1b. Positioning

Originally, I thought our future was static, and that there would be only one type of future (Inayatullah 2008) – a technologically advanced utopia (Riedy 2018). In this evolving future I imagined love as similarly static; remaining relatively the same. However, I have since learnt that love is changing and evolving in the same way that the future is; it is dynamic and fluid. There are also new types of love, as new visions of the future are imagined. Love is being deconstructed and re-engineered (Riedy 2018) . This evolution of love in accordance with the future is obvious through the application Tinder, the film Her, and the TV series, The Handmaids Tale.

We currently exist in a period of rapid technological advancement, where an online revolution is readily changing the structure of our relationships, and will continue to do so into the future. Online dating application Tinder has contributed to a huge cultural shift in relationships. Today, one third of marriages start online, there are more interracial marriages than even before and these online-marriages have been proven to last longer and thus be more strong than traditional marriages (Kanga 2018). This shows that love is ever changing and evolving, as a result of us becoming a more technologically advanced society.

In the film Her, which is set in a technologically advanced future, love is presented as multi-faceted; not limited to existing only between human beings. This idea is explored through the relationship between the main character Theodore and his artificially intelligent (AI) operating system ‘Samantha’. The close-up of Theodore’s elated expression at the beach as he lays down on the sand with sun shining on his face (whilst Samantha is talking to him through an earpiece, and can see what he is seeing through a camera lens in his front pocket), along with the softly overlaid diegetic piano music, uses pathetic fallacy to highlight the strong love between them. This demonstrates how in a technologically advanced future, there is a possibility that love can evolve to exist between man and AI.

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In the television series, the Handmaids Tale, which is set in a dystopian future, a love for God and the bible is presented as the most important love. Although the foundations of love that we have in our current society still exist, love for a partner, children, or oneself is not as important as a love for God, and women only enter into marriages to bear children. This is demonstrated in season two episode twelve, where Eden (a fifteen year old) cheats on a husband who was chosen for her with a man she loves. Subsequently, her father “(calls) the authorities” on her, knowing that she will be killed for not obeying the law of God. The close-up in slow motion of Eden’s pale, deceased face with accompanying non-diegetic, somber music emphasises the grim reality of what love looks like in this future. Although gruesome, the reality is that due to the way this future is shaped, love has evolved to follow the bible.