Relationships often seem like a never-ending ride on a wild roller coaster. They speed through many ups and downs, and there are twists and turns where you do not know what is around the corner. Nevertheless, a roller coaster ride always has a beginning and an end. The journey of a romantic relationship follows the same process, and the movie, Her (2013), perfectly exemplifies this process with the relationship between Theodore Twombly and his computer operating system (OS) Samantha. This film examines the development and downfall of a complex relationship. At the end of this essay, it will be clear how disclosure and sex forms Theodore and Samantha’s romantic relationship based on some of the steps identified by communication scholar Mark Knapp. Secondly, what caused relational deterioration in Her (2013) will be illustrated through the stages of intrapsychic and dyadic processes identified by Steve Duck (2007; Duck & Wood, 2006). Divorce has drastically changed main character Theodore at the beginning of the film. He has few friends who he is mostly distant with, and he buries himself
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Stages of deterioration identified by Steve Duck in the Interpersonal Communication textbook are clearly found in Her (2013). First of all, Theodore and Samantha went through the intrapsychic processes when both of them start to realize that it actually is a large problem that she does not have a body. During this process, “one or both partners begin to feel dissatisfied with the relationship and to focus their thoughts on its problems or shortcomings” (Wood, 2015). Samantha acknowledges the main shortcoming by constantly saying, “I know I don’t have a body” to the point where Theodore himself shows his upset with it by saying “You’re not a person” (Jonze, 2013). It aggravates the problem and leads up to the issue that is the beginning of the end of the
Stages of deterioration identified by Steve Duck in the Interpersonal Communication textbook are clearly found in Her (2013). First of all, Theodore and Samantha went through the intrapsychic processes when both of them start to realize that it actually is a large problem that she does not have a body. During this process, “one or both partners begin to feel dissatisfied with the relationship and to focus their thoughts on its problems or shortcomings” (Wood, 2015). Samantha acknowledges the main shortcoming by constantly saying, “I know I don’t have a body” to the point where Theodore himself shows his upset with it by saying “You’re not a person” (Jonze, 2013). It aggravates the problem and leads up to the issue that is the beginning of the end of the