Those looking for for human/smartphone romance still have a few years of waiting before today’s technology catches up with Her’s. But if you’d be satisfied with a little hostility from your semi-sentient operating system, here’s some good news. Alamo Drafthouse, the theater chain already renown for its stringent “don’t be a jackass while the movie is playing” rules, has upped its own ante by courting Siri to record a vaguely threatening “Don’t Talk or Text” PSA to play before all screenings of Her.
The new ad marks an uneasy truce in the current war between factual female-voiced artificially intelligent phone technology and fictional female-voiced artificially intelligent phone technology. Siri’s already been quite vocal about her disregard for Her and its computerized romantic lead Samantha, so Siri (or more accurately, Susan Bennett, who provides the voice of Siri) voicing this ad is a step in the right direction. Maybe soon, the vitriol and constant bickering will end, and today’s technology can get back to its true purpose- coercing us all into buying 105-inch curved Ultra HD TV sets.
(Or maybe it just means that our phones are rising up to destroy us, which is exactly what the ad threatens if you interrupt an Alamo Drafthouse showing).
There’s a reason for all this Siri hubbub, Alamo Drafthouse has decided upon Her for its latest “Drafthouse Recommends” film (which is more or less exactly what it sounds like), and will screen the Siri clip before each showing of Her. If there are no Drafthouses near you and you’d still like to watch the PSA, it can be conveniently viewed below. And if you are planning to see Her in a Drafthouse theater, please, for the love of God, don’t talk or text during the movie. I’d prefer my future to be Skynet-free, thank you very much.
Related Topics: Alamo Drafthouse
