I have recently had the opportunity to watch and
enjoy two very similar yet completely different movies. The Life of Pi starring
Suraz Sharma and Jobs starring Ashton Kutcher.
The two plot summaries by IMDB are as follows:Life of Pi (2012)
In Canada, a writer visits the Indian storyteller Pi Patel and asks him to tell his life story. Pi tells the story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India, and the origin of his nickname. One day, his father, a zoo owner, explains that the municipality is no longer supporting the zoo and he has hence decided to move to Canada, where the animals the family owns would also be sold. They board on a Japanese cargo ship with the animals and out of the blue, there is a storm, followed by a shipwrecking. Pi survives in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger nicknamed Richard Parker. They are adrift in the Pacific Ocean, with aggressive hyena and Rickard Parker getting hungry. Pi needs to find a way to survive.
Jobs (2013)
While living with his adoptive parents, Jobs is working for 'Atari'. He then, develops a partnership with his friend Steve Wozniak when he sees that Wozniak has built a personal computer (the Apple I). They name their new company 'Apple Computer' and start building Apple I computers. After many failed attempts by Jobs to gain venture capital, Mike Markkula invests in the company which allows them to move forward.
The autobiographical hollywood versions of both mens lives are in stark and vivid contrast and yet parallel messages emerge. The focus on the lives of two young men and their survival in their extreme environments is similar. The extreme environments are capitalism and the pacific ocean. Both outmaneuver the environments with pain, loss and suffering. The two protagonists experience failure and setback but are undaunted in their drive and ambition to succeed. Unlike most people Pi and Jobs are spurred on by their antagonists. They both have an eat or be eaten mindset. Pi literally and Jobs figuratively. They both ultimately succeed with vision, clarity and tenacity.
While most of us know the story of Steve Jobs and have benefited physically by Apple and all its products, I suggest you watch The Life of Pi and benefit spiritually. I wear an amulet daily that says: I am not afraid I was born to do this. An oft quote from Joan of Arc. I believe after watching these movies that Steve Jobs and PI were not afraid and somehow knew they were born to do what they did.
