Leadership and Film Paper 1

Gonzaga University

Leadership and Film Paper

How Arrival Transcends Cultural Seclusion and Promotes
Personal Responsibility

Taylor Woods
Leadership and Film
Comprehensive Leadership Program
Dr. Josh Armstrong and Dr. Shann Ferch
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Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Arrival is a film that unravels the complexity of language

whilst examining the way in which one being communicates with another. It allows its audience

to reflect on the meaning of words and their linguistic philosophy, which further demonstrates

the power of language in relation to the prosperity of human nature. At a time in which

communication predominates society, Arrival transcends across cultural barriers to teach the

importance of engagement with humanity as a whole. This act of immersion and personal

responsibility is relayed through the protagonist’s adaptive leadership that predominates

throughout the movie.

In the film, Dr. Louise Banks is called in as the leading linguist to help the United States

government communicate with the extraterrestrial visitors that have just arrived in twelve

locations across the world. Louise, played by Amy Adams, works alongside scientist Ian

Donnelly, played by Jeremy Renner, to attempt to translate the foreign language of the

“heptapods” within its pebble-shaped spaceship. In response to the numerous questions Louise

and Ian pose—what are you; what do you want; why are you here—the creatures release ink-like

rings for which they must decipher, translate, and respond.

Through her initial adaptive leadership style, Dr. Banks relates the difficulty of

communicating with one another without the knowledge of each other’s language: the

misinterpretation of a question versus a statement could lead to a drastically inaccurate

translation. Although Louise faces significant opposition, she triumphs as a courageous leader

who does not waver in her ways while simultaneously rallying her team to fight alongside her.

Her demonstration of audacity and persistence demonstrates adaptive leadership: by mobilizing

her linguistic team to tackle the challenge of interpreting an unknown language, Louise helps her

team respond to the changing environment that is occurring around the world, even when faced
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with conflicting team values (Leadership 275). The knowledge of her credibility is built through

the various “flashback” scenes the audience is shown that reflect Louise’s train of thought, which

result in essential breakthroughs for translating the foreign language (Movies 154). The director

of the film uses first-person narrative to reveal Louise’s memories that help her to acknowledge

how to communicate with the foreign creatures. The faintly blurred scenes of Louise in a

separate setting, often with the close-up image of her rubbing her temples as a precursor,

distinctly reveal the director’s and cinematographer’s strategy to have the audience recognize her

moments of recollection. It is the experiences she recalls that lead her to draw the connection

between heptapods and humanity, which she soon recognizes are inherently coupled together.

Furthermore, Louise’s role operates to interweave the hidden themes of the film with

social justice issues prevalent in our society. Most predominantly, the movie promotes the

importance of engagement and connection with the entire human race. As one of the main

motifs, the film teaches the audience how communication is at the basis of all of humanity, a

reoccurring idea that dominates the plotline. The motif—in the form of verbal and nonverbal

communication—transforms, like Louise herself, to embody unity and potential (Movies 15). In

a world filed with methods of communication, humans still lack the ability to truly transcend

across language barriers, which prevents us from reaching our ultimate potential of fully

communicating with one another. As the language of the heptapods is offered as a way to unify

humanity, the movie directly addresses the issue of a lack of true communication within the

world by utilizing Louise’s leadership to approach an overbearingly large issue.

Additionally, this film speaks to the lack of personal responsibility that individuals

possess in regard to the choices that life presents us, such as that of the true connectivity of

humans. For example, although we are surrounded by technology and resources that can bring
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the world together, we still choose to remain segregated by culturally distinct—and sometimes

hostile—countries, rather than coming together as one unified world as the film suggests. The

movie uses Louise’s character, as an adaptive leader, to be the mediator between what is known

and what is not; she encourages people to deal with change effectively (Leadership 257).

Although faced with the challenge of decoding the alien’s language, Louise assures her team that

they are a peaceful group. This was extremely difficult because she had to ask her team to defy

their own perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes toward extraterrestrials: Louise had to identify this

adaptive challenge, motivate her team to listen to her revelation, and operate as the connecting

piece between earth and the heptapods (Leadership 262-274). Both the lack of communication

and personal responsibility are core components of this movie’s underlying message. In relation

to one another, these two themes guide the plotline of the film and work together to present the

ideas of the director.

To reflect on my own connection to these issues, this past Spring Break, I was fortunate

enough to have the opportunity to travel to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco in the country of Mexico. As

a very new, and admittedly naïve, international traveler, I was thrown into the experience with

very little knowledge of what was to come. For reasons unknown to me now, I took four years of

Latin as a high school student, when I could have learned a much more practical language such

as Spanish. That being said, upon entering Puerto Vallarta, I did not know any Spanish beyond

the most common greetings. Because of this, I could not help but become embarrassed when I

would walk through the town or speak with waiters at a restaurant because I simply had no idea

how to tell them what it was that I wanted to say or do.

I quickly realized how difficult it is to communicate with others that do not speak the

same language as you do. This feeling of isolation was hauntingly lonely, and I could not help
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but feel hopelessly pathetic. Fortunately, my travel companions were natives of the area that

were more than happy to assist me in translating across barriers whenever necessary. However,

despite this, the most troubling element of my experience was that, as an English-speaking

American, I continually expected for them to know my language, even though I was visiting a

Spanish-speaking country.

When I went to the cinemas, for example, I went to the concession stand to order myself

some popcorn. However, in that moment I could not remember the Spanish word for popcorn, or

even how to properly place an order. Frazzled, I communicated my order in English; looking

back, much to my chagrin, I remember being frustrated when the cashier did not understand what

I was trying to relay to him. He did not know any English, and in my ignorant mind, I simply did

not comprehend how he did not know such a widely spoken language.

I left Puerto Vallarta reflecting upon my experience in which there was such a definitive

language barrier. I had never been in a situation in which I was simply unable to communicate

with those around me. For the first time in my life, I was overwhelmed by how little I could

connect with an entire culture, which led to feelings of seclusion and loneliness. However,

during my reflection, I thought about how little responsibility I assumed throughout my trip. I

did not consider the fact that it was my lack of knowledge that led to the confusion at the

popcorn stand; it was due to my own ignorance that I immediately assumed my cashier was in

the wrong, not me. Because I was under the belief that English is such a predominantly-spoken

language, I had taken no personal responsibility for what had transpired. Living in the United

States, I have been trapped in a bubble my whole life, unaware of my privilege and ignorant of

the other countries around the world. Growing up in America, we assume that our nation is the

most important, and thus so is our language. Because of this, I had been persuaded that most of
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the world spoke the English language, because that is the language of the Americans—the

“greatest” nation in the world. My perspective had been developed and tainted from a life within

a secluded culture.

It was only by coincidence that my companions and I chose to watch Arrival on our

returning flight to the United States. The film spoke to me and my recent experience in Puerto

Vallarta struggling with a linguistic barrier. Through its cinematic language, Arrival

demonstrates the importance of communication in fostering a cohesive community within

humanity. With communication, acknowledgement, and a greater understanding of the world as

it seeks to operate, the film shows the value of connection through language, and how the

philosophy of language influences all aspects of humankind. The language of the heptapods is

the unifying force that works to break down the walls between full communication. Additionally,

the leadership of Dr. Louise Banks is what drives the positive change in humanity to occur at the

end of the film.

Like the challenges adaptive leaders must face, society often does not wish to change

what it is already comfortable with; what is safe. Although Louise operates as the guide of how

to enact this positive change for the world, it is not her alone that can save humanity: it is about

“mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive” while doing so (Leadership 292). Her

adaptive leadership is what enforces the adaptation of her followers, even in such a highly

complex situation.

It is not by coincidence that the twelve alien spaceships arrive in communion with one

another, spread evenly throughout the earth’s mass. In fact, as the audience eventually learns, the

heptapods are a peaceful group that have come to help humanity live in unity with one another

through the power of language. By educating the human race about the language of the
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heptapods, it allows them to “discover how to participate in the transformation of their world”

(Pedagogy 34). Arrival teaches the importance of personal responsibility in every aspect of one’s

life. It is not Louise alone that can save humanity; rather, it is the people of the world that must

hold themselves responsible, which will ultimately bring the human race together. When all

nations work together to unpack the meaning of the spaceships, they are able to share

information and gain a better understanding of the arrival. But humanity comes to a halt when

communication stops, and the fearful nations retreat to violence when they can no longer connect

with one another. Here, the audience can begin to understand the power of communication due to

the cinematic portrayal of each scene. The cinematographer uses loud, disruptive music and

shaky camerawork during scenes in which all communication has been cut off; conversely, there

is a more calming presence created on the screen when the characters are in full communication

with one another. This usage of cinematic techniques demonstrates to the audience the

importance of communication to the progress of the film (Movies 36).

Connecting this to my own personal experience, I can attest to the difficulty of not being

able to communicate, and how heightened all of your emotions become. Additionally, it is within

our own human nature that we immediately seek to place the blame elsewhere. It is always easy

to assume there is someone else that will admit their own mistakes or hold themselves

accountable. However, what is most honorable and worthwhile is to be the one that transforms

the world by taking personal responsibility for every single one of our actions.

I cannot assume it is the cashier’s fault that he does not know my language, because I am

just as guilty that I do know his. I must hold myself responsible for my own lack of

communication and to admit my own faults. In doing so, I can work to be a part of the

transformation that Arrival addresses: an advocate for positive change in the world.
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Arrival works to tap into the hidden self—the shadow side—in order to truly demonstrate

the importance of accountability and communication. Through the usage of flashbacks, editing,

sound effects, and visual imagery, we are able to see the adaptive leadership of Dr. Louise Banks

that helps to influence the progression of the film. Without her ability to encourage her team to

work alongside her and promote the unification of the world through language, there would not

have been a fight for full communication across the globe. With Louise’s drive to reach for the

improbable even with differing values amongst her teammates, a distinctive feature of an

adaptive leader, progress is achieved. Pure engagement serves as a distinct motif that helps to

better understand the value of communication as proposed by Arrival.

Ultimately, the film works to express the pressing issue of a lack of global

communication as well as personal responsibility. The audience is able to gather these key

themes through the direction of Dr. Banks, who’s adaptive leadership is an essential element of

the film. Arrival works to transcend cultural seclusion in order to unify humanity across

continental barriers, as well as develop a sense of personal responsibility amongst the human

race.

Works Cited
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Barsam, Richard, and Dave Monahan. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. 5th ed. New

York: W.W. Norton, 2016. Print.

Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum International Group,

2000. Print.

Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th Ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE,

2016. Print.