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Jenner posted:My main curiosity about this is that knowing the language appears to give you the ability to see the future. Is this permanent? It seems to be. If so, why doesn't Amy Adams just make some different decisions and keep looking forward until she gets the Golden Ending? No sad dead kids, no marrying Hawkeye and then divorcing him later, etc. The book makes it easier to understand. Basically her mind is trapped between fate and free will, the tragedy being that she can't ever again perceive wholly through either lens. The heptapods don't experience linear time, and coming to an understanding of their symbolic language grants the main character perception of cyclical time, where every choice is pre-ordained. In the book they use literary tenses, mathematical theorems and a few scientific principles to give the reader some clarity. The movie sort of skipped that part, and as murkier for it. I'd give it a solid B. The book is fantastic tho.
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Dec 2, 2016 21:08
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| # ¿ May 14, 2024 04:56 |
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Jenner posted:Oh. Thanks for explaining it! I liked the movie. The whole learning the language and communication thing was fascinating. It was very good about explaining that it's not as simple as back and forth translation and instant understanding of context and intent. As an ASL interpreter, I appreciated that. Very realistic and very true.(I have always been miffed at the existence of Universal Translators but endured it for its necessity to tell the story and such. But language really is much too complicated and situational for simple universal translation.) Maybe it's less that choices are pre-ordained, maybe that's a bad way for me to phrase it, more like there is no choice.
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Dec 2, 2016 21:54
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Jenner posted:Hehe. You're trying and thank you but that is actually worse. But it's okay, it really is. Like I said, free will vs destiny or whatever has been a theme explored a whole lot and my preference for free will and discomfort and dislike of fate doesn't mean I can't entertain the concept. (I just find it very depressing!)  Well, the cyclical time (fate) idea isn't as much that she saw the different outcomes and made the choice anyways but rather she has always/will always make the same choice (now just with added understanding).
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Dec 2, 2016 23:21
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In Training posted:I thought it was pretty clear that it's largely about learning to cope with a fatal diagnosis. That's not the point of the movie or the book.
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Dec 3, 2016 00:09
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a bone to pick posted:Anyone going to point out how the book this is based on is a ripoff of Childhood's End by Arthur C Clarke? Wasn't planning on it since such assertions are retarded.
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Dec 3, 2016 00:58
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Sir Kodiak posted:It's the point of both, despite the differences. I'd say you have a pretty narrow understanding natch Sir Kodiak posted:Sorry the truth hurts
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Dec 3, 2016 03:35
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Jenner posted:
Yeah, sorry, wasn't trying to condescend. You've got it in the bolded section. That's how it is in the short story, and the language and concepts that the book uses make it easier to comprehend the significance of her being caught in limbo between the two. The short story is very interesting, and the movie mostly gets it...but not quite. The movie is more caught up in conveying the tone of its environs and revelations rather than a sense of comprehension.
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Dec 3, 2016 07:51
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Well, I think it's supposed to be affecting. Though individual responses may vary.
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Dec 3, 2016 09:12
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Mywhatacleanturtle posted:I loved Arrival, but I have some questions about it. a. Dunno. But in non-linear time the future/past/present are typically conflated. b. They're a collective entity.
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Dec 3, 2016 19:25
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Bruceski posted:The way I explained it to my mom, which may make sense (I don't know you as well as I know her), was to use the description of their language as an example. When you're "writing a sentence starting from both ends" it isn't about writing one word in response to the previous one, that's simply where the word needs to go. The "circle" of their encounter with Earth had to include Abbot's death, just as the circle of Hannah's life had to include her death to be complete. Nice.
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Dec 7, 2016 01:02
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I just thought it was a cool way to put it.
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Dec 7, 2016 03:44
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