Peter Shr - Week 1 - Kung Fu Panda's Exploration of Identity
I found out that China had a national conversation about how foreigners made a better movie representing Chinese culture than they could just because of Kung Fu Panda.
And as silly as it sounds, part of why I think Kung Fu Panda is so good is because the trilogy is really great at exploring the meaning of identity. Po goes through multiple character developments and each movie introduces a different aspect to the question: "Who am I?"
The first film showcases what makes you different makes you strong. Po is seen as useless. He's only ever served noodles in his dad's restaurant, and his dream of kung fu is treated like a joke. When Po is chosen as the Dragon Warrior, the Furious Five and Master Shifu expect Po to conform to their preconceptions. Since he sucks at fighting, they try to get him to quit, only to be countered by Po’s enthusiastic persistence and humor.
https://kungfupanda.fandom.com/wiki/Oogway?file=PoOogwayDW.jpg
Master Shifu asks why Po won't quit, and Po reveals what he feels about what he's done in his life. "Yeah, I stayed because every time you threw a brick at my head, or said I smelled, it hurt. But it could never hurt more than it did every day of my life just being me. I stayed because I thought if anyone could change me, could make me, not me, it was you, the greatest kung fu teacher in all of China." Po would rather suffer abuse for a chance to change than go back to his old self.
But as Master Oogwei previously says, “No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange. But you will get a peach.”
“But a peach cannot defeat Tai Lung,” Master Shifu retorts.
“Maybe it can, if you are willing to guide it, to nurture it, to believe in it.”
When Master Shifu is unable to beat Tai Lung, Po comes in and, with his own strength, is able to win. Po sits on him, beats him with noodles, uses his surroundings and his big body to his advantage, and sends him to the spirit realm with the Wuxi Finger Hold. This is possible only because of the nerdy obsession Po has with kung fu, the obsession that first starts the story.
After Po’s victory against Tai Lung, the Furious Five bowed down, calling him “master.” But they’ve missed the point: they treat Po as what they’ve perceived as the Dragon Warrior, but not the Dragon Warrior as just Po.
For more info on Kung Fu Panda: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441773/
Hi Peter! I really liked how you analyzed Kung Fu Panda for elements of identity, since that movie was one of my childhood favorites. The quotes that you selected from the movie work really well in the context of your blog post; Master Oogwei’s quote about peaches really made me think about some of the themes of the movie, and that entire section of dialogue greatly improves the general effect of your blog. The conclusion of this blog post was also very effective, as it really made me think about how the Furious Five perceived Po’s identity. Having watched the movie, it is clear that they accepted Po as the Dragon Warrior, but you brought up a new perspective that I had not considered—did the Furious Five ever change their perception of the Dragon Warrior to align more with Po?
ReplyDeleteHey Peter, I think it is really unique that you decided to analyze Kung Fu Panda for the first blog post. When I watched the movie, I did not even realize that there was something much more complex to learn from the movie. It is really interesting that you quoted Master Shifu and Master Oogwei because their philosophies are pretty different; one of them, Master Shifu, thinks that for you to be something, like a dragon warrior, then you have to act a certain way, but Master Oogwei says that you just have to believe in yourself and others just have to accept who you are. Also, its interesting that China thinks that Kung Fu Panda has described their culture better than they could have themselves.
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