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“A form of socially acceptable insanity”: Love, comedy and the digital in Her

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Abstract

In Spike Jonze’s Her (2013), we watch the film’s protagonist, Theodore, as he struggles with the end of his marriage and a growing attachment to his artificially intelligent operating system, Samantha. While the film remains unique in its ability to cinematically portray the Lacanian contention that “there is no sexual relationship,” this article explores how our digital non-relationships can be re-approached through the medium of comedy. Specifically, when looked at through a comic lens, notable scenes from Her are examined for the potential they provide in affording a self-decentrement that allows us to traverse the fantasies that structure our non-relations.

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Black, J. “A form of socially acceptable insanity”: Love, comedy and the digital in Her. Psychoanal Cult Soc 26, 25–45 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41282-020-00193-2

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