It’s interesting how the lessons of life can get taught to you in a Hollywood animation movie.
I was having a stressful day (okay, it’s a domino of stress upon stress from a horrific year so far), and decided to scrap everything and go see Kung Fu Panda 2 with my good friend. I really didn’t expect much from this film and was already in a fowl mood when I sat in my seat because I had to pay $4 extra for the "3D" experience, even though I knew that it didn’t matter whether you watched this film in the regular 2D because it would all be the same. It’s not like you’re going to hear from a 5 year old, much less anyone, that they sure are glad that they watched Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D!!; because there’s no way the 2D film experience would do just film justice! Just seems like a Hollywood cash grab.
So I sit back, attempt to forget about my worries, and watch good ol’ Jack Black as the Panda. And I was shockingly surprised how much I enjoyed it.
INNER PEACE. The main character/Panda’s overall arc is that he needs to get over his past wounds and fears in order to save Kung Fu and the country. So because of this heavy dilemma, the Panda doesn’t have time to hum over his inner conflicts for very long. At the end, the Panda learns to stop living in his past and live in his present. As many times our past wounds effect our present life and then that leads to more wounds, and so on, and so on..... Our negative nostalgia moments are like viruses inside of our soul and it’s hard for many of us to love ourselves and therefore get the best out of ourselves.
Obtaining INNER PEACE is the most difficult thing to overcome in our Western world mind set. Whomever obtains this will be way ahead on the evolutionary cycle of life. And it’s good that a Hollywood movie like this talks about this. So while we laugh at the Panda’s shenanigans for 90 minutes, there is also an important lesson within.
The interesting thing about movies is that many times it all depends what head space you’re in as to whether you’ll enjoy the film or not. And Kung Fu Panda’s overall theme was exactly what I needed to hear. But on another day I easily would of thought that this theme was corny and overly simplistic. All I know it that’s this is an important theme for kids to think about. I wished I had a Kung Fu Panda when I was a kid!