# Cast Away **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 15, 2014, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592 "2014-08-15T09:12:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/41 "2014-08-17T08:23:39Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I thought it was a good callback to an earlier scene. On the island, he climbs the hill to get his bearings. And his bearings are, he’s on this very tiny island, almost a rock that happens to be above sea level, surrounded on all sides by vast ocean. He has nowhere to go. In the last shot, his being at a crossroads means he can go north, south, east or west. He can go anywhere he wants. A common theme in a lot of movies, and in life really: duality. In this case privation vs. excess. It’s much easier to choose when you don’t have a choice. So, though off the island, his life wasn’t necessarily easier. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > One thing the film was about was how he was changed by the experience. At the beginning, he was a man professionally obsessed with time and efficiency and he had four years in which he had all the time in the world and efficiency wasn’t really an issue. On a more fundamental level, it was about what people do when out of their habitat. > [@Bullitt](#): > > One thing I’ve noticed is that Tom Hanks has urinating scenes in several movies. Why is that? Apollo 13, A League of Their Own, Cast Away, The Green Mile. They all have a Hanks peeing scene. Why is that? Maybe it’s just a gimmick, trying to start a meme. Like Stan Lee appearing in several Marvel movies. > [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > [I’m sorry, Wilson.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sscC0UbYipE) It’s funny because it’s true. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/42 "2014-08-17T09:32:19Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Also…no one has mentioned the plane crash? Horrific. I have no fear of flying myself but movie air crashes get to me for some reason. Odd , since the real ones on the “Mayday/Airline disasters” don’t. Other than to get me to yell at the screen, “Turn around now fools…what are you waiting on???” That’s like me. I can’t bring myself to watch things that involve crashing aircraft. It’s why I never watched “Lost.” Although, given what I’ve heard around here about how that ended, I might have dodged a bullet with that attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/43 "2014-08-17T11:27:28Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > His buying a new ‘Wilson’ is a little…disturbing. He wasn’t buying a new “Wilson”. He was going around replacing all the things he used. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/44 "2014-08-18T17:36:23Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > In Chuck’s case, he was declared dead by the world. He now has no standing, no cache, and no obligations. He has a car and that’s about it. He got a warm reception, but notice how the narrative skips over the ceremonies and parties and shows Chuck mostly alone in the aftermaths of them. Really not hard to fix, and FedEx indicated he’d never have to work again. So, he has years of pay coming, a pension, good credit, his house is still half his (his ex-wife will have to buy him out) and so forth. By no means has he been “zeroed”. He is alone, sure, but maybe… ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/45 "2014-08-18T17:56:27Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > All I can recall is that the guy that played Wilson was fantastically believable. I thought Wilson’s acting was very well-rounded. That said, he obviously borrowed a lot from Tom Hank’s acting style- you could really see Hank’s handprint. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/46 "2014-08-18T20:32:27Z")
> [@jrepka](#): > > Sonofagun, I missed that line. If that’s true then it’s time to let that annoyance go. I’ve still got the analemma to complain about though 🙂 Eh. For the first year, guestimate noon every day and mark the wall. Second year, do the same. Normalize your 700-point curve. By the third year, your normalized curve should be getting pretty close to spot-on, even though you were completely guessing on noon every day. We see Chuck in year four. Presumably, he’s had enough time to get his analemma pretty spot-on. Give your characters enough free time and they can work their way out of any plot hole. **Cicero** – what did you find unbelievable about the movie? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Greenjeans](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.greenjeans/32/551_2.png) [@Mr.Greenjeans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Greenjeans)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/47 "2014-08-18T20:56:53Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > One thing I’ve noticed is that Tom Hanks has urinating scenes in several movies. Why is that? Apollo 13, A League of Their Own, Cast Away, The Green Mile. They all have a Hanks peeing scene. Why is that? When ya gotta go… ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2014, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/48 "2014-08-18T21:46:09Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > One thing I’ve noticed is that Tom Hanks has urinating scenes in several movies. Why is that? Apollo 13, A League of Their Own, Cast Away, The Green Mile. They all have a Hanks peeing scene. Why is that? There are [plenty more examples](http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-actors-who-do-exact-same-thing-in-every-movie/). ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/49 "2014-08-19T12:59:18Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > His buying a new ‘Wilson’ is a little…disturbing. > [@Quimby](#): > > He wasn’t buying a new “Wilson”. He was going around replacing all the things he used. Indeed. I had to point out to a friend while watching this that in those last scenes in the car, he had surrounded himself with all the things that were essential to his survival on the island, but which were all serious challenges in acquiring. Water, fire, food and Wilson. What was once scarce and precious is now commonplace and easily acquired, but yet, he still feels a need to have a supply close at hand. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/50 "2014-08-19T13:21:38Z")
Watched Cast Away again last night after reading this thread. Caught me emotionally as strongly as the first time I watched it years ago. The ‘Wilson floating away’ scene was tough, but what really got me was the scene in the rain outside Kelly’s house when she said “You’re the love of my life.” Also, when they were both in his car and he was preparing to drive off and she said “Chuck?” and he responded “…you have to go home” and slowly turned back into her driveway. And the scene near the end of the movie when he was talking to his former coworker explaining how during his four years on the island he knew he’d probably never get back to Kelly but the thought of her kept him going, and now he’s home and he’s “lost her all over again.” Man, I was weeping like a baby. ---
**Author:** ![TRex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@TRex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRex)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/51 "2014-08-19T13:45:47Z")
I need to watch this agian now, this thread has been an eductaion. I now know what and analemma is (kind of ) and I want to count how many time Tom Hanks pees on screen. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2014, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/52 "2014-08-19T13:49:16Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > He’s going to be one of the biggest celebrities in the world if he wants to be. If he so chooses, there will be a massive book, a movie, National Geographic specials, movie cameos… I’m trying to imagine the media sensation he would become. All of the networks would be competing for that first big interview with him. He would have gotten invitations to appear on all of the evening talk shows. He’d be invited to throw out the opening pitch at baseball games. And, as you mentioned, there would be book proposals. Someone would offer to fly him back to the island so he could show the TV audience where he lived and how he survived. Today, he’d probably inspire a reality competition program. Eventually the general public would get sick of seeing him on camera. I wonder if he’d retreat to a solo existence. Would he have trouble adjusting to life among others after four years all alone? ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/53 "2014-08-20T02:46:23Z")
> [@jrepka](#): > > (except how he produced an analemma on the wall of his cave without a working mechanical or digital clock) I thought he had the analog watch Kelly gave him. I thought I saw it in the cave. I also thought she was his fiancee, not wife. I could be wrong, but that’s what I remember. **Dewey Finn** , I think you’ve got a sequel there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/54 "2014-08-20T02:53:46Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I thought he had the analog watch Kelly gave him. I thought I saw it in the cave. I also thought she was his fiancee, not wife. I could be wrong, but that’s what I remember. > > **Dewey Finn** , I think you’ve got a sequel there. 😉 He did have the watch Kelly gave him in the cave. And you are correct, Kelly was his fiancee, not yet his wife. He gave her the ring right before boarding the fateful flight. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592/55 "2014-08-21T14:11:28Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I don’t know if you’re being serious or kidding, but I agree completely. > > I was crushed when he lost Wilson. > > Having lived on a remote Pacific island for three years, I was more attuned than most people to the little details. They got most of them right, with a few bloopers - sorry I can’t remember now, it’s been years since I saw the film. IIRC, didn’t he jump out of his skin at the crash of a falling coconut early on? That’s what I mean by little details - coconuts make a gawd-awful racket when they fall. > > Few actors could pull off a movie like that - Hanks is one of very few who could be continuously on screen for so long without making the audience want to through rocks at him (or coconuts). i was surprised by how i felt for Hank’s loss of Wilson. i didn’t realise just how much i’d been drawn into a movie carried by a single person. yeah, Hanks did a remarkable job. i should watch it again. i wonder what other details there are besides the coconuts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cast-away/695592.md?page=2)