Will You Survive... The Podcast
Immerse yourself in the world of cinema as we embark on a journey to equip you with the skills to tackle any disaster head-on. Through the lens of thrilling tales, particularly those of the zombie apocalypse, we'll unravel the secrets of preparedness. Join us as we explore the silver screen to empower you for the challenges that lie ahead.
Will You Survive... The Podcast
Will You Survive "Life of pi": Tigers, Shipwrecks, and Acid Islands
Could you survive being stranded on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger? This week, we tackle the extraordinary survival tale portrayed in Life of Pi, diving deep into the psychological elements that make this story both captivating and profoundly insightful.
The conversation kicks off with a fascinating discussion about Pi's father's brutal but necessary lesson about respecting wild animals – a moment that undoubtedly saved Pi's life later. We examine the terrifying shipwreck scene, questioning whether anyone could truly survive such catastrophic conditions and the psychological impact of witnessing a massive vessel sink into nothingness.
Our hosts debate one of the central themes from the film: "Survival is about adaptation, not dominance." While TJ argues that Pi did establish dominance over Richard Parker at key moments, Alex and Eric consider whether their mutual adaptation was what truly allowed both man and beast to survive. This leads to rich insights about how flexibility and resourcefulness often trump brute force in survival scenarios.
The discussion takes a particularly compelling turn when exploring isolation and psychological endurance. Pi explicitly states that it was his relationship with Richard Parker – the need to care for the tiger and the companionship this responsibility provided – that kept him alive. This raises the provocative question: in extreme survival situations, could loneliness be as deadly as hunger?
We wrap up by examining the dual narratives presented at the end of Pi's story and what they suggest about truth, perception, and the stories we construct to process trauma. Whether you believe the version with animals or the darker human alternative, this conversation will challenge your thinking about what it truly takes to survive against impossible odds.
Join us for this thought-provoking episode that blends survival tactics with philosophical reflection. And remember – in survival, sometimes your greatest asset isn't what you have, but how you think.
I think he's going to go more religious, or not more religious, more survival on this one.
Speaker 2:Okay, if he does go religious, I win the next episode you host. Okay, handshake deal. Okay, deal, okay, handshake deal.
Speaker 3:Three, two, one, and welcome to another episode of Will you Survive?
Speaker 2:The Podcast.
Speaker 3:Today, we're going to be talking about survival, as we always do, based upon a movie I know most of the time. Before we get into it, though, let me introduce my co-hosts. I have Eric.
Speaker 1:Hello, it is me Eric.
Speaker 3:And I have TJ.
Speaker 1:Oh, hi, mark and our lovely host Mark.
Speaker 3:And I'm Alex, I'm going to be talking to you about life of pie. We have some survival involved in this. We have some psychology, we have some uh, philosophy, uh, we're going to go over a lot of it. So strap yourself in, get your snacks, get ready, and we're going to get right into it. So the first thing I have my snacks. You do have snacks well, I ate mine.
Speaker 1:I'm almost out of snacks, but but we do have adult beverages.
Speaker 3:Do you wait tj yes, you have an adult beverage? Yes, I do, you're looking for it no, it's right did you lose it? If you lost it, you don't really have it.
Speaker 2:I can't drink it on camera. That's true. That's true, yeah, that's true all right.
Speaker 3:So what I want to go over in life of pie, I want to focus more on the survival aspects of it, because I think this gets into the main part of survival, which is psychology what this?
Speaker 2:why? Why are we just talking about? There's a lot of other stuff in this that I feel like no okay yeah, yeah, there is, there's a little, there's a lot of other, like you know, like the, the philosophy of what you know like no, so so what I wanted to get into?
Speaker 1:tj's trying so desperately for towards something right now uh, so that he can over talk me no, no it has nothing to do with that, it's fine, it's fine I'm loving what's happening.
Speaker 3:Keep it going, it's fine okay, all right, so what we're gonna get into first. I won't rule out whatever tj's talking about.
Speaker 3:I might get there eventually I'm sure we'll touch on it at some point but what I wanted to get to first is some of the lessons that pie's dad taught him as a zookeeper. One of the things that he said that stuck with me was when pie was so interested in the tiger, who, ironically, was named richard parker. We did learn that that was based off of the hunter. It was a mix-up, but I love the name that's so.
Speaker 3:That's such a funny way for a tiger to get a name richard parker and I guess right, they said it was so funny, so they kept it yeah, I like it.
Speaker 3:That's a good name and pie, going through all of these, uh, philosophies and religions all in his, in his studies. He does what the dad says, is he interpolates the, or he, um, transposes his emotion onto the animals. Yeah, and I'm guessing it wasn't just the tiger that he did this to, but it was the tiger that was would have been the most catastrophic, right? So if he would have, uh, if he would have gone through with his plan of going into the cage with that tiger which I love what the dad did, it was brutal, it was scarring, but boy, did that teach him a lesson, right he?
Speaker 2:brought that goat in there. You know, know, as, like the viewer you want to side with, like the main character, which is Pi, you're like no, why is his dad being such an asshole? You know he just wanted to feed the tiger. And then you see what happens the tiger rips the goat through the bars. Yep, that would have just happened to him.
Speaker 1:You see how the bars were like this close together yeah like I, I totally understand where pie was coming from, but at the same time it's like this isn't a dog, this is a, an apex predator if not friend like he said like he said my friend shape, I like that like he said um well, I forgot because I got interrupted like three times there. But never mind, go on.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:All right, brief moment. Cyrillia, thank you for the heart me's. What do we have going on here?
Speaker 1:You can't just do that so nonchalant. Look at your screen, guys.
Speaker 3:Look at your screen and look at what TJ is doing.
Speaker 1:What did you just put on?
Speaker 3:What is that? You could kind of see it. You could kind of see it.
Speaker 2:Beauty is pain.
Speaker 3:Beauty is pain.
Speaker 2:Okay, Gotta get this double chin in order. You know what I'm saying? Oh, okay.
Speaker 3:So to go back to the dad teaching Pi that lesson, you have to admit that that lesson stuck with Pi.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you have to admit that. That lesson stuck with Pi. Yeah, I got to say it is a good lesson because I am that, I'm not, but I feel like I'm stupid in that I would feel that connection to an animal that does not have that connection towards me. I like all the bad dogs at work and I always feel bad for them. So, yeah, I think I am smart enough to not do that and to be wise about it.
Speaker 3:Maybe not do that with an apex predator.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm more likely to do it with a bad dog, not a Bengal tiger. I think I would have the respect for a Bengal tiger, that kind of like what he said I can't tame it, but maybe I could train it. Yeah.
Speaker 3:That's an interesting thought, yeah, yeah. So the concept behind pie going. Look at this guy.
Speaker 1:Is this also?
Speaker 2:beauty. Yeah, I got to keep myself fammed, you know. Oh my God.
Speaker 3:What are you doing?
Speaker 2:I'm up in my wave game.
Speaker 1:I wish I even knew how to describe this to the listeners. Oh, they could see him, the listeners.
Speaker 3:Oh, the listeners. Yeah, Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Speaker 1:What kind of technology have you? I forgot about the listeners. Yeah, I don't even know what.
Speaker 3:Oh my god, this guy.
Speaker 1:I don't know, I don't even know, I don't think we're supposed to know what he?
Speaker 3:my god, this guy. I don't know, I don't even know I, I don't. I don't think we're supposed to know what he's up to. This is something, this is something real he's got he's got a chin strap.
Speaker 1:That's that's. It looks like a giant tampon or not tampon a giant pad uh on his chin it's not a chin strap, that's a jock strap yeah, uh, with I some. It looks like a leather cap. You know, like the starter leather cap you get in every rpg. It looks like that, but it has some design, some. It's a do-rag.
Speaker 1:Yep, it's a do-rag yeah and, uh, he had an, an asian fan, uh, that he was holding between his lips and his nose, and and he has his headphones over his eyes, the part that would go on top of your head. Pretty good it's going over his eyes like he's Cyclops.
Speaker 3:It's pretty good. That's a good, that's a good description.
Speaker 1:That's what I got for you.
Speaker 3:So now I'm going to try to carry on here with all of these distractions, but we're going to go jump into the shipwreck. Uh I don't survive thank god I've never been in a shipwreck before, but that was epic right, I mean number one. You saw all the waves grabbing the sailors and pulling them off of that ship if I saw that holy shit, you know you're fucked.
Speaker 1:If the crew just got pulled off of the ship by a wave, I you're fucked you have alarms going off everywhere.
Speaker 3:You have animals who have escaped. Maybe they were letting them out. I don't know what was. What exactly was happening?
Speaker 2:I like to think the dad let them out I like to think that one of them maybe, I don't know they like had like a pistol, shrimp or something, and he just like punched a hole in the side of the boat and that's what made all the water rush in.
Speaker 1:I am curious what sunk the ship? Because they never answer that they didn't.
Speaker 3:But I'm curious.
Speaker 1:I have to imagine that it was just hull damage or something gave in an insane storm.
Speaker 3:Well, it shouldn't be as easy as flooding, because even at that day it seemed like the uh ship was sophisticated enough that it would have had pumps you know it also.
Speaker 1:Like I'm not gonna lie, it was a movie, so I'm gonna give some some way for discrepancy, but it didn't seem like the waves were as high when, once he was in the water, it didn't look like as bad of a storm as it could be yeah because those waves in oceans with with terrible storms could get up to hundreds of feet high yeah, so that's what I thought they were yeah, yeah, but like when he was in the water, it was clear that that's not what was happening, because I don't think you could survive what also in the water is.
Speaker 2:The reason that ship's doors are the way they are is because that creates airtight or watertight chambers, so it could sink like halfway and still be above water right if the doors are shut.
Speaker 3:So him opening that door to get to his family.
Speaker 2:Like yeah, he's trying to get to his family, like I understand, but like him opening that probably didn't help at all yeah, yeah, yeah, I could definitely see that.
Speaker 1:But I think it was doomed, oh you know what's funny?
Speaker 2:I like the line where he's like his dad's, like we're moving, we're going to sail, like Columbus, and he's like but Columbus was looking for India.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Why are we going to Canada when Columbus was looking for? America he got them there. Your analogy doesn't make sense, oh man. But yeah, I don't think I survived the shipwreck. Also, seeing the ship, you're underwater and you're watching the ship sink, I don't think my tiny puny brain could possibly imagine what that would even be like to see that Good thing he was far away.
Speaker 3:That was impressive, yeah, because that would have just sucked him right down.
Speaker 1:That is impressive, yeah because that would have just sucked him right down. That is epic. I didn't even consider that. That is epic in a sense, but at the same time it's like you can never get that image out of your head. If you actually went through that and saw that and then lived to tell the tale.
Speaker 3:Exactly.
Speaker 1:You would never get that image Just that complete. How small you are.
Speaker 3:in that situation, you're watching a ship sink into nothingness, this massive being yep, and the fact that I mean I, I think you're right, because in those types of storms, the waves being as tall as you know, 50, 60 feet, and I mean they're not crashing, but the bottom line is all of the chop is like five, six feet, so you're going to be struggling for breath.
Speaker 1:I see this happens in Moana too. I don't think I survived. I don't think I survive any storm when I'm not in a ship. I just don't think you survive that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Not any real storm. Like some, rain comes through fine choppy waters, but hundreds of feet these waves are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you just gotta take your breaths when you can, and I think underwater is safer in a sense, because you're not getting like chucked around.
Speaker 1:That current is going to be sucking you so low and throwing you around. I don't think you ever get a chance to breathe.
Speaker 2:But yeah, but I think that's more preferable than fucking getting thrown by a wave, having all the air knocked out of you and then drowning.
Speaker 1:That's but that's the thing. You have to keep your head on a swivel if one wave comes crashing down on you and it could come from anywhere.
Speaker 3:You're, you're done, yeah that was the crazy part about and and there's like something to this, when you guys ever watch, like discovery channel, the um game cameras that are out at the watering holes of the, the sahara or the serengeti, how predators and prey alike will go to the watering hole. Now they make light of it in the lion king where they're like, oh, they all make peace. You know there's a truce at the watering hole, but it almost looks like that, right, like the predators understand and the prey understand, like we all need water. So we're not gonna. We're not gonna do this here. You know it would be. It would be weird because, like, the predators could just have a buffet, but they don't, they all move to the water to drink but meanwhile there's crocodiles and shit under the water exactly I was gonna say the crocodiles, don't give a fuck what you're doing.
Speaker 3:Well, no, they still don't eat at all the crocodiles. Don't give a fuck what you're doing. Well, no, they still don't eat at all the crocodiles, but there's certain places where they all go to drink.
Speaker 2:We don't go to wait for shit, yeah, they love it.
Speaker 1:I'm literally waiting for you to get to the water, and then the hippos. Oh, hippos are assholes. Oh, did you see?
Speaker 2:the freaking hippo take out a shark in the movie.
Speaker 1:That was crazy the in the movie. That was crazy, I think I think hippo wins against shark?
Speaker 2:oh yeah, for sure. It was like underwater everything and it fucking like.
Speaker 1:I didn't like, just yeah, it was crazy hippos are one of the few animals that hunt for sport that's bizarre because I I still speculate with those raging seas. Even a hippo doesn't survive oh no, I not the raging seas, but maybe for a second.
Speaker 2:But they can stay underwater for like a decent amount of time. But if they're getting thrown around and shit.
Speaker 3:That's what I think they're too big, they're too heavy.
Speaker 1:They're used to like calmer waters, Are they? Yeah, they swim oh yeah.
Speaker 3:They're fast as fuck. I know they swim but, nothing can really swim in that.
Speaker 1:No, not, and that's what I think like. Maybe they survived for a second, but it wasn't the sharks that were killing things in the, in those waters. I don't think realistically. It wouldn't be the sharks killing things, it would be the waves, it'd be the pressure slamming, being just slammed left and right. I think your brain, I think you get knocked out.
Speaker 3:Well know that that in open water there are no waves like there's. There's peaks. There's swells, it's not, but they don't crash they just lift you up and then drop you down well, unless two of them lash together, they don't.
Speaker 1:There's nothing out there for them to redirect.
Speaker 3:So they all go in the same direction.
Speaker 2:They follow the current, but so yeah, there are such things as road waves, though, like it can it can happen, but it's uh, it's just not common they crash on the shore because there's less water in front of them than there is behind yeah so it? Yeah, it's pulling and then it. But if there's water on both sides. It just goes up and it's a big ass.
Speaker 3:It's the same thing, the same thing, only different. When you talk about like tsunamis, a tsunami out in open ocean is like one or two centimeters tall. It's nothing right.
Speaker 2:But then, as it gets closer to the shore, it grows and grows and grows, and that's why it pulls all the water away from the shore, and it slows way down too.
Speaker 3:So I mean it'll go at like 1200 miles an hour in open ocean and then when it gets close to the shore it slows down to like 30 miles an hour. But it's enormous. So something that I would bring up in this, in this aspect they're here.
Speaker 1:Who the zombies? I thought the gate would stop them.
Speaker 3:They knocked it down instantly how much time do we have they're? They're already here we should have bought that beautiful los angeles dream house in that safe neighborhood that corinne showed us I know it was so much more defensible and corinne would have had us moved in before the apocalypse. Do you think it's too late to call her now? I'll try.
Speaker 1:No, no, we should have called Corinne sooner.
Speaker 3:Don't wait until it's too late. Call Corinne Salas today at 714-510-6443, and buy your Los Angeles dream house now. That's 714-510-6443. And buy your Los Angeles dream house now. That's 714-510-6443. You can also find her on Instagram at nexthomebycorinne, or visit her website at corinnesalasnexthomegrandviewcom. That's C-O-R-I-N-N-E-S-A-L-A-Snexthomegrandviewcom. I'd like to ask you guys a question. Okay Now, this is almost directly related to this movie. There's a couple of parallels, that it could be more generic, but in this movie, the comment survival is about adaptation, not dominance. What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:I mean, I think, it's Well, he, in order to survive, he adapted himself to be dominant because he was kind of a little wuss the entire movie and he was like, well, we're stuck like this, I'm going to teach this tiger who's boss. He straight up, like squared up with him, like hey, this is my tuna, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was pretty cool. Yeah, I kind of agree with TJ.
Speaker 2:Um, you survive to adapt and you adapt to survive.
Speaker 1:I think, I think it's a balance, I think it's a balance, it's both, you know.
Speaker 3:Well, so the Well, so the concept I'm looking at here is that he never once tried to. He didn't lie to himself that he could dominate Richard Parker. So, as TJ said, he kind of found a way to coexist with him.
Speaker 1:But he did dominate him.
Speaker 3:No, he really didn't, josh, thank you for that. Even even when he started, like trying to teach him, uh, he could never really dominate him. He had moments, the one moment when he had the, the spear, like uh stick, and he jumped over him and he was, you know, yelling at him. I think you're right. He, he over the fish, no, over richard parker yeah, so, so, oh, it was when he went to go grab the fish from richard parker.
Speaker 2:Yes, so it was after. So he had the harpoon, right that's.
Speaker 2:That's when he got like right after they got beat up by all those flying fish which, like that, was kind of sick um he got the two nuts right, went back to his little spot, cut it up, uh, and then he put it in a bag and he sharpened one of the oars into like the pointy wood stick yep, to keep distance, but also to like. He was like if I tap here, that's where food's gonna be, if I tap over there, that's where food it was his lure but remember like he actually shoved that stick into rich Parker's mouth.
Speaker 1:It was a punishment, but it was also a lure. It was to teach Richard Parker. But where I mean he dominated him is when he got on the boat on the wood part with Richard Parker and he told Richard Parker to go underneath the tarp to go back to his home. And Richard Parker didn't want to. And then he yelled and got big and richard parker ran away.
Speaker 1:He dominated that tiger there interesting I I see that as dominant a couple times the tiger that the tuna was another dominance moment where he said all right, you're the fucking alpha, you take that fish, I'll eat these fish, you fucking won, I'll back off. So I think he did dominate the tiger. Okay, now, whether or not you actually could dominate a tiger in that situation, I don't know enough about tigers I would like to say, theoretically maybe, because I animals are smart, and I do think it would realize if you are providing for it yeah, and it's in a completely unknown environment like this, and it's had a life or death moment and you saved it I think it might be smart enough to realize. I may not like you, but I do need you.
Speaker 3:So I like that point because of the fact that Pi makes that exact point in a different way by saying he and Richard Parker had the same exact experience of the open world. Now, granted, you and I might disagree with open world, ocean isolated, but they were on their own is the meaning right? Pi had to fend for himself and feed Richard Parker to prevent Richard Parker from trying to kill him. So it was life on their own, and it was interesting that Richard Parker had relied on men all of his life, I think. I think he was bred in captivity and so what experience did he have? Didn't mean that he was any less dangerous? Probably not. I shouldn't say that. Probably not as dangerous as a wild Bengal tiger.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But maybe a wild Bengal tiger would take out Richard Parker in two seconds. Right, but not any less dangerous to a man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, to a human with no tools or gun or anything. Yeah, you're completely kind of at the mercy of that tiger. But yeah, I do think it's really interesting the idea that the tiger would realize that it needs you to survive, and that's an interesting point. It was raised by humans its entire life, but I don't know if that would probably build more resentment than anything. But you got to imagine. All I kept thinking about for a lot of this film was that poor tiger is more confused than anybody else in this entire movie. This tiger, who grew up in captivity, is now in the middle of the fucking ocean on a lifeboat, completely out of its element, as far removed from the only thing that would be more removed from its element would be sending a tiger to space. Yeah, other than that, this tiger has no idea what is going on.
Speaker 3:Now, without going into a whole religious diatribe, because I think this works for a person of faith and an atheist nonetheless, faith and belief can be survival tools. In this particular movie, I don't know that religion had anything to do with Pi surviving, because he was kind of a believer of all things at that point right. So it would be just as important for him or for anybody in this situation, whether you have faith in a deity or at the very least faith in yourself, to survive alone the psychological torment and the physical rigors. What do you guys think?
Speaker 1:I think, regarding the religion thing, I kind of agree with the dad where it's like if you believe in everything all at the same time, then you might as well believe in nothing. I kind of get that.
Speaker 2:It's like the Master of None. What's the beginning of that?
Speaker 3:Jack of all trades.
Speaker 2:Master of None that same time.
Speaker 3:You got to finish that phrase, though Do you know what the rest of that is?
Speaker 2:um jack of all trades.
Speaker 3:Master of something better than a master of one of one yeah a jack a jack. Being a jack of all trades is not the bad thing, but I get your point it's, and what you're saying I I think is also true because the dad was. I thought the dad was very wise. You know you're not really doing yourself any favor if you're just saying you know, believe in all things. But what I found interesting was all things that Pi knew that he had learned really came in handy at different points.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so that's where this took like a much more extreme point. But there was a guy who once went around I should find the book before I try to really reference it, but I'm not going to. This guy went around the world and his whole point was to discover what's the purpose of religion If not for discovering the truth of creation and everything. What's the point of religion for humanity, of religion for humanity? And his conclusion was that, no matter what the religion well, for the most part, most religions provided some sort of moral compass for humanity, and that was in his mind. The point of religion is that it gave some sort of moral compass for people to follow, because if left to their own devices, it's just someone makes up that moral compass.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and about the whole religion thing, this is a very religion-filled movie. Eric thought not, but it is I didn't say that.
Speaker 1:I said it has a. It's more, it has, I guess, an undercurrent of religion all the way through. Yeah, and it shows in different points, like where he thinks he sees god in the storm, yeah, and he kind of goes a little crazy there for a second um, but it was kind of like I don't know. It was a little admirable um, but I think a little stupid as well. Uh, it almost got him and richard parker killed. What I think was bad about that moment is he'd promised richard parker that that would be his safe space, his home, and then he took that away from richard parker and I don't think that ever really played effect. But in the dog training world, breaking that kind of promise, it hurts trust and in my mind when I saw that, I would have thought that richard pryor would have been like what the fuck dude? You said that was my spot and you immediately invaded it.
Speaker 3:And what do you think, TJ?
Speaker 2:So I love this movie. So I was paying attention because I wanted to talk about some stuff. So if you've seen the name of the ship that crashed, it was called SimSum, t-s-i-m-t-s-u-m. It's a Hebrew word. It refers to the reduction or contraction of God from the universe at the moment of creation. So this whole movie is basically like God contracting himself. Like you know, the ship basic God contracting himself from Pi in order for him to really like own right. So the reason god could like stepped away from the universe, he's like yo, I'm gonna step away. It's gonna build itself, find its own way. Basically that's what this whole movie is about. Pie, he's finding his own self because he he didn't he like had what four religions you know, he didn't know what path he was going on.
Speaker 3:So throughout this whole journey, that was him finding his path to who he is and that's a good take too, because pie for in not so many words, uh in in more description and action displayed that exact point was his father teaching him. You can't believe in everything and learning firsthand. He learned that firsthand and the irony of it was and I will I will acquiesce to your, your statement, tj.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of religious undertones, especially to the point of surrender, right when he said okay, I give up I surrender I'm not saying this doesn't have like heavy notes of of religion all throughout it, but I do like. So TJ and I had the TJ was saying that he thought you were going to talk a lot more about religion this episode and I may have had an inkling that you weren't going to, but I also he still mentioned it first.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying, he mentioned it first. We, we think very we think very similar.
Speaker 1:Religion was not really on the forefront of my mind with this movie. I don't know. It definitely had a heavy part in the movie but to me that was not the entire main focus of it. I don't know. But I was also just watching it for the first time, watching this guy tame a tiger.
Speaker 3:So I thought that was cool. I thought, thought I mean you, you can definitely go down a lot of the roads, but I love how they portrayed multiple religions uh, one of the things, the hinduism. Uh, how this boy just he, did what he had to do when he killed that fish, even though he was bawling his eyes out and apologizing as he's hatcheting it that was also such a brutal way to fucking kill it.
Speaker 1:Because he was not hitting it with the sharp part of the hatchet, wasn't? He was bunting that shit.
Speaker 2:That's just, that's how you're supposed to kill a fish, though usually you just smack it with like a big ass bat you yeah that or knock it out which is, you shove a rod through its spinal cord, which apparently makes it fresher.
Speaker 1:He was bashing this thing's head in.
Speaker 3:If he had a knife, he would go through the gills and out.
Speaker 1:He had a hatchet, just chop it at the head, it was big Chop it at the head.
Speaker 3:The hatchet was small, it would have taken a lot of blows. The same way, it would have died quick.
Speaker 2:The hatchet is probably a little bit dull, considering it's been yeah, maybe constantly.
Speaker 3:Maybe you know now, okay, but this is the part that I really think. Uh, I really think tj might surprise me here. Well, not surprise me, I shouldn't say that, because I'm not going to be surprised if you come up with a lot here. Resourcefulness is key. So pie uses everything at his disposal, right. He rations food, collects rainwater and he shows that survival is it's about making the most of what you have. I think it's Tony Robbins who says resources don't matter. Resourcefulness is what matters, and that's not an exact quote, but I wanted to tip it to you and let you talk about some of the things that we saw that pie did being resourceful on a freaking on a, on a raft off of a survival boat with a tiger with a tiger with a tiger.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Um, one thing he didn't is he didn't grab the fucking bananas, you fucking idiot. He just let them float off. Bro, I would have grabbed so many of them bananas.
Speaker 3:He grabbed one threw it at the orangutan didn't even want it. I'm. I'm glad that you brought that up, but you actually had more of a mind than I did. I would not have grabbed those bananas. I think I had the same fatal thought process as Pi. This isn't going to be that long.
Speaker 2:No, if I'm out on the water I'm preparing for the worst. I'm not extremely afraid of the ocean. The ocean is scary. Yeah, I'm also thinking, oh, I'm gonna fucking die here yeah, because, like he was over the mariana trench, uh, and all the currents are pointing towards like away from where he's coming, which is closer, but where he's going is like seven thousand miles away and he's on a thing going probably like one knot, you know. That's why.
Speaker 1:I love when he's looking at the map of the currents and he's like there's no lines where's the lines?
Speaker 2:where's the mini?
Speaker 1:map.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I feel that what he did for survival, like his stuff, solar. Still I was hype.
Speaker 1:I was like yo dude find a was like yo dude that little hub sticking off of his raft so cool yeah that's dope yeah yeah, the, the little, uh, second raft he made.
Speaker 2:That was like his first edition of it clearly trash, but as the movie goes on, he like upgrades it, he gets. He's so resourceful with the boat too, because he's like this isn't needed for it to float, so he's taking all this wood and stuff. He ended up making like a pretty decent raft by the end, which had another water collection system, whilst, like you seen it, he made like a little cover and then he made a hole in it and it was just piss and water in this bucket. But he was also doing other stuff while he was doing that. So he's like managing his time, he's staying busy. He made drums, uh, for himself to keep himself like yeah sane that's a good thing.
Speaker 1:Like it said, stay busy, but don't exert yourself yep yeah found a lot of little projects to do.
Speaker 3:Um all right how good was it when he had said the? Uh that he had to design something? Um, what was the plan? Like a circus, uh, ringleader that he was supposed to come about with his plan me, let me do this stupid thing here. Um, he was supposed to like a ringleader in a circus. Get the tiger seasick. Oh, when he was doing his steps one to five.
Speaker 2:Brilliant, brilliant Is it.
Speaker 1:Okay, I don't know, because he's entirely right that that kind of association works with canines. That is entirely something that when he started doing that and he was like the harsh whistles during the seasickness and the calm whistles when it calms. That's fucking brilliant.
Speaker 2:He's going to associate it with the seasickness Just like when Eric knows they have the clicker with dogs. Oh, they do something good Click. That means you get a treat.
Speaker 1:If the tiger learns that he controls that, oh shit yeah like fucking brilliant. I don't know if that would actually work with a bengal tiger, but that kind of animal psychology is brilliant maybe just that he didn't do it long enough but I think it would take a lot of conditioning. But he's not wrong. There's tigers that work in circuses. Tigers can be trained One of the best things he did for survival-wise.
Speaker 2:Is he actually read the manual? Oh yeah, the seasickness thing he knew that because of the manual. It said make sure you point towards the waves and not sideways, because that's what causes the seasickness. And he was like, oh bet, I can make this.
Speaker 1:I'm going to use that and he used.
Speaker 2:Like you know, he used all the resources he had.
Speaker 1:And he knew that, like from what his dad was saying about the animals getting seasick, and I think that's brilliant. I don't know if it would actually work against a tiger, but I do think that that premise is definitely that is, at least in canine, in the canine world. That is entirely true. You can build those negative and positive associations with whistles and clickers based off of what you, the situations that you present.
Speaker 2:He was a bit of a dumbass having all of his food and water in one place. I said the exact same thing On the less steady little raft he had, like it was great, like he had it to a point where he's not soaking wet all the time. But a big ass wave is not going to stop, Like I would have at least try to strap it down with something.
Speaker 1:There's rope there I, I said I said I would have brought a chunk of it on with me so that I don't have to constantly go back to the boat, but I would leave the majority of it on the boat because of that exact situation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because, like so the canned shit, the tiger's not going to eat. The canned shit he can't smell what's right hands the biscuits. He's not going to eat the biscuits. I mean like he's not interested he's yeah, it's not. He's not going to eat the biscuits.
Speaker 1:I mean like he's not interested? Yeah, it's not. He's not. The only reason he did it was so that he didn't have to keep going back to the boat and confronting the tiger to get the food, which I understand, but at the same time, it's like you got to weigh out the risks. One wave hits you, good enough and you lose all your food, or you have to go back to the boat every once in a while and try to get food from a tiger who's already, I wouldn't say becoming upset, accepting of you, but understands your presence.
Speaker 2:Yep, or you uh, mother nature hates you and you get flipped over by a fucking whale, which is it's kind of his fault because he's fucking with the plankton, which is what whales eat that caused the whale to come but at the time I would have never fucking known that.
Speaker 3:But how freaking cool was that.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, it was dope.
Speaker 2:I want to see that in real life, because that shit does happen.
Speaker 1:I would have if I've been I saw minor breaches.
Speaker 3:You were there. We've seen minor breaches, whale watching.
Speaker 1:I was seasick while that was happening but, yeah, yeah. I don't know. If I was going through all that and then I got to see something like that, I would also get excited about how pretty that looks and it's like a moment of joy and such suffering that I could see myself getting fully lost in it. I've seen orcas before. Orcas are dope. I've been to SeaWorld. I've seen orcas.
Speaker 2:That's not the same. I've seen them in the wild breaching doing their shit.
Speaker 3:All right, so let me let me move us along a little bit. Talk about how this movie shows us how isolation can be just as threatening as the physical dangers. Right Like this guy was was in some serious harm being alone like that, and he ended up I mean, he admitted it he had to like bond with Richard Parker in order to keep his sanity. In his narration he actually says that it was Richard Parker and him having to provide for Richard Parker that kept him alive. So what are your guys' thoughts on on that process, on on how important it is to keep your mind active, and do you believe that loneliness is as dangerous as hunger?
Speaker 2:I do. I believe that Richard Parker was his Wilson. I think you need something to talk to oh wilson, yeah, no I. I believe that the everything else can wants to kill you out there, including your brain. Um, no matter where you are, what survival situation you're in, you gotta keep you know, keep a cool head. So if that means keeping a tiger alive, you know, feeding, caring for something, I think that'll ultimately help, even if it is trying to fucking kill you at points. All right, I would still try to pet it.
Speaker 2:If I ever seen his tail out of the boat. A little bit, I would just Grab it, I would just annoy the shit out of him.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, you would die quick. Me too, I would do the exact same thing. I would like to say that to me, this is well. Let me sidetrack really quick. There was a comedian who was talking about the difference between cats and dogs, according to a criminal forensics investigator, and they said that and this was in a bit, so I don't know if it's actually true they said that dogs, when they would discover a dead body in a house and they would discover that there was a dog there, the dog would be sitting by the dead body. Cats, it'd be eating the face every time. To me, this is just owning a big cat, that's all it is it hates you.
Speaker 1:Except this cat can actually kill you.
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 1:Unlike most cats who can just severely hurt you. So it's just like having a cat really. It doesn't actually really like you, but when it needs something it tolerates willing to tolerate and that's how I felt about this whole movie.
Speaker 2:Cuddles people, cat people exactly, it includes cuddles. They need the cuddles. That means they'll be nice to you. It's not because they.
Speaker 1:It's true, it took richard parker, being almost like completely dying, to be like, yeah, I'll put my head on your lap. I I need some pets right now, which I?
Speaker 2:would get the fuck out of that, like if I'm here I'm not gonna lie to me.
Speaker 1:That would be a gift from god. I'm like to be able to pet a bengal tiger. Yeah, that would be wild.
Speaker 3:Oh my god that's what I might be.
Speaker 1:The last thing you do, that's what I imagine david must have felt like in the lion's den I would have whispered into your like as soon as you're dead.
Speaker 2:I'm eating your face, can't?
Speaker 3:let that meat go to waste I don't care.
Speaker 2:There's gotta be some meat somewhere. Hey, I do it.
Speaker 3:I don't care but so here's another tj would be like the guys in in, uh in the gray. Take the first bite of the Bengal tiger. Oh, that tastes like shit. I still eat it, I don't care.
Speaker 1:At the end of the movie when he was so heartbroken about Richard Parker not looking back at him. I think the respect was that Richard Parker didn't eat him right then.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, it was also a callback to what his dad said, that Richard Parker went off into the jungle Like the About what. They're not your friend. They're not your friend. You're looking into their eyes and seeing your emotions. Your emotions, yeah, your emotions. Good point, but no.
Speaker 1:I don't think it's a good point, because if that was the case, richard Parker would have eaten him.
Speaker 2:He no case. Richard parker would have eaten him. He no longer needed him.
Speaker 1:I think he was weak and he was just ready to get off that boat, exactly, but that's even more reason why he would have eaten the easy prey that was sitting right there. He didn't need him anymore, he was on the ground but he left.
Speaker 3:That might have been his exact thought when he stood at the edge of that forest is do I need to go in here and hunt for my own shit? No, so go back there and eat that motherfucker.
Speaker 2:I was going to say this earlier. I forgot. Me and Maddie were watching this together At that scene. I was like Richard Parker then went to a school and murdered a bunch of children because he was starving to death, and then Maddie was just like yeah, they were probably preschoolers. I'm like damn, a bunch of Mexican preschoolers got mauled by a tiger. That's crazy.
Speaker 3:And we look up in history and see that that's true.
Speaker 1:Like where the fuck did this?
Speaker 3:tiger come from. He's like I thought you said this was a fictional story.
Speaker 2:We're in fucking Mexico. Why is there a tiger La?
Speaker 1:Tigre. But yeah, I don't know. I think Richard Parker did respect him and that's why he didn't eat him. Then he left to go fend for himself and Pi took that personally and took it as kind of like a painful thing. But then there was that last scene where it shows you you know supposedly, what Richard Parker saw, and Richard Parker saw Pi before walking off into the forest like it was almost showing, like that's what richard parker imagined when walking up to that forest is seeing pie there. That's kind of what I got. I. I don't know, maybe I misunderstood.
Speaker 2:There's also, all right, very, very starving.
Speaker 3:And he was just probably hallucinating so, to round this out, my last point here is the film suggests that survival isn't just about the physical struggle but also about the stories we tell ourselves to make sense of suffering. That would lead to the point that truth can be subjective. Do you have any thoughts on that point?
Speaker 2:Eric, would you like to go first? I've been going first this whole time.
Speaker 1:I mean, I just I think it's true. Um, I don't think it's just the physical, because if you don't have the will to live, it doesn't matter how strong you are. I don't think you're gonna live, and that's kind of like. My point in this movie is, first of all, after the strip wreck do you know how fucking cold I would be? Oh, yeah, you I'd be so miserable but let me.
Speaker 3:Let me hone this down just a little bit for you. I want to be a little more specific on the answer, which is the end of the movie. He tells two stories. Does that indicate to you that truth is subjective? Is it in the eye of the beholder, if you will?
Speaker 1:Well, to me, no, honestly, To me, I think there is objective truth and I liked, I like to. I think I want to believe the first story more. Um, because it is reminiscent to me of things that would happen in the bible, where you know, when you read it just at face value, you're like that's absolutely stupid, that's insane. But then when you put some reality to it and you're like, oh well, let's imagine that, yeah, these were these guys who were living in these really ancient times. They probably didn't understand this thing that now we understand is completely scientifically provable and is a scientific thing. But there's no way they could have possibly known about that. Yet they still recorded it. And so it's like just because it is scientifically explainable to me does not mean that that's not god, because in in my mind, god made science, so he uses science to to fulfill whatever he is going to do on earth so are you saying?
Speaker 3:can I sum it up truth is perspective I, I guess.
Speaker 1:So, um, I don't know, I think I might be too philosophical for me what do you say, tj?
Speaker 2:uh, pretty, I, I, I had a similar point, uh that eric had um where I was gonna bring up, like you know, it's kind of like the bible and like there are people who believe and don't. Um, but I would say, like you know truth, truth is in the eye of the beholder. You know type shit, like you, you believe what you want to believe, but you know the end of the dayholder. You know type shit, like you, believe what you want to believe, but you know, at the end of the day, either happened or didn't and either way, it's a good story. Also, I want to see the movie about the second story.
Speaker 3:I feel like that would be a great brutal movie.
Speaker 1:I feel very much like I don't know. I'm conflicted, because I feel like the first story is the one that happened, but also, at the same time, it's like, well, either one or the other happened. I don't think there is this whole well, either could be true One of them is true or not. Well, people— Because there is an objective reality, like something happened. Whether or not you can explain why it happened doesn't really matter to me, but the objective reality of what happened, yeah, happened, but eric and I, I, I don't know. I think that's why I mean, like in the bible, those things objectively happened. They happened how they happened. That's the whole big debate. Jesus existed. No one doubts that Jesus existed. There's too much evidence.
Speaker 3:Ignorant people do.
Speaker 1:Ignorant people do, but real people who really look at it. All the evidence is there. Jesus was a real dude, really existed. Now the claims are what's in dispute? Whether or not Jesus actually was the Son of god and actually did what they say he did. That's what's in dispute. But to me like to say, like well, both stories can be true. It's like well, no one of them is true. One of them happened and I would like to know which one happened. But ultimately, when it comes to what the the two insurance guys were talking about, yeah, he still doesn't know what fucking happened to the ship, so it doesn't matter people are less likely to believe in the fantasticalness of it like so, and now, that's what everybody.
Speaker 2:You know it's, it's believe. Yeah, jesus was a real dude. Did he walk on water, did he?
Speaker 1:change water to wine Did he cure the blind.
Speaker 2:That's the whole debate, so like yeah, did he come back from the dead is the big one. That's fantastical shit, right? That's mythical levels of shit, just like hey there's this island full of fucking meerkats that turns into acid at night that no one has ever seen?
Speaker 1:No one's ever seen the trees aren't a?
Speaker 2:thing in real life. It's fantastical right.
Speaker 3:It can't exist based on science.
Speaker 1:It was also a temptation, but see, that's something that you've said once, Alex, that I really liked, which is what you said. It was tempting. It was kind of tempting, but it also wasn't at the same time. It was exactly what Pius said, that God knew he needed a rest and so he gave him a rest, but then gave him a sign that this is not your final place. This isn't the place to stay forever.
Speaker 2:This was my gift to you to rest, and it was still a difficult decision to make.
Speaker 3:To have to leave.
Speaker 1:That's tough. But that to me was one of the what was like a heavy hitting point, kind of like in your Christian faith walk, where you realize like sometimes God takes things away from you and it feels so shitty in the moment and you're so upset about it, but what he has planned to give you later is much, much better and you couldn't possibly imagine how much better it is for you. But we always get so stuck up on what we're losing in the moment and it's hard to just give that up and go. Okay, I surrender whatever you have planned for me is better.
Speaker 2:This sucks but I'll give it up. That's why this podcast is sponsored by Benson Boone. You know that one song don't take oh, there you go I want you.
Speaker 1:I need you oh god. I thought you were going to say sponsored by the Bible, these beautiful things that I've done.
Speaker 3:So what I wanted to finish with real quick was the point that I got at the end when he told the second story. I realized when he told that story there was absolutely no point to the second story.
Speaker 2:It was just more believable. Yeah, and you see how he applied himself as like the tiger, the tiger it's yeah, he was richard parker. He was richard parker, it's like a, it's his like, it's like symbolism for his want to survive. Type beat.
Speaker 1:You know that's right yeah, but it's also like what, like it, like what alex said. It's so funny that these guys these guys wanted to know why the ship sank and they needed a more believable story. So he gives them a more believable story, but it still does not answer at all and they're they were so like inconsiderate about it too.
Speaker 2:They're like yep, yeah, that's crazy, bro, what actually happened, like brother bro's been at sea for fucking like a year.
Speaker 1:I don't know how long, probably a year. But like older Pi said, what does it even matter? Yep, because they just wanted a more believable story. But for what?
Speaker 2:For what For absolutely what. What is the point? He made? His son after his brother. I've seen that at the end.
Speaker 1:I noticed that. That was the moment that I almost cried.
Speaker 2:On that moment I was like no I was, I was, I was teary-eyed when he was holding richard parker. Dude, I was like fuck oh, dude, that was moving right when he held his head.
Speaker 3:He held richard parker's head in his lap and he says we're dying. I'm sorry yeah, I was like oh my god, that was that's. That's tough right there, I can't.
Speaker 2:I gotta put you down. Hit someone with a hatchet Multiple times. Oh my god. This weak ass, frail ass. Indian boy Can't even knock out a fish in one shot Beating a tiger. He's like stay, still, stay still, oh my god. And then he eats his face, beating a tiger.
Speaker 3:He's like stay still stay still.
Speaker 2:Oh my God.
Speaker 3:And then he eats his face and with that I would like to thank everybody for tuning in for this episode. Let me calculate the points here and who wants to do the socials.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's interesting. That's normally a you thing. Do I get a point if I do that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you can find us everywhere at. Will you Survive?
Speaker 1:the Podcast. You can find us.
Speaker 2:If you want to email us, you can hit us up at theboys at willyousurvivethepodcastcom. Yep.
Speaker 3:If you want to see us do some gaming.
Speaker 2:Wis Gaming on TikTok. Wis Gaming? It's not. Will you Survive Gaming it? Wis Gaming? Wis Gaming? It's not. Will you Survive Gaming it's?
Speaker 2:WIS Gaming actually shut up fucking brown noser if you want to hit me up on TikTok, it's Gemini underscore WIS. Yeah, oh, if you, you know, make sure to send us an email. We really will respond to it on the podcast. Give you a little shout out, read what you're talking about. Make sure to rate us, please. You can rate us, please. You can rate us on Spotify, apple Podcasts. It's also where you can find us everywhere. You know, we are ranked very highly on Good Pods because we are amazing. We are. Am I missing anything, sir?
Speaker 3:Nope, that's everything. And here we go. Once again, you guys coming in squeaker. The last question decided it I've got. The first point went to Eric. The second point went to Eric. The third point went to TJ. The fourth point went to TJ.
Speaker 1:Interrogate.
Speaker 3:The fifth point, the tiebreaker, the last one I asked you about, besides the winner.
Speaker 2:Find out next time on Fucking commercial break.
Speaker 3:The winner that we have this episode will be Eric.
Speaker 1:Let's go. I knew it. I knew that was going to happen. That's fine how I just had a feeling, because he had a wrong idea of what you were going to talk about this episode. That's fine because.
Speaker 3:Did I throw you off TJ?
Speaker 2:Because I know who's winning next episode he was very stubborn.
Speaker 1:No, that yeah, I said. If he mentions it, no idea that was not.
Speaker 3:It is recorded. I said if he mentions it no. You talked about religion mentions no. You said if he talks more about religion than survival, nope.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:That is what we talked about.
Speaker 1:Yes, it was. If he talks more about religion than survival, that is not what we said.
Speaker 2:Way more about that. That is not what we said. It is literally recorded.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad we were recording.
Speaker 2:This is why it's in the bylaws that we have to be recording. I like it.
Speaker 1:That is not what he said, so he doesn't even know the own the handshake that we made you can't, you can't make a handshake and then go back on the handshake.
Speaker 2:This guy, I'm not going back on that. I will send me the fucking audio after. I will you know all right survivors. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode.
Speaker 3:We hope that you'll come back next time. Follow us along and until then, stay alive, thank you.
