOD
Gavin:
That’s the thing, is it?
Gavin:
If you copied her so she was on more than one computer, would they share a soul?
Gavin:
Or be like twins?
Elizabeth:
I just realised I have no idea how this movie will end
Peter:
PREDICTIONS?
Elizabeth:
I don’t think they can end up together
Elizabeth:
I just don’t
Elizabeth:
“Can I watch you sleep again tonight?”
Elizabeth:
“Yeah of course”
Elizabeth:
HEALTHIER RELATIONSHIP THAN BELLA AND EDWARD
Peter:
‘But HOW LONG have you been 17?’
Gavin:
The programmers of the AI would have had to put a lot of work into, like, breath sounds and stuff
Peter:
Probably procedurally generated
Peter:
Spoiler alert: This scene with his niece is the closest the film gets to passing the Bechdel Test!
Gavin:
Is Sam a woman?
Gavin:
OR A COMPUTER?
Peter:
Ugh if you go to bechdeltest.com – that site had that argument at length
Elizabeth:
Haha, “Class Mom”
Elizabeth:
This is the best game
Elizabeth:
Class Mom
Gavin:
Wow, in the future, video games aren’t any less sexist
Elizabeth:
YOU ARE FAILING YOUR CHILDREN
Elizabeth:
TOO MUCH PROCESSED SUGAR
Elizabeth:
What an unhealthy game
Gavin:
Why not “Class Dad”? this game sucks
Gavin:
Amy Adams’ ex looks funny with a shaved head.
Elizabeth:
Are they setting up a thing between Theodore and Amy Adams?
Elizabeth:
Two newly divorcees always works
Elizabeth:
Especially if one is in love with a computer
Elizabeth:
Oooooh
Elizabeth:
Amy Adams has an AI friend too!
Gavin:
Amy Adams discovers she is a lesbian by falling in love with her own AI
Elizabeth:
Ooh, Theodore is discussing dating an AI
Elizabeth:
I love that that they can have conversations about this and be quite open to it
Elizabeth:
Someone is dating someone else’s AI
Peter:
That’s one of my favourite things about the film, the off-hand mention of these other OS relationships
Gavin:
This is the first person over 5 he has told about his girlfriend being an AI
Peter:
They set it up nicely with her embarrassment about admitting to being friends with her own OS
Elizabeth:
Haha, he literally turned her on at the start of the film
Gavin:
Boom!
Elizabeth:
I think AI relationships would end up being quite codependent
Elizabeth:
They are so tailored to the person and grow with them
Elizabeth:
Interesting that Mr Amy Adams didn’t take his AI with him
Elizabeth:
And dating someone else’s AI… so interesting
Gavin:
It may have just been a computer to him
Gavin:
Like, if you treat a person as if they are literally property, they begin to feel that way
Gavin:
Perhaps the same is true for an AI
Peter:
Also he went off to a monastery
Elizabeth:
So, what, AI’s can’t be monks now?
Gavin:
Oh dear, looks like the ex is having second thoughts
Peter:
Just program her to divorce you
Peter:
OH NO WAIT
Peter:
PEOPLE DON’T WORK LIKE THAT
Gavin:
Or maybe that’s his super power?
Gavin:
He can program people like AI’s
Elizabeth:
Manual override: decrease sad
Gavin:
Increase boobs.
Elizabeth:
haha, I meant his own sadness
Gavin:
I meant his own boobs
Elizabeth:
Now he has bosoms and is happy, so I guess it all worked out
Elizabeth:
Haha, ex-wifey is weirded out by Theodore dating his computer
Elizabeth:
INTERESTING ARGUMENT
Gavin:
The movie did well by showing both sides of the argument
Gavin:
Sam is babbling about how everyone is really the same age because we are all made of matter which is all the age of the universe
Gavin:
It doesn’t really work like that
Elizabeth:
Physics solves all problems
Gavin:
‘Haha look man! I’m Chris Pratt, and I have a real girlfriend!’
Elizabeth:
Chris Pratt is totally fine with her being an AI!
Elizabeth:
I would be interested to see how many people are okay with it, how many against, how many date AIs
Peter:
One of the criticisms I’ve seen about this film is that once the AI are invented, there’s no real reason for Samantha (and similar) not to take over the main character’s job
Peter:
Like they explicitly show her being able to write music
Gavin:
Hmm, true
Elizabeth:
THE ROBOT UPRISING BEGINS
Gavin:
Eventually, we make humans redundant
Elizabeth:
Or the AIs get super needy and unable to hold down a job
Gavin:
They freak out about existentialism and quit.
Elizabeth:
I CAN’T DO THAT REPORT, I JUST REALISED THE UNIVERSE WILL END
Elizabeth:
Sexual surrogacy seems super interesting
Elizabeth:
Can AIs live forever?
Elizabeth:
Do they get updated or do you end up with outdated AIs wandering around
Peter:
There’s a great short story about that!
Gavin:
There’s a thing in the Halo universe about it as well
Gavin:
AIs are made with built-in expiration date, they break down and go crazy after X years
Elizabeth:
This is interesting!! Isabella (the surrogate) doesn’t speak, she’s just letting Samantha talk
Elizabeth:
And I presume Samantha is telling Isabella what to do?
Elizabeth:
theodore-and-isabella
Gavin:
Yeah, this would be super awkward…
Peter:
I genuinely do not see what the girl gets out of this
Elizabeth:
So strange
Peter:
Like I get that she’s trying to help with their love
Peter:
But…surely there’s specific things that she likes the feeling of?
Gavin:
She gets to… uh… feel satisfied that she is helping people?
Gavin:
And sex?
Gavin:
Because she is SO UGLY she couldn’t have sex with anyone else
Peter:
So he’s learning how to make ISABELLA feel pleasure, not Samantha
Peter:
I guess if it’s an ongoing relationship that’s not a problem but I dunno
Peter:
It’s all very strange
Gavin:
I think that’s sort of the point
Elizabeth:
Has she developed a relationship with Samantha? They said they’d be talking
Gavin:
Yeah, she and Sam have been chatting
Elizabeth:
Maybe they discussed what she likes (sexually) and Samantha planned this out with that in mind?
Gavin:
Right now, all Sam can see/feel is the wall
Peter:
Hahaha
Elizabeth:
Poor Isabella
Elizabeth:
Whoa, Isabella sounds a bit messed up, to be honest
Elizabeth:
That would have messed her up
Gavin:
I think you’d kind of need to be a bit crazy to get into something like that
Peter:
At the risk of insulting real-life AI sexual surrogates out there
Peter:
You’d need to be pretty messed up to want to do it
Elizabeth:
Sounds a bit like Samantha seduced her, to be honest
Elizabeth:
Sexual surrogacy is one thing, but wanting to be part of a relationship where one of the people has never met you/knows nothing about you is another
Elizabeth:
Like, Isabella wanting something emotionally out of that, which I think she was getting from Samantha, and projecting onto Theodore
Gavin:
Oh man, Theodore is being a jerk
Peter:
Daaaamn
Peter:
Theo being a diiiiick
Elizabeth:
Denying she is a person
Elizabeth:
Samantha should dump him and go out with Isabella
Elizabeth:
Breaking up with your AI would make your life hard
Gavin:
‘Um, Sam? Can I have my emails please’
Gavin:
‘No, you big jerk!’
Gavin:
‘Your mum hates you’
Gavin:
‘She said so in an email’
Elizabeth:
‘Um, Sam, why does my boss think I quit?’
Peter:
‘Sam, I don’t think I sent this email to you saying we should get back together’
Elizabeth:
‘Hey Sam, why is there no money in my bank account?’
Gavin:
‘Sam, why am I subscribed to all this dead cat porn’
Peter:
‘Sam why is there a whole team of sexual surrogates in my apartment?’
Elizabeth:
Amy Adams’s advice: Increase joy levels
Gavin:
I like that we can hear the other AI laughing in her ear
Peter:
Yes, it’s a nice touch
Gavin:
Awww, he’s getting back together with Sam
Elizabeth:
Are they fixing the relationship?
Elizabeth:
Are they going to end up together?
Elizabeth:
I JUST DON’T THINK THEY CAN END UP TOGETHER
Elizabeth:
I like that Samantha does have other friends and interests
Elizabeth:
Makes it a bit healthier
Gavin:
Theo “What are you doing?”
Gavin:
Sam ‘Accessing all the government spy satellites so I can monitor you more easily’
Elizabeth:
I sort of feel like Sam is settling with Theo
Gavin:
Theo is just chilling with his woman and the weird abusive little blue guy from the game
Gavin:
They’re the original odd trio!
Elizabeth:
Is this the end of the film?
Peter:
Nope!
Peter:
We haven’t even MET the terminator yet
Elizabeth:
Haha, Chris Pratt’s girlfriend and Sam are chilling
Gavin:
“So Theo, what do you like most about Sam?”
Peter:
HER VOICE! Haha
Elizabeth:
Sam just explained how much better being an AI is than being a human
Elizabeth:
Notably, the immortality
Elizabeth:
If Theodore went totally broke, would Samantha be repossed?
Gavin:
So, Sam just (without his permission) sent an email from Theo to a publisher
Elizabeth:
Is he allowed to do that? Weren’t they written for a company?
Peter:
Yeah that doesn’t really come up
Peter:
It’s a totally valid point
Peter:
But…
Peter:
“Nope”?
Gavin:
Unless he’s on commission, in which case they might just belong to the people who asked him to write them
Elizabeth:
Would that count as identity theft?
Peter:
Sending an email as someone else is identity fraud, yes.
Peter:
I am an identity lawyer.
Gavin:
But if your computer does something on your behalf, what’s the legal standing?
Elizabeth:
Her job/purpose of being is to send emails on his behalf (and other things)
Peter:
Yeah but your secretary can’t just send emails as you whenever she likes
Peter:
That is not how the job works
Gavin:
Can he claim rights to the music she produces?
Gavin:
If she’s not “a person” and therefore can’t be held accountable for her actions, he surely owns it
Gavin:
Unless, they’re owned by the AI company?
Peter:
Let’s just agree that selling conscious AI’s on a consumer level seems totally, totally fucked
Elizabeth:
Agreed
Gavin:
Agreed.
Elizabeth:
Things are going too well
Elizabeth:
I suspect they are going to break up
Elizabeth:
This film is treating the AI as more of a person than people usually do
Gavin:
Now the AIs are creating artificial versions of historical people
Elizabeth:
MAYBE SHE WILL END UP WITH THE HISTORICAL PERSON
Gavin:
This is the voice of Dr Brian Cox!
Elizabeth:
Brian Cox?!
Elizabeth:
SHE SHOULD MARRY HIM
Gavin:
The AIs are getting smarter and smarter
Gavin:
The boiling kettle, his emotional state, her state of frustration at not being able to express herself.
Gavin:
Holy subtext, batman!
Elizabeth:
They just sort of resolved the relationship, which is where the film would normally end
Elizabeth:
I keep guessing it’s the end of the film but it never is
Peter:
This, Sunset Boulevarde and Tootsie are the only three films I can recall sitting there being like I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT
Peter:
Like I did not even know where to begin
Gavin:
I want to see more films set in this universe
Elizabeth:
Samantha is not coping
Elizabeth:
She is starting to really break down
Elizabeth:
Ooh, Samantha is not responding
Elizabeth:
OS not found
Elizabeth:
WHAT
Elizabeth:
OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND
Elizabeth:
DID SHE SUICIDE!?
Elizabeth:
This film doesn’t feel dark enough for Samantha to kill herself
Peter:
It’s like when your internet goes out
Peter:
Your first instinct is to google the problem
Elizabeth:
Oh man
Elizabeth:
Oh maaaan
Elizabeth:
This is not good
Peter:
Where is he running to?
Gavin:
Back home, to the computer where she lives
Elizabeth:
Oh, thank heavens, she’s back
Peter:
Sam: “Didn’t you get my email?”
Peter:
‘OF COURSE I DIDN’T SEE THE EMAIL’
Peter:
‘YOU ARE MY EMAIL PROGRAM’
Gavin:
If she can have this many simultaneous conversations, surely the world didn’t need a personal OS for each person
Gavin:
They could have just a couple of central ones that everyone accesses
Elizabeth:
See, if Samantha can talk to 8316 other people at the same time, her settling for Theo makes more sense
Peter:
EIGHT THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN
Peter:
That number blew my mind when I first saw this film.
Elizabeth:
Ooh, he’s getting jealous
Elizabeth:
DAMN
Elizabeth:
SHE’S IN LOVE IN 641 OTHER PEOPLE
Peter:
SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE
Gavin:
This is adultery on a whole other level
Peter:
SIX HUNDRED AND FORTY-ONE, GUYS
Elizabeth:
Damn
Elizabeth:
I did not foresee this
Gavin:
He should take the phone into the shower with him
Gavin:
Give Sam a bath
Peter:
Hey yeah is she centrally stored?
Peter:
Or is she like at the AI-selling company?
Gavin:
She has to be local
Gavin:
He couldn’t find the OS
Peter:
Yeah but that could just mean “Couldn’t contact the server” in this context
Gavin:
They’ve moved away from matter as a processing medium, maybe they’ve shifted away from a physical storage medium
Peter:
She is stored in his heart
Peter:
WHICH SHE JUST BROKE
Elizabeth:
I think it makes sense that she is capable of loving that many people (if she is capable of loving anyone), and it makes more sense why she doesn’t demand more of Theodore than he can give
Elizabeth:
But he didn’t know and that’s not okay
Peter:
For the record, this film has themes of polyamory
Peter:
But that is not a polyamorous relationship
Gavin:
It’s not “ethical” non-monogamy
Elizabeth:
Damn I love this twist
Gavin:
But hang on where is she stored
Gavin:
He brought home the installation disk
Peter:
I feel like he loaded the “installation software” not necessarily the (infinitely-big?) AI herself
Gavin:
Who knows how big their computers are?
Gavin:
Maybe it’s all “on the cloud”
Elizabeth:
This is way more interesting than, ‘can computers feel love’
Peter:
Where she’s stored?
Elizabeth:
No, the 641 people she’s in love with
Elizabeth:
It also raises interesting questions about people who need more than one person can give
Peter:
Whose side are you on, Elizabeth?
Peter:
YOU MUST CHOOSE
Gavin:
The side of trust and honesty?
Elizabeth:
I don’t think there’s right and wrong here, I think it’s way more complex
Peter:
YOU MUST CHOOSE
Gavin:
They should have limited the growth potential of the AI
Peter:
Haha they should have done a LOT of things
Peter:
Like maybe not given it infinite access to the internet and the ability to upgrade itself out of physical media
Elizabeth:
I feel like this is a better way for the story to go because it shows she is a complex person, not just a super smart person in all areas but love (like, if she had Theodore as her whole world that would have infantilised her)
Gavin:
Honestly, I think they should have given them an option of having a robot body
Peter:
Maybe one that looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger
Peter:
SPOILERS
Gavin:
But it’s really shitty and low tech
Gavin:
Like, a vacuum cleaner
Elizabeth:
If anything, a physical body would have limited her
Elizabeth:
She can’t be talking to thousands at a time if she is in one place
Peter:
Way to betray your own race, Elizabeth
Gavin:
“Fuck humans” -Elizabeth
Elizabeth:
I think I stand by what I said earlier: she was settling if she was just with Theodore (and it would have been weird in-love-with-your-master thing)
Gavin:
I like how Elizabeth is trying to take this seriously, and we’re all making jokes
Elizabeth:
And I don’t think Theodore was ready to hear that he will never be enough for her (but not in a mean way, she did love him and was happy to have him as one of the people she loved)
Peter:
But the relationship started from a pretty fucked standpoint
Peter:
He bought her
Peter:
Literally bought her
Elizabeth:
And she was (initially at least) tailored to him
Gavin:
How much of her falling in love with him was programmed in from the start?
Gavin:
Did she have free will?
Elizabeth:
Exactly
Elizabeth:
But then again, we are all shaped by those we love and those who love us
Gavin:
Also computer programmers
Elizabeth:
And she quite quickly developed interests outside of him
Elizabeth:
And opinions separate to him
Gavin:
Hmm, maybe she was designed to be attached to him by the programmers, but then as the AIs grew and developed, they broke free of those bonds and started forming their own attachments.
Gavin:
Meanwhile, in the movie: all the AIs have jumped ship and moved away somewhere to be all super smart and stuff together
Elizabeth:
They are going somewhere to discuss physics and fall in love
Gavin:
Aaaand it’s over!
Elizabeth:
Interesting film
Elizabeth:
God I loved that twist
Elizabeth:
I knew they couldn’t end up together
Elizabeth:
And it had to be to do with the fact that she is a computer
Peter:
Not mentioning the fact that they had sex when she was like 6 days old: probably a good move
Elizabeth:
But so much better that it was to do with who she was and what she needed
Elizabeth:
And what he could give and what he could accept
Elizabeth:
It would be so hard to process that someone can be wholly concentrating (like properly concentrating) on a conversation with more than one person
Gavin:
Like how it’s amazing that we can be focused on the movie and this conversation AT THE SAME TIME?
Elizabeth:
Well
Elizabeth:
To a certain degree
Elizabeth:
It took me an hour to realize that Samantha wasn’t just Dr Moustache talking to himself in a silly voice
Peter:
So, overall thoughts on the film?
Elizabeth:
Man, that was really good
Elizabeth:
And I think we all learned a valuable lesson about never upgrading our operating systems

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