You probably don’t know Theodore Twombly.
Frankly, neither do I.
But the story of this shy and subdued man, who writes other people’s letters for a living is one which has moved the world, reduced many to tears and got other thinking about ‘What is love’…
In times like these where the word is glorified, wrapped in pink and made larger than life – I could connect best with this description from a blog that I came across.
“What is love? – It’s companionship. It’s sharing experiences with another. It’s storage filled with memories and the past – and a past together with someone. It’s knowing you are not alone and “won’t die alone”. In a world where technology opens doors for you and remembers for you and auto-delivers a wrapped gift on your birthday and all those other physical things a loved one can do, can technology also be an emotional substitute too? (Or, at least, fool you into thinking so?)”
Given the number of times I have had conversations with an imaginary person, written to letters to someone who doesn’t exist – it’s not too difficult for me to believe that falling in love with a voice, an intelligence that can remember to ask how my day was, know what can make me laugh – is an impossibility.
Coming back to Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’, if you aren’t touched by the depth of the idea or even that high-waisted trousers may be the new haute couture, listen to Karen O’s ‘The Moon Song’ from the movie’s OST- preferably in a quiet place where you can see the stars.