Meet The Student Whose Life Was Changed By The Movie "Her"

This post is presented in partnership with Astar.tv, an initiative of The University of Sydney.

There’s a moment that strikes most students approaching the end of their time in high school; when they begin to wonder, “Umm, what now?”

The moment came for Wessley Armstrong, of Newcastle’s Kotara High School, in Year 11, after deciding a career in veterinary just wasn’t for him, altering his post-school plan as he’d always envisioned it.

The revelation arrived during The University of Sydney’s Bunga Barrabugu Summer Program, where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are invited onto the campus to experience a week of uni life.

“They took us throughout the veterinary school of Sydney Uni and explored all these different sides and that’s when it really hit me that it’s not what I want to be doing,” Wess, now 18, told Student Edge.

“So, for a few months I had no idea what I wanted to do after school, and then I saw [Spike Jonze’s 2014 film] Her and decided I wanted to do this.”

The ‘this’ he’s referring to is “filming and storytaking,” his endearing and empathetic description for relaying the stories of others.

For the uninitiated, Her is the acclaimed sci-fi comedy about a lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix) who falls in love with the artificially intelligent operating system on his phone (voiced, smokily, by Scarlett Johansson).

“I love how they take this simple idea that’s starting to develop today and then turn it into something that could be a possibility of the future,” said Wess.

“It’s now my favourite movie,” he added.

Wess was moved enough by the film, as well as other movies and TV shows like it, to consider a career that would allow him to instill the same feelings in others.

“I remember going through all these different emotions and thinking, ‘Wow, I want to make people feel this way, and I want people to take something from what I produce.’”

Instead of being dispirited by his first time with the program, Wess returned in early 2015; this time, to evaluate the University of Sydney’s humanities department.

“You get to meet all these different people and make connections throughout the whole campus,” he said.

One of those connections was Ryan Wittingslow, editor of online magazine A•STAR, whose publication offers students the opportunity to share their work - whether text, music, or video; creative or non-fiction - with A•STAR's readers. He quickly identified Wess’ talent as a storyteller.

“It was clear from the very start that Wess had something to say,” says Ryan.

“I’m just glad that, with A•STAR, we’re able to help him share that with the world.

“No matter what your interests or your preferred means of expression, A•STAR is a place for high school students to speak for themselves. We’re in the business of sharing stories from all over; working with Wess is just the start.”

Wess plans on moving from Newcastle to Sydney after completing Year 12 and attending uni to fulfil his dream.

“I really enjoy the idea of how all stories can be taken in and you can learn something from it. Even the smallest story,” he said.

“You can see it throughout history. Indigenous people would tell stories about Dreamtime and the creation of the world.”

Nonetheless, he feels Indigenous experiences are being underrepresented in writing and on film.

“I reckon there is definitely a lack of Indigenous storytelling in society.

“It may be an interesting door to go through but it’s not something I want to focus solely on,” he added.

Instead, Wess is going to try and hone his craft on his family.

“I’ve been planning on going up to see my great grandmother and getting her to record her story.

“She was born in the Torre Strait Islands, has 11 children and is a healthy 97 years old.”

Learn more about A•STAR, including upcoming competitions and other offers, by visiting astar.tv. Anyone interested in submitting work to A•STAR, whether text, music, images or video, should email Ryan directly at hi@astar.tv.