This video contains spoilers!

Denis Villeneuve’s film Arrival demonstrates different approaches to solving the problem of language’s necessary ambiguity. By looking at Plato’s treatment of speech and writing and Jacques Derrida’s seminal deconstruction of it, it starts to become clear that the most responsible thing to do, in light of the fact that we can’t just escape the textuality of experience, is to follow Louise Banks’ example and embrace the problem of language.

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Works Cited:
Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve, written by Eric Heisserer, 2016

Plato, Phaedrus (http://classics.mit.edu/Plato/phaedru...)

Jacques Derrida, “Plato’s Pharmacy,” 1968

Barbara Johnson, “Translator’s Introduction” to Jacques Derrida, Dissemination (1981; 2004: University of Chicago Press)

Jacques Derrida (trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak), Of Grammatology (1976)

“Understand (v.),” Online Etymology Dictionary (http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?t...)

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Assets:
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Interstellar - CLIP: The Wormhole (2014) | HD (   • Video  )
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Blade Runner 30th Anniversary Trailer (   • Blade Runner | 30th Anniversary Trail...  )
Thoth: Eden, Janine and Jim CC BY (https://www.flickr.com/photos/edenpic...)
Jacques Derrida (https://thebrooklyninstitute.com/item...)

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Music:
“Love is love, You is love” by Monsplaisir (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Mon...)
“Trampled” by P C III, CC BY (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/P_C...)
“Fresh for N” by Kosta T, CC BY (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kos...)
“Oneiri” by Kai Engel, CC BY (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Kai...)