Life of Pi and 6 life lessons to apply from now
Released in 2012, La vida de Pi is one of those works that, despite being able to pass quietly like a commercial movie, is actually a deeply inspiring story.
Maybe the fact of relying on the novel of the same name has made things somewhat easier, but what can not be denied is that from it you can extract lessons that we can apply in day to day , incorporating them into our philosophy of life and our habits.
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The lessons that La vida de Pi leaves us
Recall: Pi's life is, apparently, a story about a young Hindu who remains floating adrift in a boat that shares with a threatening tiger . A relatively simple premise that is rich in metaphors.
Ang Lee's film has several layers of depth, and in them it is possible (although not simple) to find a message about things that are really worthwhile in life and how to avoid totally unnecessary forms of suffering.
1. Learning changes us profoundly
A young man is capable of educating a ferocious beast so that, even if he does not obey him, at least he respects him. This, as shown in the film is credible, reminds us that we have the power to change and help others change . There are no essences or minds condemned to remain the same throughout life. Through dynamics of interaction we transform mentalities and old vices.
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2. It is convenient to escape from dogma
Religion has a fundamental role in the history of La vida de Pi, although that does not mean that the protagonist is an integrist or that everything he does does it for the favor of a god.
On the contrary: the message that the film transmits is that the combination of different belief systems is perfectly possible , and surprisingly natural, unless we let ourselves fall into fanaticism.
Thus, religion, or specifically the presence of Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, appears to exemplify that the coexistence and diversity of beliefs in the same body, whether biological or social, is possible. And if we are able to do that with religions ... what would we not be able to do with beliefs that are not conferred a religious character? Dogmas are not only harmful: besides, if we want, it is easy to avoid them.
3. Fear can not paralyze us
In the film, what most defines the situation of the protagonist is helplessness, vulnerability. At first he is totally alone in a hostile environment in which the danger is clear: tiger attacks, or drowning in the ocean.
In a situation like this it is not possible to rely solely on the survival instinct , since in the moments where the danger is so palpable the desperate answers either paralyze us or make us move without strategy and with imprecision. That is why it is convenient to know how to put aside the reactions of terror.
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4. Accept the possibility of being of the problems
Within each problem there are ways to adapt to it. If we are intelligent beings, it is precisely because we have the possibility, from a totally new challenge, to discover solutions in it, as if someone had left them prepared and hidden somewhere when it really is not. Intelligence is about adapting to the new .
Piscine Monitor Pattel, in spite of not having the experience of a sailor, takes advantage of materials from the same environment that is threatening to solve the problems that arise in its path.
5. The wild is not innocent
We often idealize everything that has connotations of belonging to the wild and "natural" world (as if neither our societies nor ourselves, as human beings, were natural).
However, life on planet earth makes its way both through fertility and through violence , as can be seen in La vida de Pi. Even in situations where everything that happens seems to be due to a failure of reality, there are animals that embrace violent behavior.
6. There are several readings of reality
We are never able to know the truth in a faithful way, and all the explanations that we can elaborate about reality have flaws and blind spots, unknowns that remain unanswered. This happens in The Life of Pi, which incorporates the mystery into its own history with an end in which we must get involved to build a version of the facts by creating our own hypotheses.
At the end of the day, if we are vulnerable enough not to have an infallible belief system, to be forced to face our fears and take advantage of the opportunities that are in danger, and to learn to adapt to a natural world that can be hostile It would be weird if we had access to the true.
A movie to watch again and again
In short, Life of Pi is an excellent story full of beautiful and inspiring symbolisms that go far beyond the aesthetic. It is good to see her with an open mind to grasp with all its nuances and to know well the way in which, Through cinematic language, messages are communicated to us .
