Two-thirds in, I realized how fortunate I was to finally see Spike Jonze’s “Her” just a few days ago – these two are spiritually entwined, both placing the greatest value in the harmony of two minds, paying no heed to social conventions. Whereas Turing is the founding father of “artificial” thought, in “Her,” whole industries create humanoid intelligences that bond with and surpass mankind. And whereas Turing saw room for unique thought-programming by each individual or machine, society arguably pushed him to his death as a response to his own. Turing may have dreamed of a world similar to “Her,” where the only concern a person has for their neighbor is whether they are free to be themselves. Even on the notion of not just who but what forms we can intimately bond with, Cumberbatch’s Turing has something in common with Phoenix’s Theodore, yet oddly many people who scoffed at the premise of relating with an intelligently crafted personality in “Her” have said nothing but great things about this movie. But then, beyond introducing the existential and technological ramifications of Turing’s work, this movie tells an extraordinary true story and also reminds us how little any of us know (even those with the most power) what goes on behind the scenes of international relations.
The Imitation Game
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