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#if tai lung comes back and tigress can't kill him

darkcrowprincess · 2 years

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If Tai Lung came back for a redemption arc and joins the team:

Tai Lung annoyed: Tigress isn’t answering my messages.

Po taking out his phone: Allow me.

Tai Lung doubtful(doesn't know Po and Tigress are together): She's my little sister I tried 6 times, what makes you thi-

Tigress voice sounds happy: *replying to Po's call* Hello Po, what's wrong?

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nokingsonlyfooles · 1 year

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The Dark Secret of Kung Fu Panda (Part 1)...

... Shifu is kind of a shitty teacher.

But only if you live in the West!

Apparently, you all like Panda analysis, so let's talk about cross-cultural translations, Theravada Buddhism, filial piety, and the ultimate futility of writers trying to impart a specific interpretation to a diverse audience - just to start! Then, I'll come back on Thursday and we can unpack WTF is the deal with that Dragon Scroll.

American movies can pick up a lot of box office cash in China, so they try like hell to stay inoffensive and relevant to Eastern and Western audiences. Often, they fail spectacularly.

But Kung Fu Panda pulled it off! ...With just a little wobble on the dismount.

Chinese audiences have little to complain about when it comes to these guys:

But here in the West, we can't seem to stop coming up with reasons all three of 'em got a raw deal - even the ones who were a little bit genocide-y.

And especially this li'l guy.

Aw, no, look how cute!

People will bend over backwards to defend that cute kid (and sexy adult), to the point of throwing Oogway, Shifu, Po, Tigress, or the whole franchise under a bus.

There are folks out there who are gonna die mad about Tai Lung's lack of a redemption arc and humiliating demise. Like, literally.

To their credit, the Kung Fu Panda team caught this after some early screenings and tried to fix it. Tai Lung's betrayal and attempt to steal the scroll just wasn't enough, so they added a massacre, and every villain after Tai Lung had an impressive kill count woven into their backstory right from the start.

(Not that it necessarily helped, if you happen to look this bad boy up on DeviantArt.)

In a wuxia film, and in Chinese culture in general, betraying your father/teacher, and asking that they betray their father/teacher is more than enough to make a villain. Given that filial piety is the basis of all ethics, as taught by Confucius himself, what went down in the Jade Palace was an attempt to burn society itself to the ground, all because one guy felt entitled to a shiny piece of paper. That is Captain Planet levels of self-destructive evil.

All three movie villains pulled off some violation of this fundamental ethical duty. Tai Lung betrayed his father/teacher. Lord Shen betrayed his parents - and managed to let his teacher go, with sadness and disappointment on both sides. Kai betrayed his adoptive brother - although from his point of view, his brother betrayed him, so he may be the most sympathetic of them through this lens.

The only way to impart this level of wrong across cultures is to add a lot of murdering, and even then it doesn't quite scan. Tai Lung didn't even necessarily kill anyone in the village; cartoons get nervous about the word "die" around these here parts, so they just said he "laid waste." Well, that could mean a lot of things! Does that guy deserve decades of solitary in a hell-prison for (in my mind) doing nothing more than calling out an unfair action and leaving a bad Yelp review of Mr. Ping's noodles?

I can't trust a bird who eats noodles, I don't care how cute his hat is!

So, it's not just that the violation of ethics doesn't carry, the concept of "unfair" crept into a place where it really doesn't belong. Traditionally, it is perfectly acceptable for a Kung Fu Master to be a total piece of shit who motivates his students to learn out of sheer spite and puts them through hell.

Oh, yeah, I remember him. That moustache looks familiar...

If we're coming from a place where we buy that trope and expect it to be played straight, Shifu's mistake was being too nice to Tai Lung. His student's self-esteem was insufficiently crushed! That boy had the nerve to break his own Master's leg! Thank goodness Shifu became a cold, uncaring, emotionally-distant task master - just in time to raise Tigress right!

Yes. Good. Never let on that you're pleased with anything your student does. That'll keep 'em in line!

But a Western audience isn't going to buy that. Shifu just looks like a jerk, and Tigress is a jerk... In fact, all of the Five, save Viper (who is just that nice) seem like jerks, and Oogway is a troll.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did you have something urgent to do? I think blowing out these candles, one-by-one, is rather important too."

Being an utter troll is also a valid way to teach kung fu, and Buddhist practices in general, which is definitely where Oogway is coming from. I peg him as a Theravada Buddhist, due to the way he teaches, and one scene in particular from the third movie.

Enlightenment isn't something you just hand over like a piece of paper, it's something everyone has to find for themself, in their own way. It's not possible to teach Tai Lung or Po self worth, and it's not possible to teach Shifu to lighten up, so the best a smart teacher can do is give them a good nudge, then step back and see what happens.

...Even if that "nudge" requires one to ascend to the Spirit Realm and leave your most stubborn student to clean up his own damn mess.

But there aren't as many Buddhists watching in the West, so what's a writer to do?

Well, they split the difference. Tigress did grow up better than Tai Lung, in accordance with the tropes, but it turns out she's not done learning and growing, and neither is Shifu (or the rest of the Five, but they don't get much of an arc. There are time constraints!). Their arrogance and lack of flexibility render them incapable of working with someone like Po - and they gotta figure out what they're doing wrong fast, 'cos Shifu's other teaching mistake is on his way back! In China, Shifu is learning to be a better teacher. In the West, he's learning to stop being a shitty teacher! And it takes him all three movies to grasp the humility he needs to learn from Po. Tigress, on the other hand, learns to respect Po and soft style by the end of film one.

When Western values are applied, Shifu comes off as a very slow learner, due to his own impatience and inability to slow down. But that's okay. He does learn, he's clearly trying, and we love him anyway.

Well, most of us do. Some of us can't get over that cute, fluffy little leopard, and we don't buy the (admittedly imperfect) attempt to make this story intelligible across cultures. These folks tend to focus their ire, much like Tai Lung himself, on that useless piece of paper the troll stuffed in a temple like it was something important, and the jerk led Tai Lung to believe was rightfully his. Why can't the boy just have his useless piece of paper, huh?

Well, I'll come back later and I'll tell ya.

#kung fu panda #po #shifu #oogway #tai lung #buddhism #cross cultural translation #stories #confucianism #villains

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kookies2000 · 1 year

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Back to Kung Fu Panda.

People say Tai Lung was mistreated and deserved a second chance because of it. That he was skilled enough to be The Dragon Warrior and Oogway judged him on his future instead of his present. Well, I'm 50/50 on that. I know that feeling of being lied to all your life and working hard for something that you desired with all your heart. Only to get it taken away. I'm sure a lot of us have felt that. And it's understandable why Tai Lung went on a killing rampage. Not justifiable but understandable. But I feel like we need to realize that Tigress has the same past as Tai Lung.

They both worked for years and fell in love with Kung Fu. They trained until their bones cracked/ can't feel pain. They both did it to make Shifu proud of them and they both wanted to be the Dragon Warrior. Only to get that title taken away. Honestly, I think Tigress had more reason to be upset. �� Tai Lung was told no, Tigress had a stranger come out of nowhere and take the title that looked like was gonna be given to her. Not even one of her friends got it, a stranger at the time. And when it comes to Shifu, yes he loved Tai Lung more which is why Tai Lung was so hurt as well. While Tigress wasn't as loved, she was loved but not as loved at Tai Lung. And they both used that as a motive to make Shifu proud of them.

In other words, the two had similar pasts, motives, and troubles. Yet Tigress didn't start a killing rampage. And I can see why she didn't while Tai Lung did. Tigress had support and love. She had the Furious Five with her and we all know how close they had gotten since their teenage years. Not to mention her relationship with Po getting stronger and closer. While Tai Lung didn't seem to have anyone but Shifu. So I guess the difference is that Tigress did have love while Tai Lung didn't.

And this is why I say 50/50. They had the same past and trouble yet Tigress didn't kill anyone. Meaning she was and is good at heart. But at the same time, she had something Tai Lung most likely didn't. So no, Tai Lung didn't deserve to be Teb Dragon Warrior because he did have darkness in his heart. But he does deserve a second chance since that darkness was put there by Shifu, accidentally I should add.

Ok, now back to watching Trolls. 🤣

#kung fu panda

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darkcrowprincess · 2 years

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@yarart4ever @tipolover22

*Tigress and Tai Lung are both drunk and having a rematch. The rest of the five are watching from a safe distance when Po comes running in panic*

Po worried: * Sees Tigress standing tall but wobbling, Tai Lung lying face first on the ground* What’s going on?!

Mantis *sharing popcorn with Monkey and Viper as they both watch: Tai Lung may have died.

Monkey *laughs*: again.

Po super worried: Tai Lung MAY have died?!

Crane *trying to get a better with his binoculars, trying to see if Tai Lung is still breathing*: We’re looking into it.