Facing the Tigers, Facing Ourselves.

This weekend I had the pleasure of watching the movie Life of Pi with my husband. Though I wasn't sure I was drawn to it initially, I couldn't deny how gorgeous it seemed visually, and the fact that it peaked my curiosity as it was based on the life of a man from India.

Here's the thing. I want to see it again as soon as I can. It was stunning and uplifting and a beautiful tale which speaks to all of us and is an allegory touching on the themes of

• what are our stories and why do we craft them as we do?
• what is the mind,  body and spirit capable of in dire circumstances?
• what is the role of faith and God in our lives?
• do people want to know the truth?
• why do people believe in God?
• why do people isolate themselves when it serves to alienate and encourage the loneliness that will only consume them with unhappiness from the inside out?
• what are our responsibilities as human beings and humane beings toward other people, and animals?
• what barbaric acts are human beings capable of? are we really so evolved?
• how do we face or evade our demons and project them outward?
• what compels us to look away from what scares us and what compels us to face what's difficult?
• why do people become so paralyzingly attached to the stories that cause them pain and suffering?
• when we make a choice how to frame our story in a forgiving and healing way, we become freer and more happy.

Throughout watching the movie last night and thinking about it a lot today, I realize I couldn't help but think of the many articles I read about the young woman in New Delhi who was brutally violated on a bus and her subsequent death from the horrific injuries she sustained.

One of the articles I read on this tragedy mentioned that she and her friend had just come from a screening of the movie The Life of Pi when they were so senselessly attacked. To think that this was such an uplifting and thought-provoking film, about god and faith and resilience and loss and survival --  and also about how horrible people can be to one another -- it struck me all the more. She must have felt uplifted after seeing the film - it was so hopeful and beautiful. And then out in the world she was brutally raped and left for dead by men in a society in which they felt entitled to act out as the most selfish animals might.

It is such deeply impressing and remarkable movie. I recommend it highly - it is hypnotic, gorgeous and a work of genius.