Servant or Master? Representations of Technology in Her
Spike Jonze’s Her forecasts how we might live in the
future but also depicts to a startling and, perhaps, disturbing degree how we
live today: increasingly reliant upon
technologies that not only provide our entertainments and deliver myriad
conveniences but that also insinuate themselves into our most private thoughts,
feelings, and relationships. In short,
the film is not merely a projection of some far-off future, but a mirror that
reflects back to us an image of our current lives and selves. This essay will afford you the opportunity to
muse upon, and to advance your understanding of, our current circumstances and
the technologies that shape and govern them.
The following guidelines will
assist you, though you need not limit yourselves to the questions I raise. Others may occur to you that you think will
deepen your analysis, and I invite you to pursue them.
Overview Describe the film briefly by noting
the significant features of its setting and plot, and by noting the significant
traits of its main characters. In
effect, provide a coherent summary of the film—one that will make sense even to
readers who have not seen it. In your
view, does the film warrant our attention?
Why or why not?
Analysis Identify and analyze the film’s principal
themes by examining in detail those scenes that best reveal and illustrate
those themes. (These themes will emerge
from your response to the readings in this unit, from our discussions both in
class and online, and from your own insights into the film.) What, ultimately, do you take to be the
central meaning of the film and why do you think so?
Philosophical Speculation How should we
understand this meaning in relation to the way we currently use technology to
conduct our lives and to conceive of what it means to be human? What are the potential benefits and risks of
those technologies the film represents—in terms of advances in efficiency and
convenience; in knowledge and consciousness; in human connection,
companionship, and love? Does the film
help us to think about these matters productively or does it simplify and,
ultimately, misrepresent them?
As was the case in your
previous essay, be sure in this one to consider the attitudes and beliefs of
your audience (members of this class and of the SDSU community at large). Be sure, also, to provide a clear thesis—an
explicit statement of your argument. To
help you develop your ideas, be sure to incorporate at least three paraphrases
or summaries from the assigned readings and at least one paraphrase or summary
from a relevant essay in Reading Popular
Culture that we have not discussed in class. (Of the minimum requirement of four
citations, be sure to include at least one paraphrase and one summary. Do not, for example, include four summaries
but no paraphrase.) Your essay should be
5-6 double-spaced, typed pages (please use 12-point Times New Roman [or similar
font]) and follow MLA style. It should
also include a Works Cited (not included in the 5-6 page requirement). The first draft is due March 7; the revision,
March 9; and the final, March 28.