Textual Analysis Of Arrival Movie

Arrival takes the underlying plot of Ted Chiang’s science fiction short story and brings it to life on the big screen with major revisions to capture a wider, younger audience living in a technologically-advanced and politically-driven society. Despite various additions to the core story, the film manages to retain its message throughout: one’s life is determined by the choices made and actions committed in the past. In Louise’s situation, it can be concluded that she can perceive the future, but cannot change the course of said future. For instance, in the film, Abbott dies to the explosion planted in the ship for no apparent reason even though, theoretically, it can see the future. There is no seemingly logical reason why he did not avoid

Specifically, the heptapods invade Earth’s premises and leave the Earth with a new written language and way to perceive time for an individual named Louise Banks. Although there are numerous differences between the two texts, the overall message and tone of the story remain the same. On the contrary, Hollywood has imposed its own movie standards to Chiang’s relatively conflict-lacking story with a shift from the original one hundred twelve looking-glasses to the twelve mysterious shells as well as the addition of politics and implied imminent destruction due to unnecessary militarism. In a world where video calling is taken for granted and has been for years, looking-glasses begin to lose its luster and other-worldliness, so Arrival replaces the looking-glasses with a much more involved approach to increase conflict and create momentum and tension. The difference is realized due to the norms found in each texts’ genre and the development in technology since the publication of the short story in

For example, when Louise and the others enter the shell, they bring a bird to test the atmosphere. Before Louise removes her hazmat suit, she looks at the bird to ensure that the air is unhazardous. On the other hand, the short story presents details in various other methods including, but not limited to diagrams and explanations of Fermat’s theory of least time, additional visions to graduate the development of the story, and the objects that are seen in the looking-glass. In short, the short story tends to give off the impression of a more detailed text because of the difference in genre and medium. Not only do genre and medium differences account for the different outcomes, but cultural context does as well and significantly so. Over the course of recent decades, politics have found an increasing foothold inside and outside of our everyday lives, including films such as