Spoiler
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December 15th, 2012

Spoiler

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Discussion (9)¬

  1. bcmayes says:

    Oh woe! The entire cinematic experience — the acting, the cinematography, the soundtrack, the special effects, the pacing, the responses of my fellow audience members, the post-film conversation with my companion(s), everything — is utterly ruined by the lower half of a cartoon panel (that wasn't really the focus of the strip).

    Well I'll show you. LINCOLN GETS SHOT BY SOME GUY IN A THEATRE!!

    So there.

  2. Noni says:

    Read the dang book, Q10. Darrin didn't spoil anything.

    • Jaron Blake says:

      Not true. Yes, the movie's been out for weeks, but it's still in theaters. It's very hard to not keep reading once you've gotten to the third panel. I read Candorville daily, so I was lucky to have seen Life of Pi the week before the spoiler appeared. I'm glad, too, because the revelation is an important part of experiencing the film. So, yes, including the spoiler did ruin the film experience for many, regardless of protestations to the contrary.

      • Darrin Bell says:

        Anyone who waits months to see a movie (especially one based on a book that's been out for more than a decade) is lucky if they get a spoiler warning.

      • Darrin Bell says:

        The TRUE revelation of the film is not the one I presented in the strip. The TRUE revelation is below.

        (ahem…)

        SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
        SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! (if you read further, don't blame me)…

        I've read the book twice. I knew about the revelation. But the TRUE revelation comes afterward, during older Piscene's final conversation with the journalist. The TRUE revelation is that the tiger-as-metaphor was a FALSE revelation.

        There is no evidence either way, for EITHER story; so YOU have to choose which story you want to believe. At that moment, you discover that the entire book is an argument explaining the persistence of religious faith. When people are presented with two stories for which we have no evidence, it's reasonable to believe that either story can be true, and it's reasonable to choose the more compelling of the two versions. That's why the Chinese investigators DECIDED to accept the tiger story, as much as it may have strained credulity. It was the better story. The more life affirming and inspiring story. *And it may very well have been true.*

        Knowing the true nature of the revelation going in did not spoil the film for me one iota, because I got to choose all over again which story I wanted to believe. When I first read the book, I believed the more mundane story was the real one. When I saw the film twelve years later, I surprised myself by finding I believed the opposite. That's why it's impossible to spoil this film — it's up to each individual member of the audience to write the ending for him/herself.

        • SuburbanEcology says:

          Thanks for that bit of analysis, Darrin. Now I think that I just may go out and read the book and then watch the movie. You've shown me that there's more to Life of Pi than just the hype this cynical old codger suspected. 🙂

  3. Q10 says:

    Have never, ever e-mailed or commented like this but am totally annoyed, Mr. Bell! Ke-ripes! A SPOILER ALERT is supposed to happen BEFORE you spoil. No need to see "Life of Pi" now as you took the cool, "ahhhhh" moment away for those of us not already versed in the story. C'mon, already, dude. There were others ways to make the same point. Lazy and a tad weeny-ish of you.

    • Darrin Bell says:

      (a) The movie's been out for weeks, (b) The book's been out for twelve years, and (c) I haven't spoiled a thing. Go ahead and see it (or better yet, read it).

  4. Amy says:

    NIce….hehe!!