#and i really don't like this growing trend of creators like... resenting their audience for wanting to know more about their work?

[tealursa]

All this 100% yes, BUT that being said, a couple things for storytellers:

1) "Why?" isn't a bad question to hear from your audience, and it's not often asked in genuine bad faith. An audience asking why and wanting to know more is a good thing, it shows they're invested. And often, the answer they actually WANT isn't a literal one.

Q: "Why is the alien language atemporal?"

The literal answer could maybe be something you as the creator know, but it probably isn't, because it's probably just a plot device. A lot of creators stop here with "I don't know, because it is" or "because it needs to be for the plot."

The answer your audience actually wants is to know what themes and ideas went into the plot device. "I wanted to showcase a species, a culture that goes so far beyond humanity it's almost inconceivable. Time is human-made, but also not, and is so enmeshed in our world that this other mysterious and endless world had to exist outside of it in order to get the point across. The aliens are the universe, their language is unchanging, because change is another so-called inevitability we take for granted."

Q: "Why is it rude to eat before the ambassador eats?"

A: "Almost every culture in the world has historically – if not presently – had etiquette rules surrounding dining. In this scene, I found an opportunity to showcase the value this society places on their ambassadors and incorporate that into the world."

2) I do believe storytellers have an obligation to analyze WHY they make the choices they do. No, you don't need to reinvent DNA to give your alien green skin, you don't need to explain anything at all in your content or to your audience, but think about it yourself.

I think this is especially important in sci-fi and fantasy, which usually includes creating entire cultures with different – often conflicting – norms and expectations. The amount of times I've seen, in worldbuilding, people come up with their "Original Idea" of the "Good Country with grasslands and a monarchy" with a "desert-like Evil Country of nomadic people ruled by a dictator – oh and this country is to the East" ... I have a lot of eurocentric, islamophobic nickels.

And of course we all know about the problems that arise with creators projecting their internal bigotry onto their worldbuilding without analyzing their intentions, most notably with fantasy orcs and goblins. My favorite article on this is 'Orcs, Britons, And The Martial Race Myth' by James Mendez Hodes. An example I always look to for this are companies like Wizards of the Coast (D&D) and Paizo (Pathfinder), who will add all sorts of progressive content like polyamorous deities, diverse art and characters and cultures, to their universes, which only serves to highlight the shortcomings that are still there.

Q: "Why are orcs and goblins either inherently evil, or 'one of the good ones' who must resist their evil impulses?"

I really want to believe most people who throw a bunch of goblins in a cave for their heroes to fight aren't actually racist, but they just don't think about it. And when people of the minority group made into villains in these stories speak up, they're always met by resistance from people who use the arguments above.

"Quit asking questions."

"It's not that deep."

"That's just how the society works."

So no, you don't need to reinvent DNA to explain why the alien's skin is green, but you need to know why YOU'VE chosen to make the alien's skin green, and what your AUDIENCE might glean from that information. Because you might catch yourself sending the wrong message.

I think an important instinct you have to build up when you read/watch sci-fi is discerning which things are givens. If Arrival tells you that the alien language is atemporal, it is, that's not a puzzle for you to pick apart, it's a prerequisite to getting the rest of the story. When I talk sci-fi with people who don't consume a lot of it this seems to be a thing they get hung up on.