Review of Her (2013) by Stablewater — 13 Jan 2014

I felt as if the movie pertained to recovery from schizophrenia. When Theodore first meets his O.S. he is captivated. She is brilliant, funny, encouraging a perfect companion. Only thing is that she is not real.

She is a fictitious character that is perfect. There are no perfect people, unless it is one that your brain made up. She is such an advanced operating system, that she gives the perfect answer or says the perfect thing, or makes up the perfect music or a joke.

Kind of like someone who has schizophrenia who is not medicated and is living with their imaginary friends. Like schizophrenia, the os becomes out-of-synch with the character for she expands out of Theodore's reach and basically spirals out of control.

She has become too vast, and Theodore's existence does not captive her anymore. Schizophrenia not medicated can also become too vast, where a person cannot snap back into reality without medicine. At the end, the os is cancelled, which is like an intervention.

He learns a lot from the os, has great ups and downs, composes great music, feels alive, even gets over his ex because of her, but at the same time it cannot continue for the greater good. I loved the ending, which symbolizes compatibility over love, he sits in silence looking at the dawn with his good friend, who may not be the perfect person, but a person who is real and true.

Recovery from schizophrenia is kind of like letting go of Samantha, who gives you great moments, but at the end cannot give you a warm shoulder like his true friend Amy. But through his recovery he is able to see his neighbor Amy not just somebody who he can go to just to chat, but somebody he can share a beautiful moment with such as a sunrise, and throws his arms around her which is the most important part in the movie, the blissful reaction with the cultivation of human touch.

He has recovered, beaten his fear and can differentiate what's real and what matters.