"her" by Spike Jonze - thoughts #1

Spike Jonze's recent film "her" is the epitome of complex concepts expressed simply. leading to profound truths the film starts with the title, and ends with understanding of something universal and timeless.

part of the brilliance of the film is that it strips away the complicated lives of our present and puts us in a realistic unmarked future time. so much that exists outside of the characters isn't talked about and could lead to questions such as: what year is it? what city is he living in? what country? what's the state of global warming, starvation and overpopulation? the film elegantly tells us gently that all those things don't matter. the world has been stripped away into this world of a comfy blanket so that our souls are bared.

the film begins with a tight shot of Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) as he looks at us and professes his deepest emotions, only for us to find out that it's a lie. he actually works at a company called "beautifulhandwrittenletters.com". the immediate irony that this man, in a cubical next to another person doing the same, is speaking to a computer in order to hand write a letter for a customer to their loved one becomes the central theme of the film.

but before continuing to that lockbox of thematic splendor, the world we are going to live in for the duration of the film is just as important as the relationships. the camera takes its time to show us Theodore's work environment, as it did showing us Theodore in his close-up. considering the type of work these people are doing they all seem to be enjoying themselves. even the male receptionist, Paul (Chris Pratt) who seems to dwarf the desk he sits at by his size both with his physical size and personality, seems to illuminate the room with ... well whatever it is the damn guy seems happy.

the world seems sterile almost. but in a good way. i mean it's all beautiful and well designed the way we all expect the future to be. the idea of writing other people's personal letters probably seems like a thankless job but there's also no indication that Theodore didn't in fact choose that career. it really does seem that everyone likes what they do. Paul likes being a receptionist, and is easily able to date a lawyer regardless of any class distinctions. Amy (Amy Adams) doesn't seem to have a career when we first meet her, or at least it's unclear. she seems to be a documentary film maker at first, and probably a pretty bad one since she's filming her mother sleeping. later she is more clearly a game developer, and very much enjoying it, even though her game is about completing thankless tedious tasks. point is that this world is one in which the people are able to pursue their dreams as a career.

i probably sound really sad or negative toward our own society but hey in the words of the alien child (voiced by Spike Jonze) in the video game Theodore is playing "fuck you". that retro future is beautiful.

her.... her.... her.... i hope that everyone knows what it's like to hear the word "her" (or "him)" and have an image, feeling, and presence felt by that one person you have/had in your life that has the ability to pull all of it together with a simple pronoun. when talking to a friend, or family talking about the past/present/future, both beautiful and painful, we reply with "ya, that was/is her/him". that one person who changes your life so profoundly that like Theodore we feel as if the future will only hold the same, but lesser, emotions than we've already had.

"her" is an example of very witty writing. not that there's tons of super funny puns, or whit, but so witty in it's use of devices, characters to so properly express itself.

Theodore seems to be a wimp, a pushover maybe, someone who is seems to be antisocial but is very popular according to him. he is the dichotomy of the human condition. he appears to be selfless, and meek. we identify with his hopes and dreams to be happy and feel that he is deserving, like all believe to be. are we deserving, and by what right? is one of the deeper questions at the heart of this film. when the future has given what it's promised to give what do we still need to do? what will never change?

our experiences, our development, and our reliance on our self will never change until we are able to shed our body and singular mind and live as one in the spaces between the words we hold as sacred.

mind numbing

friday night is the day of the week revered as the greatest of all days. that which is celebrated around the globe as a night of possibility, hope, adventure and impulse.

i don't subscribe. at least not lately, and tonight least of all. like most fridays in current history i've gone to my sister's house for dinner - of which involves more wrangling of small children more than eating. i related my bewilderment at my sister's food, and how tired i always seem to get once the first potato touches my tongue. i thought it was the soporific turkey, but no. it was attempting to keep my brain humming at the pace of a 4 year old for i'm told was only an hour. i wasn't even the sole adult put to the job, my other sister actually did most of the fun having with the kids while i tried to stuff myself into the bottom bit of an all too small closet during hide-and-seek.

after time-outs, and potatoes eventually i left and picked up a bottle of wine before going to a friend's house... apartment. for the purpose of the story it shouldn't matter, but lets be honest, none of my friends are at that stage in their life where having a house is conceivable. *achem* so there i am, sitting on the couch given to my friend, by my family, regularly sipping on my wine now deciding what sort of adventure we should get ourselves into.

some cartoons, a comedy special, ordered in pizza later and most of my bottle of wine later i headed out to hopefully catch the last bus back to my area.... i really do love those electronic bus schedule things they have here. the accuracy of saying that the last bus is "DUE" for 10 minutes is amazing. especially when the scheduler sign thing then goes blank, essentially meaning the bus that was DUE has invisibly gone by and you have missed it.

luckily for me the bus just ended up being late by any standard of lateness. which was a godsend. i'm 27 years old and somehow in the last 2 days i inexplicably suffered a war wound to the knee. it feels like whatever soft gooey stuff that usually protects your joints was replaced by Iron Man's death shrapnel attempting to rip my kneecap off from the inside whenever i put pressure on it.

my 4 story walk-up.

winter wonderland

today is mild compared to yesterday and i hope that pooch from yesterday was able to find somewhere warm for the night, and hopefully a home by the time the temperature drops again.

CBC news has been covering the fact that apparently all provinces have a snow warning. warning people that it will be snowy, bad driving conditions, etc etc. it's nice to be told the most obvious things sometimes, but sometimes it seems silly.

for me whenever there is a snow storm, of which most of the country is always prepared for, i wish the news would take it a little more comically. granted there's problems with icebreakers freezing in the north, homeless people suffering from exposure, and planes being grounded. those are serious, but unfortunately where i live the snow storm will always seem to come with mostly those negative connotations.

maybe people would be happier if we went back to having snow days. not snow days because it's so difficult to continue normal business, school, and life functions but because it's just so damn pretty out.

"Now to Marie for the weather forecast, I hear it's going to be a blustery one out there. (chuckles)"

"Well Matt you're right. The snow is going to be falling, blowing and moving in all sorts of naturally magical directions. We urge everyone to put on warm clothes, get together with family and friends and enjoy the miracle that is Canada in January."

"Wow Marie, that does sound fantastic. In fact my producer is saying that instead of going through scripted newscast planned for today - that involved rehashing news from November - we're going to broadcast the holiday fire log and take the day off."

"King of the hill in the parking lot Matt? ... Matt? He's already left hasn't he?"

gooooooood moooorning 2014!

since it's the 2nd today, and not the morning i figure should start my first blog in a way that is a little more grounding, and first thing's first, i'll tell you who i am. cause god knows that when you walk in to an interview, a first date, or a crowd of strangers the person across from you always wants to hear your life story.

what brought me here, and some of the whacky things that have happened are hopefully the least interesting things about me. i'm not going to rattle off accomplishments in hopes of getting into your proverbial pants, or you in my pants, or shorts, or pajamas, or whatever it is you wish i were actually wearing while writing this in whatever location you believe that all new aspiring bloggers sit to write their first blog post. (*gasp* for breath) that first blog post that will change their way of life allowing for transcendence, immortality and eventual irreverence alongside the kitten gods.

point is i just got over a nasty flu. of ....

a dog just ran by outside my window. it's -30 degrees celcius and a dog just hurriedly scampered between two buildings, crossed a road - thankfully with stopped traffic - and proceeded to go east across a small park and another road. looking at the cars and for a way through it passes behind another building, out of my sight.

i curse my fourth floor prison. i curse my cold feet, and shitty boots. i curse that i didn't just run out of my apartment the moment i saw him, that i know i would search in vain. this isn't the first time i've seen dogs running, looking for food, or a place to stay, a warm loving family? and yet i still can't help but feel odd at wanting to run out the door to find that dog more than i want to run downstairs and invite a homeless person up for a warm bowl of soup.

well, i hope this isn't going to be the trend for 2014, either with a surge of cold homeless dogs, or with my inactivity towards making a difference.

i'm going to go look for it.

*** i'm back from looking. i saw the poor thing once but it got scared by traffic and i lost it in a residential area :(