Like chopping garlic; or, Love in the Modern Age

It's been almost a week since I saw "Her" and I still think about it. I was putting up new curtains this morning, and I thought about Theodore and Samantha; I started to wonder what Spike Jonze's favorite color was, or if he preferred grapes to pears, like I did.

I guess it's one of those things that stay with you, or that would suddenly cross your mind while you're in the middle of doing something totally dissimilar, like chopping garlic, or putting your shoes on.

Like other great films, "Her" prods you toward introspection, pushes you to confront your own central beliefs (no matter that you have to chisel your way down to your own untraveled depths), dares you to ask questions you have difficulty constructing. In this case, you may start with "what is love?", a question that has seemed to acquire various elements of the commonplace--largely because it has so often been thrown out with so much familiarity, at times, even in jest--but is really, on closer inspection, one of this life's deals that have yet to be clinched, despite numerous attempts to do so.

So, "Her". And this documentary, "chronicling reactions to Spike Jonze's Oscar-nominated film, Her. The documentary, directed by Lance Bangs, features stories and reflections from writers, musicians, actors and contemporary culture experts, including Olivia Wilde, James Murphy and Bret Easton Ellis, on the film Her, and their thoughts on love in the modern age."



Thanks to Mr. K. for the alert.