This episode is sponsored by
Skillshare
In 2008, a little film called Kung Fu Panda premiered in China
Beautiful Chinese setting
Loveable characters
Kickass action
And a genuinely well-written story
It knocked everyone's socks off
As the trivia goes
China was so impressed by its representation of Chinese culture
It sparked a debate among netizens and government officials
On why hadn't China produced something like this
Except...
That's not entirely true
The question WAS posted
But no one was impressed with its cultural representation
3 minutes into the film
You see Po playing with ninja stars
Ninjas
From Japan!
This is not a culturally accurate film
No one in China think it is
So, what's the big deal?
No one asks this question when Mulan came out
And no one asks this question since
Why did China care so much about Kung Fu Panda
And ONLY Kung Fu Panda?
It's not a question with a definitive answer
But I do have my interpretation
I think the reason is because...
This film loves China
More than China loves itself
[WHY CHINA CARED ABOUT KUNG FU PANDA]
[CHAPTER ONE]
Kung Fu Panda tells the story of Po
A clumsy fat panda with a passion for the kung fu superstars
The Furious Five
"Monkey!"
"Mantis!
"Crane!
"Viper!
"Tigress!"
Dude's a simp is what I mean
"Bonk"
At first glance
The film appeared to have faithfully recreated the Chinese aesthetic
From the red and yellow color palette
To the mountainous landscape of Sichuan
And the abundance of dragon motifs
Impressive
But the amount of dragons is also one of the many reasons
This film looks Chinese to everyone
Except to Chinese people
If you take a look at Chinese movies
You'll quickly realize that dragons are actually pretty rare
Even in the most glamourous of productions
Dragon decors are used sparingly
That's because in China
The significance of dragons is beyond decorative
Chinese Dragons are sacred beasts
Throughout the late-dynastic period
The yellow dragon with five digits represents royalty
And is used exclusively by the emperor
Yes, it has to be yellow, and has to have five fingers
It's pedantic
But that's the level of respect it demands
This is why you don't see dragons carved into every pillar
Dragons have to be special
Because of this, this film doesn't remind me of China
It reminds me of...
Chinatown
You see, In 1906
Large parts of San Francisco, Including Chinatown
Were demolished in a major earthquake
Back then, the anti-Chinese sentiment was high in America
This gave the city the perfect excuse to relocate
And get rid of the Chinese population
To protect Chinatown
A group of Chinese merchants had to hire white architects
To rebuild the neighborhood into a tourist attraction
An exotic locale that appeals to the Western fascination of China
Thus, Dragons
Dragons everywhere
Just as Chinatown looks American to Chinese
Kung Fu Panda is, aesthetically, a Chinese inspired American film
But this Americanness doesn't stop at the appearance
Circle back to the story for a moment
One day, by accident
Po, the total amateur, is chosen to become the Dragon Warrior
A kung fu hero bestowed with the power of the Dragon Scroll
And is destined to defeat the evil Tai Lung
It is the classic "chosen one" narrative
In which a hero is thrust into an unfamiliar world
Meets a mentor
Gathers allies
Combats evil
It is a pervasive trope in Hollywood
Not so much in China
Another detail that is obviously not Chinese
Is the philosophy behind the martial arts
"The true path to victory is to find your opponent's weakness..."
"...and make him suffer for it."
I'm sure the moment I point it out
It'll all become very obvious
"Master said, martial arts are for self-improvement and self-defense"
"There is no glory to speak of"
While, no doubt, Master Shifu was being cheeky with his statement
The film does seem to glorify strength and power
"Tigress, you need more ferocity!"
"Monkey, greater speed"
"Crane, height"
"Viper, subtlety"
It wants to fight is what I mean
"We need emotional content"
It's all about the functions of martial arts
The Furious Five are worshiped for their physicalities
And not their enlightenment
"If you learn kung fu"
"You'll be tempted to start fights"
"If you fight, you invite hostility"
"You may even lose your life"
This difference is especially apparent with Po's training
While he improves
The morality and philosophy of kung fu is never brought up
He is trained as an instrument to defeat Tai Lung
And that is all
The film is more interested in the badassery
And not so much its culture
With all these major differences in aesthetic and philosophy
No one in China is going to think this movie tells a Chinese story
But here is the thing
It's not trying to
As we'll see, the real reason the Furious Five is worshiped
Is because they are
Movie stars
[SPONSOR MESSAGE]
Hey you!
Do you want your own kung fu action figures?
Well, Skillshare has a class for that!
I'm not joking
With Skillshare, you can learn how to 3D print
Check out this class by Lauren Slowik
In which she teaches you how to turn a 2D sketch
Into a physical object
Plus with classes like character designs and illustrations
No matter the skill level
There is something for you
Less than 10 dollars a month with an annual subscription
Skillshare is incredibly affordable
The first 1000 of my subscribers to click the link in the description
Will get 30% off an annual premium membership
Even if you've already had a free trial before
You can still take advantage of this offer!
So, if you have something you want to create
Or just have a skill you want to develop
Let Skillshare give you a hand
And start your creative journey today!
[CHAPTER TWO]
After being chosen
Po has to train under the reluctant Master Shifu
Being a complete outsider with no talent for the art
The training yielded no result
Desperate, and with the evil Tai Lung approaching
In a flash of inspiration
Master Shifu realizes that to train an unorthodox fighter
He must use an unorthodox method
With Food
Kung Fu Panda is not a film about Chinese culture in general
It is a love letter to martial arts movies
Movies that the filmmakers grew up watching
From Shaw Brothers
To Jackie Chan
To Stephen Chow
Po is a big fan of the Furious Five
Because the filmmakers are big fans of Jackie Chan
In other words
Kung Fu Panda is about an American kid
Growing up admiring Chinese kung fu stars
"I love kung fuuuuuuu!"
And despite being an outsider
With no talent in martial arts
He chooses to make his own kung fu movie
Using unorthodox methods
Animation
Suddenly, everything falls into place
It makes sense that the movie feels Chinese-American
Because it is a story about an American
And his experience with Chinese kung fu cinema
In America
That's why the Chinese setting and philosophy are inaccurate
But the story tropes and references are spot on
For example
The entire gag of a fat guy doing kung fu
Is just Sammo Hung
This gag is also used by Stephen Chow
Twice!
In fact, supposedly, Kung Fu Panda started as a spoof of Kung Fu Hustle
The chopstick fight scene is an obvious reference
To The Fearless Hyena
Shifu's look
Modeled after Pai Mei
With those signature white eyebrows
Referencing, impressively, not the Tarantino version
But the OG
The Furious Five is a reference to the five animals style kung fu
The rooftop parcours is very similar to the one in Crouching Tiger
There is Dim Mak
And there is the comedic use of props
There is a lot of passion put into this movie
As Chinese filmmaker, Lu Chuan has noted
You can feel the sincerity behind this film
And this passion for kung fu cinema
Is precisely what made China went...
"Why can't we do that?"
[CHAPTER THREE]
Finally, Po receives the powerful Dragon Scroll
He opens it
"It's blank"
"What!?"
And that is actually another Chinese movie trope
Called "The Wordless Heavenly Book"
In Chinese folk religion
The secrets of heaven cannot be written down without severe punishment
So when priests and monks record this forbidden knowledge
They use secret symbols
Creating a book without words
Eventually, this concept got incorporated into wuxia media
Whenever there is a secret martial arts manual
Chances are, it's empty or encoded
Now, if this is a Chinese movie
The empty scroll would likely reference a Chinese trope
"Empty your mind"
"Be formless, shapeless"
"Like water"
But, nah
It teaches the most cliche of Hollywood lessons
"There is no secret ingredient"
"It's just you"
Embrace who you are
Which...
Happens to be a lesson China needed
Since the 2000s
Chinese films no longer dominated the Asian market
Close by, Korean cinema was on the rise
And internationally
Hollywood films were reaching scales no one else can reach
Throughout the entire decade
We see Chinese cinema trying to relive the past glory
Over and over again
To no avail
The old magic was just... gone
It felt like the end of an era
So, imagine, in the middle of this
A Hollywood movie comes out
And professes its love for Chinese martial arts films
It manages to incorporate Chinese elements into a Hollywood plot
And it captures that old magic better than China
It was as if the true lineage of kung fu film
Continued in America
Kung Fu film has been popular with Black Americans since Bruce Lee
And reached the mainstream with Jackie Chan in the 80s and 90s
But even by the time The Matrix came out
Hollywood fight scenes were still chasing after China
But then comes Kung Fu Panda
A movie featuring a Chinese mascot animal
About Chinese martial arts
And it's a bigger and better kung fu movie
Than most Chinese films from the past 10 years
It loves Chinese cinema so much
They continued its legacy
A legacy that China, at the time
Didn't seem to care enough to continue
This is why China cared so much about Kung Fu Panda
Kung Fu Panda loves China
More than China loves itself
[CONCLUSIONS]
There is a Chinese proverb for this
(Because there is a Chinese proverb for everything)
"Like rowing upstream"
"To stop advancing"
"Is to be driven back"
Is Kung Fu Panda a particularly accurate representation of Chinese culture?
No, it isn't
But that doesn't matter
If it is the only good movie about Chinese culture
It'll win by default
Over the years, in this channel, many viewers have cited Kung Fu Panda
As an example of a non-Chinese industry making a good Chinese story
While to these filmgoers
It represents the success of Hollywood filmmakers
To me, it represents the failure of China in voicing self
It should be obvious that China doesn't use ninja stars
It should be obvious that China doesn't plaster dragons all over the place
But since Chinese cinema kept failing at representing itself
People outside of China have no reference point
Luckily, Chinese animation is doing much better these days
It's gaining traction on the international stage
And is more confident about its own culture than ever
I guess lesson learned
There is no secret ingredient
The only way to be the best self
Is to love yourself