Danny DeVito recently interviewed Arnold Schwarzenegger. Instead of it being a fun, cheery interview, as one might have expected from a comedian like DeVito, a good chunk of it turned on what seemed like an existential crisis Arnold is having regarding death.
When the subject first came up, Arnold says he doesn’t think there is an afterlife, that all that happens is your life blinks out of existence and you’re buried six feet deep. He said: “It reminds me of Howard Stern’s question to me. ‘Tell me, governor, what happens to us when we die?’ I said, ‘Nothing. You’re six feet under. Anyone that tells you something else is a f–king liar.’ I said, ‘We don’t know what happens with the soul and all this spiritual stuff that I’m not an expert in, but I know that the body as we see each other now, we will never see each other again like that.’”
DeVito, chiming in, said, “We deteriorate.”
Schwarzenegger, continuing, agreed with DeVito and then proceeded to describe heaven as made up and there being nothing at all after death, saying that because that’s what he thinks is true about life after death, he’s uncomfortable with the idea of dying. Responding to DeVito’s comment about our bodies deteriorating, he said, “Except in some fantasy. When people talk about, ‘I will see them again in heaven,’ it sounds so good, but the reality is that we won’t see each other again after we’re gone. That’s the sad part. I know people feel comfortable with death, but I don’t.”
He then got to what seemed like the crux of his fear about dying, which is that he’ll miss everything he enjoyed while alive. How, exactly, he will be able to miss going to the gym, going to the beach, or the other examples of things he will miss (oddly, he didn’t mention his kids) if he’s just blinked out of existence and there’s no life or consciousness after death was unclear. Regardless of that logical inconsistency, Arnold did seem quite perturbed by the idea of missing out on things he enjoys, saying, “Because I will f–king miss the s— out of everything. To sit with you here, that will one day be gone? And to have fun and to go to the gym and to pump up, to ride my bike on the beach, to travel around, to see interesting things all over the world. What the f—?”
DeVito responded by saying, “Life! It’s the best!” Arnold seemed to agree on that point, saying, “Exactly. What’s that all about?”
Things then got weird, with Arnold questioning DeVito over who is to blame for us not living forever and having to die, all the while avoiding any religious answers to the question, such as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. “I tell you, there’s someone that mixed up this whole thing. Think about it. Who can we blame?” Arnold asked.
DeVito seemed a bit confused about what Arnold was asking him. He replied by asking, “You mean that we don’t live forever?” But Arnold wouldn’t let go, sticking to his point that someone is responsible for death but not bringing up religion. “Yeah. That we have to die,” he said.
DeVito did not answer the question but still engaged with Arnold somewhat, said, “That’s tough, man.”
Things then got weirder and more uncomfortable, with Arnold getting mad about the idea of death, saying that the reality of certain death is something that gets him angry. He said, “I don’t know what the deal is, but in any case, it’s a reality, and it truly pisses me off.”
Then, responding to DeVito, who said, “You don’t want to die,” Arnold insisted that he’s not ready to die and that he thinks it’s a bad deal, saying, “No. What the fuck? What kind of deal is that?”
Want to hang out with Arnold and have an existential crisis together https://t.co/QANYuZt7oy pic.twitter.com/wuh6uFkPV9
— John Frankensteiner (@JFrankensteiner) June 7, 2023
Those questions Arnold posed to DeVito and the fears he expressed in the interview, particularly about what happens after death and why we die, are questions that religion answers. Perhaps he should return to the Catholic Church, which he grew up in, or any church so that he can find those answers and salvation.
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