Does the "mole" like device access Isabella's facial expressions in Her (2013)?
In the movie Her (2013) we find Samantha arranges for a surrogate (Isabella) for Theodore and herself for interactions. We see Isabella arrives and Theodore gives her a microphone and a "mole" like device which she gently attaches to her face.
We get this notion that this device helps in the visual aspect of Samantha and the conversation begins. What my question is: Did this device access/control Isabella's facial expressions too? or they were originally hers(Isabella's)?
I did look around for any mention of this but could not find anyone referring to this device and how it worked.
Best Answer
No, the device does not control facial expressions
From what I assume from the movie, Isabelle is just some professional who is hired by Samantha
From the script (emphasis mine):
SAMANTHA I know you’re going through a lot, but there’s something I want to talk to you about, okay?
Well, things have felt off with us since you went to see Catherine. (hesitant) We haven’t been having sex. I understand that I don’t have a body and that--
THEODORE No, no, that’s just normal. When you first start going out it’s like the honeymoon phase and you have sex all the time. It’s normal.
SAMANTHA (still insecure, not convinced) Oh, okay. (beat) Well, I found something that I thought could be fun. It’s a service that provides a surrogate sexual partner for an OS/Human relationship.
THEODORE Yeah. What is it?
I was corrected in the comments that no money was involved, but when I saw the scene, I was under impression that Isabelle and Samantha rehearsed whats going to happen
So, basically Isabelle is someone who is invested in the relationship. She knows whats going to happen. One may even assume that she feels being Samantha and once I even assumed that Isabelle fallen in love with Theodore.
Tl;DR: Isabelle is in full control of her face
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Answer 2
In the (final version of the) movie, when Theodore handed the mole like device to Isabelle, he said:
"Oh, Samantha told me to give you these. It's a camera and an earpiece."
A camera does not exert control over human muscles. It would just allow Samantha to experience the interaction from Isabelle's point of view.
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