Thursday, January 3, 2013

Movie - Life of Pi

I watched the movie Life of Pi yesterday. I did not really get the conclusion of the show though.  The writer who had come to visit Pi was presented with two versions of the account of the shipwreck, neither of which explained the shipwreck, and asked which account he preferred. The writer replied that he preferred the one with the animals in the boat over the one with humans in the boat, to which Pi replied, "And so it is with God". Is it trying to imply that since we do not have an explanation for our existential predicament, so it doesn't matter whether we have a rational reason for believing in God as the explanation? Is it also trying to imply that the God explanation is preferable simply because it is the more beautiful one?

I thought that a better storyline explaining Pi's path to spirituality or belief in God could be the sheer tribulation he faced stranded in the shipwreck, during which he witnessed the magnificence of creation, and the encounter with God from the divine providence of fishes and the signs directing him towards civilization. But certainly for cinema, some form of new-age sophistry would make for entertainment value.

I thought that the the tiger who was stranded in the boat with Pi could be an allegory of man. The blood-thirsty nature of the tiger parallels with the sinful nature of man. Yet as Pi loves the tiger by providing food for the tiger and taming it, so is it with God towards man.

With regards to the characters, I wonder what is the reason for the author presenting the protagonist of the film as being embracive of all religion simply out of his love for God. I have met people who holds such unificative views on religion, including Christians, who think that all people who seek God would go to heaven whatever their faith. I do see the reasons for preferring such a view, but I don't think it conciles easily with the exclusive nature of the doctrines of the respective religious faiths.

Personally, I am more like Pi's father, who quipped at the dinner table that one cannot choose all religions, but should start with reason, and then determine for himself which is true, or if all are not. It does explains my interest with Christian apologetics and comparative religion.

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