A C. T U. A L. L Y

Let me set the stage.   I am a U.S. citizen and a permanent resident of Germany.   In other words, I am an immigrant.   That status didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t come easily.   When we moved to Italy, it took me five years to convert my visa to a Permesso di Soggiorno.   When we subsequently moved to Germany, I had to surrender my Italian residency permit, and it took me another five years to obtain my Daueraufenthaltstitel .   In each country, I jumped through the hoops, produced the necessary documents, fulfilled the language requirements, attended the obligatory immigration appointments, paid my fees, didn’t attempt to work until I could do so legally, and counted the days.   In short, I respected the process and the law.   It has always been crystal clear to me that I live here at the discretion of the German government.   If I screw up, they can “ask” me to leave.   Therefore, I don’t have much sympathy for people who ju...

Do you remember Her, Spike Jonze’s 2013 sci-fi/rom-com film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson?   Wiki has a detailed synopsis of the film, but here’s my abridged plot summary. A lonely introvert named Theodore Twombly living in a near-future Los Angeles, has a Cyrano de Bergerac type of job writing letters for people who can’t express their emotions.   (Oh, the irony!)   Theodore is depressed over his impending divorce and as a diversion, he buys a new operating system for his phone and computer created by Element Software, advertised as a vehicle for self-actualization and companionship.   He boots it up, decides he wants to be spoken to by a female voice, the OS complies, naming herself Samantha, and together they explore life, work, friendship, and sex online.   They also fall in love.   Unlike his relationships with his soon-to-be ex-wife and a neighbor he once dated, Theodore has Samantha at his beck and call, 24/7, living as she do...