Language theme in Arrival and comparison to Sicario

[DennisN]

Thought I'd share this in the SF forum... What interests me regarding this movie is that language seems to be an important theme in the story and that the director also directed Sicario, which I liked.

Trailer 1:


Trailer 2:

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Let me know when it ... ahem ... arrives.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Also intrigued and somewhat hyped! Can't wait to have my expectations shattered!

 

[phinds]

Let me know when it ... ahem ... arrives.

Google (you do know how to use Google don't you ) says

Arrival will arrive in theaters on November 11th.

 

[DennisN]

Can't wait to have my expectations shattered!

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Google (you do know how to use Google don't you ) says

I only use lmgtfy.com, it's user friendly.

Arrival will arrive in theaters on November 11th.

At the eleventh hour?

 

[cpscdave]

Let me know when it ... ahem ... arrives.

I don't know what's worse.
That pun... or the fact I chuckled at that pun! lol

Movie looks great! I will be seeing it in the theatre for sure!

 

[phinds]

Google (you do know how to use Google don't you ) says

Arrival will arrive in theaters on November 11th.

Some people just have no sense of humor.

Oh ... wait ... that's me. Damn.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Some people just have no sense of humor.

Oh ... wait ... that's me. Damn.

Straight replies are must a lure to make more puns ... arrive.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Ooh, yes. Venice festival reviews are painting just the right picture of the film. More hype.

 

[DennisN]

Ooh, yes. Venice festival reviews are painting just the right picture of the film. More hype.

That is cool, I am looking forward to seeing it!

 

[Bandersnatch]

You know that feeling when you go to watch a film and you're so loaded with hype that you know there's just no way it's not going to disappoint, but then it doesn't? No? Yeah, neither did I.
Seriously, go watch it. It's great.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Monday afternoon for me. Scouting for Boss Lady. Doesn't look to be getting the screen time here, only screen showing it in any theater.

 

[Brian Shea]

I think there's some debate among linguists about how the movie addresses communication. It relies on an established theory (the "Sapir-Whorf" theory) that argues that the language we speak shapes how we view the environment we're in. This idea had a lot of advocates for a very long time. More recently, others have argued the opposite: that language reflects culture and environment. I think most linguists agree with the latter these days, though I could be wrong. I haven't seen Arrival, and I'm not too much of a stickler, but I'm curious to see how they address it.

 

[Bandersnatch]

The ways in which the language in Arrival shapes thought is the main 'fiction' element of this SF.
Having said that, the Saphir-Whorf hypothesis is most certainly not entertained in its original form by linguists, as it was far-fetched in how rigidly it saw the connection, and for which it never garnered any evidence - that's why it's still a hypothesis rather than an 'established theory'. To the film's credit, the only person mentioning it is a physicist in a dream.
For a modern look on the issue look up Lera Boroditsky's research and public talks.

 

[Brian Shea]

The ways in which the language in Arrival shapes thought is the main 'fiction' element of this SF.
Having said that, the Saphir-Whorf hypothesis is most certainly not entertained in its original form by linguists, as it was far-fetched in how rigidly it saw the connection, and for which it never garnered any evidence - that's why it's still a hypothesis rather than an 'established theory'. To the film's credit, the only person mentioning it is a physicist in a dream.
For a modern look on the issue look up Lera Boroditsky's research and public talks.

Great information! I'm halfway through a book about it and it's interesting stuff.

 

[gleem]

Saw it the other day. I would rank it behind Contact and District 9 which I found more engaging.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Saw it the other day. I would rank it behind Contact and District 9 which I found more engaging.

I liked "Contact" despite some real flaws in the plot. "District 9" was a "teach the discriminator about discrimination" movie, so :yawn:

I saw this one again yesterday, I enjoyed it more on the second viewing, I could keep the plot straight. No "what the heck" musings that made me miss things the first time viewing it.

 

[DennisN]

I've forgotten to post here... I've seen Arrival and I liked it a lot. Nice atmosphere. I have only seen it once, and I want to see it again.

I liked "Contact" despite some real flaws in the plot.

I also liked Contact, it's one of my favorite SF movies. The intro scene in that movie is amazing, IMO. By the way, which plot flaws in that movie are you thinking about?

And here is the Contact trailer if there is anyone reading this thread who has not seen the movie:

 

[mheslep]

which plot flaw...

Assuming the FTL, transporting anyone to a place with unkown alien life and then bringing them back to Earth risking back contamination is absurd, at least with no plot device to explain it away. The alien mind-reading only approach to contact in the film makes sense, but the humans planning the mission had no way of knowing that.

 

[mheslep]

Scientist mother traumatized by death of child, absent father, but becomes hero with space stuff theme. Maybe Hollywood could give the theme a week or two of downtime before the next repeat.

 

[DennisN]

Assuming the FTL, transporting anyone to a place with unkown alien life and then bringing them back to Earth risking back contamination is absurd, at least with no plot device to explain it away. The alien mind-reading only approach to contact in the film makes sense, but the humans planning the mission had no way of knowing that.

Good point, thanks!

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

Scientist mother traumatized by death of child, absent father, but becomes hero with space stuff theme. Maybe Hollywood could give the theme a week or two of downtime before the next repeat.

I don't think she was all that traumatized, given that she knew her child would die in early adulthood before she conceived. And she was a hero before she was a mother.

 

[mheslep]

I don't think she was all that traumatized, given that she knew her child would die in early adulthood before she conceived. And she was a hero before she was a mother.

The surprise plot twist is irrelevant to the character development as presented to the audience, which in part is ~90 minutes of a mother suffering bits of flashback about a dying child. It's her loss that is used to emotionally connect the audience to the character, just as it was with Gravity.

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

The surprise plot twist is irrelevant to the character development as presented to the audience, which in part is ~90 minutes of a mother suffering bits of flashback about a dying child. It's her loss that is used to emotionally connect the audience to the character, just as it was with Gravity.

The child was going to die earlier than usual, but wasn't dying until she was a young adult.Most of the time we see her as the sort of kid I've avoided being around for five decades.

 

[Bandersnatch]

Scientist mother traumatized by death of child, absent father, but becomes hero with space stuff theme. Maybe Hollywood could give the theme a week or two of downtime before the next repeat.

God damnit, Hollywood. Don't you have any new ideas.

Spoiler

Spoiler

Spoiler

And don't even get me started on the hero's journey archetype in literature.

 

[Drakkith]

Just saw Arrival. Really, really enjoyed it.

God damnit, Hollywood. Don't you have any new ideas.

Yeah. I mean, every movie has a plot. When is Hollywood going to start getting off of the bandwagon and making movies without plots??

Spoiler

There's nothing here. I just knew someone would make the joke "They already are".

 

[Noisy Rhysling]

I liked the fact that the "ships" were just portal, created on the spot. They never really arrived here, we arrived there.

 

[mheslep]

God damnit, Hollywood. Don't you have any new ideas...

It's not just the plot ripoffs that annoy, but the repeat of the same SJW sermons: Our single moms who art heavenly, hallowed be thy name. Forgive us our trespass against the environment, as we forgive the deadbeat dads who trespass against us. Sequels forever, amen.