Something I don't get
-
Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Arrival
wilcabral — 9 years ago(January 04, 2017 07:24 PM)
At the very beginning, when the general first approaches Louise but rejects her request to go to Montana, she asks him to ask the next professor he's going to approach the Sanskrit word for war and its translation. Apparently that was a trick for the general to realize the other guy was not fit for such a task, but I don't understand what the translation of a Sanskrit word had to do with translating alien language. Anybody?
-
maxLevelkook — 9 years ago(January 04, 2017 07:38 PM)
She was just trying to show the General that she was better than the other guy, That's just how she went about it. Doesn't have anything to do with anything else, like the canary.
My question is why didn't she want to go in the first place? -
Linness_Yusof — 9 years ago(January 07, 2017 04:23 AM)
Yes, my understanding is that, she wanted to show the Colonel that when it comes to understanding and interpreting foreign languages, and this is one from outer space no less, she has the better skills. The Berkeley guy got "war" from "argument" - that's shallow of him, but once the Old Indo-Aryan / Greater Indian culture is understood, then you get "desire for more cows" being the equivalent of "war". Someone who's able to have such level of understanding is better at this sort of thing; see how everyone else freaked out at "weapon" when she understood it could also mean other things depending on the alens' point-of-view.
Also, she WANTED to go to the site. The Colonel didn't want her to - he wants her to translate the recordings, remember? He mentioned that many experts with TS clearance wanted the gig as well just to be on site. -
maxLevelkook — 9 years ago(January 07, 2017 12:27 PM)
I misremembered, She makes demands and lets him go. I thought that was way too nonchalant for an opportunity of a lifetime. She is a mildly outspoken worker bee. At the time I figured she was defeated due to grief, but in hindsight I don't get her motivation. Maybe the director just wanted to establish she is the best translator and jammed that in, That scene made me laugh when Forest asks her to translate a noise.
-
dfry-154-846248 — 9 years ago(January 07, 2017 10:10 AM)
She DID want to go in the first place but the General wouldn't let her. He insisted she translate from videos and audio files at home. After he realized the Berkeley guy wasn't a viable option, he agreed to her demand to meet the aliens face-to-face to translate.
-
maxLevelkook — 9 years ago(January 07, 2017 12:33 PM)
I misremembered. I remember thinking it was odd at the time that she made an ultimatum, it would have been a chance of a lifetime for her. She also could have lied about the translation to rule the other guy out, she did something similar with her kangaroo story.
-
Puzzlerff — 9 years ago(January 15, 2017 04:05 PM)
Talking about the limits of language
Her wanting to go and her needing to go to get the job done are two separate things.
Yes, she wanted to go, but much like you want a hammer to hit nails. It has nothing to do with just wanting to have a hammer for the sake of a hammer(going just to see the aliens)
In other words, her want to go was not her motive. Her motive was to translate and she needed to be there to do it as proven by the movie, IE written language. -
nashspacerocket — 9 years ago(January 09, 2017 11:16 AM)
sanskrit is the rosetta stone of all modern language. if you don't understand it, you won't be much good at working out an alien language, and if you don't understand if the aliens are declaring war in their own language, you've put the planet in jeopardy.
so the choice was specific and for a good reason.
Pointless witty comment here -
Three Gun Fish — 9 years ago(January 07, 2017 10:56 AM)
Louise's trick has less to do with the task, and more to do with the selection of translators.
Colonel Weber sees that Louise takes a more reasoned approach because she understands war as an acquisition of power or resources, "the desire for more cows."
Whereas the other guy links war with an argument. Arguments often have no reason or logic, just emotion. A war based on emotions is much more difficult to negotiate than a war based on measurable and concrete goals.
REMEMBER: Sofia Vergara =/= Vera Farmiga -
maxLevelkook — 9 years ago(January 07, 2017 12:48 PM)
I think it has less to do with their respective understanding of war and more about their comparable prowess as translators. I may be wrong, but we never hear about the other guys world view, just that he got a question deemed wrong by Louise.
Also the aliens could have been emotional or the aliens goal could have been to get rid of humans, having a cautious translator could have backfired. Only having one translator is silly, since nobody can know what is correct, they can only give possible interpretations and a guess of their accuracy. -
jazz-14 — 9 years ago(January 07, 2017 06:16 PM)
They had plenty of translators. That whole team of people working at PCs back in the tent, plus all the others in the other sites around the world. Louise was the Lead Translator. The Principal Investigator for the US team.
-
NeedysBoy — 9 years ago(January 13, 2017 04:46 PM)
The Sanskrit word was translated as a mutual conflict by the other professor; Louise said that it meant many cows.
Sanskrit is known for its dualistic meanings.
The Heptapod word for "weapon" and "gift" are the same. Louise figured that out.
"She's just hovering It's not that impressive." Needy