Richard Liu

Arrival: A Short Film by Alex Myung (2016)

I chose Alex Myungs Arrival: A Short Film as my piece for sociological analysis. The

film introduces the cherished memories of a Korean child and his mother and their shared

interest in photography. They lived in the countryside until the son decided to move to the big

city where they would continue maintaining their relationship by mailing each other photos. The

beginning of the sons new life in the city consisted of getting lost in the subway system, mailing

photos to his mother, staying in his gloomy room, but eventually reaching a point of loneliness.

The son pursues romance by starting to date women but becomes uncomfortable and

disinterested. He sees eye to eye with another young man at a cafe while on a date and the two

would soon after start a relationship. While they were eating out, the partner discovers the sons

knack for taking photos for his mother. They enjoy their relationship jogging, watching movies,

cooking, doing laundry, playing video games, clubbing, copulating, and embracing each other

while the son continues to take photos of their activities to mail to his mother while his mother

responds his photos of his childhood, which the son hangs above the bed. However, all of the

photos the son took never showed his partner. He finally takes one with his partner but becomes

hesitant in mailing it, eventually hiding it between books. He goes through depression and

anxiety of revealing his sexual orientation and interests and stops sending photos. He also

distances himself from his partner, getting into arguments, and even cheating once. His partner

tries consoling him to no avail as the son angrily slaps him away. The son often spends his time

on the rooftop or jogging alone. The son then has a dream missing his mother and their cherished

photos. The partner discovers the photo of him and the son and pleads to the son to visit his
mother, which the son finally relents. The son arrives back home, embracing his mother and

anxiously letting her see the photo. The mother responds with a photo captioned You will

always be my son. She then takes her sons photo, leads him blindfolded to a room, and sticks

the photo on a wall before leaving the room. The son opens his eyes to see an arrangement of

stringed lights and all the photos hes mailed to his mother in the shape of a spiral galaxy.

Comtes sociological concept between stagnation and positive change can be applied

through various aspects of the film. The first incident involves the unchanging, enduring

childhood of the son and his mother followed by the sons desire to move to the city. Comte

would explain that familial relationship and childhood are an important enduring period, but

without a change in lifestyle, the son would never be able to discover other avenues including

various cuisines and activities including video games and clubbing. The change also gave the son

an opportunity to meet new people, particularly the partner who the son was most attracted to.

Another example of enduring stagnation and change is when the son pursued his relationship

with his partner while maintaining his relationship with his mother through photos that did not

include his partner. The son held an internally reinforced social role of supposedly being

heterosexual, which was the expected norm of Korean culture. He also held roles of a son and a

romantic partner. All three of these roles would result in stress and conflict as dictated by the

sons depression and anxiety and how he behaved towards his mother and partner. He finally

made a positive change by exiting his role of being a closeted gay. According to Comte,

understanding the benefits of enduring stagnation and positive change allows the individual, the

son, to make decisions that would balance the best of both worlds and improve his life in

general.
 Durkheims concept of anomie can also be applied to interpret the film. The social

integration of familial relationships between the mother and the son allowed the son to be happy.

Furthermore, their shared interest in photography established by parental influence allowed the

two of them to enjoy their time together. With the absence of an in-person social integration, the

son becomes depressed as he stays in his room. He would resolve his depression by pursuing

romance with his partner influenced by sexual attraction as well as mutual engagement in

activities and interests. His social depression returned when he was faced with his role conflict.

The lack of social integration in his relationship with his mother due to refusing to send photos

influenced the son to become distant and aggressive towards other people. He resorted to coping

mechanisms such as physical exercise. However, once he returned home to come out to his

mother, the sensation and happiness returned as he embraced his mother as well as witnessing

the photo galaxy arrangement. Durkheim would state that even those who hold romantic

relationships without positively sustained familial relationships would fall victim to depression

in comparison to those who sustain all positive relationships.

Finally, Marxs concept of social hierarchy, creation using raw materials, and alienation

can also be loosely interpreted in this film. With a social hierarchy between parent and child, the

mother was able to introduce the concept of photography and provide a camera for her son. Her

son would find a purpose and means by practicing photography to sustain his relationship with

his mother. Social integration through business and customers also provide opportunities for

customers to partake in activities that would give them satisfaction, and in the case, maintain

their relationships with others. Video game companies create consoles and games for customers

to play; groceries provide ingredients for people to explore cooking; clubs allow people to drink,
dance, flirt, and enjoy themselves. Without another person or organization to provide a means for

people to participate and use for themselves, they are subjected to alienation. If his partner had

not encouraged him to cook, he would not have done it himself. Overall, the sociological

concepts of Comte, Durkheim, and Marx can be interpreted in the film through different aspects.

Sociology in the film is a composite mixture of different theories.

Functionalism is prevalent in the film as relationships and social roles are the theme of

the film. Parental guidance and introduction of interests such as photography helps sustain

positive relationships between parent and child. Mutual activities including jogging, cooking,

doing laundry, clubbing, copulating, and embracing are all parts that keep a romance relationship

satisfactory. Though implied, the heteronormative culture of the film is functionally composed of

expected social roles of heterosexuality within familial relationships, especially in rural areas

that are not as diverse as big cities. Overall, functionalism is important in organizing the different

types of relationships an individual hold from romance to familial relationships. With each

additional relationship comes additional social roles that the individual must balance

accordingly. In order to adjust to making the sons life happy with his relationships, he made a

decision to exit his social role to conform to heteronormativity.