Film Theory: Kung Fu Panda’s Cycle of EVIL!

This may be the world you want, the world you imagine, but because of your mistakes, your missteps, this is the world you will get. And the only way to stop him, to save him? Never listen to this turtle. Hello Internet! Welcome to Film Theory, the show that knows that the secret to theorizing was inside you all along. And just to start, I'm sure many of you are probably a little confused right now. Why did MatPat's voice suddenly drop a couple octaves? Is this a true crime podcast now? Well not exactly. Obviously, I'm NOT MatPat. My name is Lee.

Nice to meet you. I have four swords and I lost a game of Mario Party against Vegeta. Well, his voice actor. He's a nice guy. In fact, I've been working behind the scenes here at Theorist Channels for ten years. No joke, I was the third editor Matt hired in August 2014. My first episode was The Peach is Dead Game Theory, but I've since been able to keyframe my way out of the editor dungeon. and I have been involved in

film

theory

from the beginning. I have written or edited countless videos for channels. I literally tried to count them and I have no idea.

They all just get confused at some point. I think I did it with Gaster? Not Sans's Nest, though. That was it Matt. Anyway, I know this is a big change and I know it's a lot. I'd say this meme that's been circulating really sums it up best. My time has come. You must continue your journey without me. What, what, what, what are you? That? But what else did this meme remind me of? The fact that Kung Fu Panda 4 is about to hit theaters as of this writing, and now that I've taken on the role of Film Theorist, I can't wait to see it.

In case you don't know, Kung Fu Panda is about Po, a

panda

obsessed with

kung

fu, and the martial arts masters who live in his village. Master Oogway the Turtle, the Furious Five, and Master Shifu, who is apparently a red

panda

? Despite not having any traditional

kung

fu training, Po is named the dragon warrior who will gain unlimited power, much to the confusion and frustration of all the other masters. In the end, Po and the others learn that unlimited power is not a magical technique or hidden energy. It's realizing that you were special just the way you are.

I was practically raised on these kinds of animated martial arts homages like Jackie Chan Adventures and Xiaolin Showdown, so I really connected with the Kung Fu Panda movies. The wholesome message of loving yourself in one, the heartfelt family themes in two, the spectacular animation in three, and that's not to mention the multiple spin-off series and web shows and even a Christmas special. But what he respected most? The restraint of not using the Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting song until the third movie. That is the true power. But of course, when you consume both content and

theory

, you are bound to notice some inconsistencies.

Specifically when it comes to everyone's favorite kind old kung fu turtle, Master Oogway. Look, between hours of meditation and giving cryptic advice like Quit Smoking. Do not give up. Noodles. He is creating more problems than he solves. He is not the wise teacher this series has made him out to be. In fact, he fails almost everyone he has taught, leaving his students in a worse place than where they started. And the most embarrassing part? His flaws have created

cycle

s of abuse and miscommunication that threaten to continue unless someone steps in to stop them. Look inside yourselves and cook your noodles, loyal theorists.

It's time to fight Kung Fu. SKADOOOSH! So how am I going to argue that lovely old Master Oogway is actually the worst? Well, it all comes down to what I've identified as the three main flaws of him. His lies, his teachings and his legacy. Let's start with Oogway's first major flaw: his lying. The entire conflict of the first

film

is based entirely on Oogway's lies about the Dragon Warrior. See, the Dragon Warrior is a Kung Fu prodigy who would be worthy of learning the secret kept in the Dragon Scroll. When they open the scroll, the Dragon Warrior will be granted unlimited power, something they love to mention in the first movie.

Do you think it's that easy, that I'm going to give you the secret to unlimited power? The scroll has given him power! The prophecy was first predicted by Master Oogway, who said that the Dragon Warrior would protect both the Valley of Peace and its inhabitants. It's just as Oogway predicted. You have brought peace to this valley and to me. But in the climax of the first film, we learn that the legend of the Dragon Warrior is a farce. After Po finally opens the scroll, he only finds a bright, blank canvas. He though he later sees himself in the parchment's reflection and realizes that...

There is no secret ingredient. The secret power of the Dragon Warrior was simply believing in oneself. Classic, the power was within you all along. Anyway, the legend of the Dragon Warrior was never true, and it was all something Oogway invented to encourage others to train in Kung Fu, improve, and protect the Valley of Peace. Basically, it was a kind of deterrent. If you're a bad guy, you don't want to attack the Valley of Peace because it might cause the legendary Dragon Warrior to rise up and defeat you. But therein lies the problem. Prophecy doesn't do that.

In fact, it does the opposite: it creates more havoc in the Valley of Peace than it prevents. The villain of the first film, Tai Lung, was a student of Shifu and Oogway and showed a natural talent in Kung Fu. Enough for Shifu to consider him a serious candidate for Dragon Warrior. Tai Lung spent his entire life training, Shifu filling his head with stories that he was going to fulfill the prophecy. And because of this, Tai Lung overexerted himself to the point of physical injury. And yet, when Tai Lung was about to receive the title of Dragon Warrior, and was shown that the secret to power was simply believing in himself, he was denied at the last hurdle.

And because? Because Master Oogway received bad vibes from him. This ends up pushing Tai Lung over the edge as he goes on a rampage that terrorizes the Valley of Peace. Oogway's creation of the legend of the Dragon Warrior, this goal, hanging before Tai Lung that he worked his entire life for, and never given to him without explanation as to why, was the main reason Tai Lung came to his Top 10. betrayal anime. If Oogway had never lied to him or had explained to Tai Lung the truth about the Dragon Warrior instead of just walking away disappointed, Tai Lung probably would have been a pretty calm guy.

A dedicated Kung Fu master raised in the Valley of Peace and potentially part of the Furious Five. But Tai Lung's fall from grace is not the only avoidable conflict created by Oogway's lie about the Dragon Warrior. In the video game adaptation of Kung Fu Panda 2, a Komodo dragon named Zhao Dan challenges Po because he wants to prove that the Dragon Warrior is not strong enough to stop him. And the TV series Legends of Awesomeness has a lot of villains who have problems with the Dragon Warrior. Kim the Invincible, obsessed with fighting the strongest fighters in the world, travels to China because he wants to defeat the legendary Dragon Warrior.

Hundun, a former Tai Lung prison guard, blames the Dragon Warrior for all of his problems and learns Kung Fu specifically so he can destroy him. Kwan the Indestructible tries to kill Po partly because he wants to defeat the Dragon Warrior and regain his fame. Even the Emperor's Advisor uses Po's title as Dragon Warrior in an attempt to plot to take the throne. I could go on and on, but you get the point. Instead of the Dragon Warrior deterring bad guys, many villains in this world only see Po as an obstacle, someone to outwit, dominate, or defeat.

If Master Oogway's long-term goal was to get people to learn Kung Fu, congratulations, it worked. But at what price? A creation of how many villains? And as a result of all this, again and again, danger comes to the Valley of Peace. But that's not the worst thing this turtle has done. Oogway's second major flaw? His teaching. Master Oogway is simply not as good a teacher as this series makes him out to be, and his lessons actually hurt more people than they help. We've already talked at length about Tai Lung and Oogway's refusal to step in and guide there, but it goes much further, especially in the Legends of Awesomeness TV series.

Like Tai Lung, another former Jade Palace student who went wrong was Feng Huang. She was personally trained by Master Oogway, but as she became more powerful, she challenged Oogway for control of the Jade Palace. In the show, she is framed as if Feng Huang has darkness in her heart, similar to Tai Lung. But just listen to exactly how what Feng Huang did was described. That's all. No, she tried to murder all the students. No, she tried to enslave the Valley. No, I'm going to kill you specifically, Oogway. All she did was challenge Oogway for dominance of the Jade Palace in a fair fight.

And what did Oogway do in response? Instead of doing nothing like he did with Tai Lung, Oogway did something even worse. He created an owl-shaped cage that was inescapable and that suited Feng Huang perfectly. Even if it's all true and Feng Huang started turning

evil

, which again, I'm not so sure, this all means that Oogway didn't even try to talk to her. Instead, he saw the dark path she started down and decided that imprisoning her in an Iron Maiden was the best course of action. Exactly as we saw with Tai Lung. For those of you keeping score at home, that's twice now that Oogway has seen someone going down a dark path and done nothing about it.

In other cases where there is definitely some innate

evil

in some of his students, Oogway takes no action before they hurt other people. For example, Ding was a Kung Fu student at the Jade Palace who had incredible telekinetic abilities. To his credit, Oogway recognized this talent, but instead of taking Ding under his wing, Oogway sent him to an order of monks for training. This led to tragedy when Ding became impatient and used his abilities to hypnotize the monks and force them to jump to their deaths. There are many things wrong with this. For example, if Oogway is so adept at sensing the darkness in people's hearts that he was willing to prepare a cage to imprison one of the Furious Five, his most trusted students, why didn't he sense Ding's darkness and tell him? ended?

Before he murdered all those innocent monks? But these types of special talents are not always recognized. For example, there is Taotie, one of the series' recurring antagonists who helped Shifu build the Jade Palace training room. He also became one of Oogway and Shifu's students, although he had a lot of trouble learning martial arts. But Taotie had other skills and took advantage of his engineering talents before building a giant wooden warrior who would fight for him. Honestly, that's really cool and something that should be celebrated. I mean, Kung Fu Panda is a franchise that's about accepting who you are instead of trying to be someone else.

Shouldn't this type of inventiveness be curbed? Not if you're Oogway. According to Taotie, Oogway felt that way of watching there, friend. Time and time again, in many ways, Oogway's teachings fail many of his students, turning them into villains when they need not be. And the only thing worse than that? What about his successful students? Oogway's third great flaw, his legacy. Oogway has passed on his prejudices towards those he deems unacceptable. And even the students who lived up to Oogway's expectations inherit his worst traits. For example, let's start with Shifu. He only thinks about how Shifu treats Tai Lung after Oogway denounces him.

Note that Shifu found Tai Lung when he was a baby and adopted him, raising him as a son. Tai Lung looked at Shifu for approval like a father. But what does Shifu do when Oogway refuses to name Tai Lung the Dragon Warrior? He simply shook his head and walked away. Instead of comforting his son, talking to him and encouraging him to keep it up, or going to Oogway and asking for an explanation, Shifu does nothing. This ends up taking a huge emotional toll on both Tai Lung and Shifu, destroying their relationship. And it also makes Shifu a cold, hardened mentor, rather than the father figure he was before Oogway's influence.

Look at that face! Tigress, at this point a child, clearly needs support and approval, and Shifu is unable to give it to her due to Oogway's actions. Like his own teacher, Shifu has become a bad teacher. But even disregarding this moment that must have been emotionally devastating for Shifu, there are situations where we see Shifu carry out Oogway's worst teachings. For example, we can see the reaction when Oogway names Po the Dragon Warrior. Instead of respecting the choice, Shifu and the rest are rude to Po. They bully him and try to make him give up his dream of being a Kung Fu master to leave the Jade Palace.

They are guardians of Kung Fu, just as Oogway did with characters like Taotie. What's more, they continue Oogway's questionable tactics on howdeal with students who feel they are going down a dark path. In that episode that introduces Feng Huang, the owl who was the most powerful of the Furious Five, the rest of the characters begin to treat Po strangely. He worries them that he has become too powerful and, quote, turn evil, just like Feng Huang did. And you know how Oogway made that perfectly sized owl cage for Feng Huang? Well, the Furious Five were doing the exact same thing for Po, creating a panda-shaped prison for him in case he turned evil instead of, you know, communicating with him.

But the biggest tragedy here? After experiencing all of this himself, not even Po is free from the horrible influence of Oogway and his teachings. In The Legends of Awesomeness, Po meets Tai Lung's nephew Peng, who is incredibly talented in Kung Fu. Po and Shifu decide that he should train at the Jade Palace, but after Po sees the extent of Peng's abilities, he becomes jealous, to the point that he tells Peng that he must leave. He lies to Peng and explains that he won't make the cut. Now, where have I heard that story before? Po did the exact same thing to Peng that Oogway did to Tai Lung, telling a student they weren't good enough without communicating, and the results turned violent.

And it doesn't end there either. In another episode, three pigs ask Po to teach them some secret Kung Fu moves, but Po turns them down, smugly saying: As a result, the pigs kidnap Shifu and force him to teach them Kung Fu, all to get revenge. of Po. . Like Oogway and Shifu before him, Po is policing the Kung Fu here and making an enemy of someone he doesn't need. And then in the Paws of Destiny series, four young pandas want to learn Kung Fu, but Po initially refuses to teach them because, Po, buddy, come here, remember where you started?

And also keep in mind that this series takes place AFTER Kung Fu Panda 3, which is about learning that anyone can be a good fighter as long as he embraces what he's good at. It's ironic, since Po seems to be more like Oogway than his own person here. The apple hasn't fallen far from the tree, or I guess it would be a peach in this case. The point is that Po hasn't learned the ways of peace from Master Oogway, Shifu, or the Furious Five. He has learned to be selfish, arrogant, and make sure he is better than everyone else.

At every turn, from his lies about the Dragon Warrior to his poor and cryptic teaching style, and even how his students carry on his legacy, Master Oogway did more harm than good to the world of Kung Fu. Panda. Honestly, his teachings don't even live up to the central theme of the franchise. In a series about accepting the best parts of yourself, Oogway is very eager to find the worst traits in others, the darkness in their hearts, and throw them away when they don't meet his expectations. And what's more, Oogway's vigilance goes directly against the meaning of Kung Fu itself.

Although we associate Kung Fu primarily with martial arts, it is not limited to that. In China, the term Kung Fu refers to anything that requires patience, discipline, and hard work. Yes, Oogway supports characters like Po and Shifu, encouraging them to embrace what they are good at. But why doesn't he do that for others? Why doesn't he celebrate the powerful drive of Tai Lung, the mechanical genius of Taotie, the ambition of Feng Huang? Those are not bad traits, and with the right guiding hand and the right mentor, they can become powerful tools in making the world a better place.

But hey, that's just a theory. A THEORY OF CINEMA. And cut.