Could the Film �Arrival� be the Blueprint for Our Collective Spiritual Awakening
Since I saw the film �Arrival� a couple months ago, I can�t get it out of my head.
It is changing the way I think, much in the same way that the protagonist�s worldview
changes as she learns the language of the aliens she is studying.
The film outlines both the possibility for and the necessity of international and intergalactic
cooperation, as well as introducing a new orientation to time that is nonlinear. The
effect for me was an illuminating remembrance of our universal interconnectivity. As the
aliens proclaim in the film: �There is no time. Many become one.�
I�ve been so moved by the idea of spiritual unification that the movie taught me, I�ve
been trying to spread the good news. After speaking to many, I learned that most people
who saw it didn�t fully understand the storyline. So before I start explaining why I think it�s
so brilliant, please excuse a brief plot summary (spoiler alert)�
�Arrival� follows expert linguist Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) as she works to understand
the language and intentions of a species of aliens who have inexplicably descended earth.
The aliens, dubbed Heptapods as their nearly featureless grey bodies are supported by seven
spindly legs, write in circular logographs penned via a single squirt of buoyant ink
from their tentacled palms. Over time Dr. Banks is able to translate that the Heptapods
have come to earth to share a gift with humans. It is unclear in translation whether this
gift is a �weapon� or a �tool�.
Influenced by a particularly reactive Chinese Military General, world governments react
to the message by declaring a global war against the Heptapods, in fear that the aliens are
attempting to wipe out human civilization by gifting us weapons to use against one another.
Dr. Banks is the only one who can stop imminent world destruction when she discovers that
the gift from the Heptapods is their language itself, which when learned allows for a circular,
nonlinear, simultaneous perception of time. The Heptapods explain, �We help humanity.
In three thousand years, we need humanity help. Louise sees future. Weapon opens time.�
Realizing her newfound gift, Dr. Banks is able to receive information from Chinese General
Shang in the future, which allows her to convince him in the present to stop the war. This time
paradox is like a palindrome: it�s causality can be read both forward and backwards. The
same is true of the Heptapod�s mission: they help us because later they need our help.
The film itself plays like a palindrome, where the beginning and end of the story are the
same, both arcing toward a meaty middle.
�Arrival� is one of the first blockbuster films to expand beyond linearity, duality
and the dominant masculine paradigm of �us versus them�. I have been waiting a long
time for this, longing for it with all my heart. I thought �Avatar� might be going
somewhere until the spiritual natives conclude the only way to stop the greedy military is
to wage a war. Go figure.
There�s a popular maxim that the only way opposing forces will unify is to share a common
enemy. This idea only exists within the dualistic masculine frame of competition and aggression.
In �Arrival�, U.S. Colonel Webber (Forrest Whittaker) describes it perfectly: �I need
to explain all of this to a room full of men who�s first and last question is, �How
can this be used against us?��. Most modern governments and forms of entertainment are
oriented around a zero-sum game in which someone wins and someone loses.
�Arrival� teaches us the brilliance of a non-zero-sum game, where everyone benefits
by working together. It is one of the first major films brave enough to promote the feminine
paradigm of inclusion. Everyone gets to matter. There are no good guys or bad guys. No one
wins or loses.
I had a dream once that the halls of government were circular and drenched with natural golden
light, with soft warm-colored walls and furniture. The rooms were round and sepia-toned like
a womb. Because the architecture was feminine, the laws passed inside were human-centered
and compassionate.
�Arrival� gave me the feeling that this is the beginning of a new age where we can
be guided by circularity and inclusion to benefit all. In the film, Dr. Banks is selected
for her mission over a male colleague because his definition of the Sanskrit word for war
is �an argument� and hers is �a desire for more cows�. I believe the feminine wisdom
of empathy is what will allow our species to expand both spiritually and galactically.
The linchpin of �Arrival� is the message General Shang gives to Dr. Banks to pass on
to his past self. It was his wife�s dying words, which were: �In war there are no
winners, only widows.� The Heptapod�s gift of feminine circular wisdom reminds us
of our unity.
After I saw the film, I got really excited remembering that another alien species�the
beasts from the planet Ixchel in Madeleine L�Engle�s young adult novel �A Wrinkle
in Time��bore an uncanny resemblance to Heptapods both physically and emotionally.
The book follows a young female protagonist through interdimensional space travel, where
she meets a benevolent race of dull grey animal-like creatures who stand upright �taller than
any man� with several limbs, and have tentacled hands through which they communicate. Just
as in �Arrival� these beasts are beacons of interplanetary cooperation and unconditional
love.
When I was in the fourth grade, I would read and re-read the sections about these beasts
under the covers, feeling inexplicably close to them. I felt a homesickness, a longing
to be with them. I couldn�t make sense of this feeling until I saw �Arrival�, because
I feel the exact same way about the Heptapods. These strange creatures give me the feeling
of home, not in the earthbound sense, but as a daughter of a benevolent universe.
This made me think of another story with a female protagonist who pioneers peaceful connection
with intergalactic beings�Jodi Foster�s character in the 1997 film �Contact�.
In the movie the aliens say to her, �You�re such an interesting species. An interesting
mix. You�re capable of such beautiful dreams, and such horrible nightmares. You feel so
lost, so cut off, so alone, only you�re not. See, in all our searching, the only thing
that makes the emptiness bearable is each other.�
I know this will sound crazy, and I can assure you I have no fascination with alien lore
or conspiracy theories, but I sincerely wonder if it�s possible whether these stories��Arrival�,
�Contact� and �A Wrinkle in Time��may actually be the first points of contact with
intergalactic species. It seems entirely plausible to me that intelligent life from other regions
of the universe may be able to influence our art telepathically, so as to gradually and
gently insert themselves into our awareness. The alien in �Contact� explains, �This
was just a first step. In time you�ll take another. This is the way it�s been done
for billions of years. Small moves, Ellie. Small moves.�
Whether beamed from a distant star or merely dreamed up on this cosmic orb we call Earth,
the gift the Heptapods in �Arrival� have come to give humanity is a potential paradigm
shift toward nondualism, away from the �us versus them� mentality with which our world,
as majestically mirrored by our current president, is currently infected. I believe that with
the right kind of thinking, we have the capacity for a collective spiritual awakening where
we can wake up as individual parts of one underlying intelligence and begin embracing
one another as sacred parts of the whole. Thank you �Arrival� for your masterful
reminder: �There is
no time. Many become one.�
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