Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by free.ranger (A) on February 17, 2017 at 13:48:08

In Reply to: RE: for those who want to know .... synopsis - Arrival posted by user510 on February 17, 2017 at 11:50:34

I wanted to add this to my OP, but my ADHD meds ran out. The science themes are focused in 2 fields: space/time/gravity, and comm/language/linguistics.

The relativity stuff we vaguely all get by now, but when incorporated into a movie's theme, it drives us nuts as viewers. Viewing is a linear occupation, so when they bounce around like that, we all lose our minds. Before and now becomes now and later, then we go off into before and later, bypassing now. Driving like that leads to accidents.

I had trouble with the translating efforts. The aliens were using what looked like a logoform type of symbology, like Chinese do. A "letter" is a pictorial representation of a thought, not an arbitrary abstract symbol used within larger symbols representing sounds representing thought. Several layers of abstraction leading to communication of a thought. The effort didn't start with pictorials or illustrations; they went straight for the abstractions, bypassing best chances for establishing common ground, like they were UN translators instead of linguistic scientists. I thought they really screwed this part up, which was the major effort of the movie.

The resulting point did get across -- just how would we go about breaking such a barrier without having someone previously set up for telepathy?