Kung Fu Panda: "The Secret is... Nothing?"

"I'm so happy my son has finally had a noodle dream!!!" cried Po's dad. It was every noodle shop owner's dream, to be able to pass his life secrets and treasures over to a wayward son. Not that the Kung Fu Panda, Po, was a particularly spoilt profligate, but this overweight, Kung-Fu comic fanatic had his heart set on something other than making noodles. He loves Kung Fu. Kung Fu is his personal dream. Those viewers from an Asian background may relate to the force of paternal aspiration more than some.

This Disney story continues to trace the fateful journey this unlikely hero toward Kung-Fu mastery. The mould does not quite fit the usual "fulfillment of destiny" model we have seen in Zimba of the Lion King or "fulfillment of potential" model that we see in Cars for example. Po is truly pathetic. He is a no-hoper. He had neither destiny or potential for Kung-Fu mastery. But he's a sweet panda, who loves his food and just a little lacking in self-belief and confidence. This self-belief is where Kung-Fu panda can strike a chord with many story tellers and audience. We need a little more of the story to flesh out this message of KFP.

There is a lurking evil over this region in Animal China [my description of the location]. The citizens of hares and pigs enjoy freedom, but they do not realise that a Kung-Fu monster [the Snow Leopard] called Tai-Lung is still alive, although imprisoned. Tai is pure power and hate. To enjoy the ongoing prosperity and peace of this China, there needs to be the succession of the "Dragon Warrior", a beneficent and equally powerful Master of Kung-Fu. The ageing Kung-Fu master Oogway [the 1000 year old Turtle], and Shifu [the Racoon] are both trusting Fate to choose the next Dragon Warrior at the Kung-Fu contest. Just at the appointed time of this Kung Fu contest, Oogway accidentally but ceremoniously elects Po as the Dragon Warrior. How? Po lands in front of the winner of the contest, Tigress, after lighting off many fireworks stuffed to his pants in order to get inside the contest arena. But the deed is done, Oogway had declared the Dragon Warrior by the pointing of his staff, and Po is it. He is fated to become the Dragon Warrior. This is similar to what we know as Fate. It appears wrong and hopeless, but Oogway the master-sage believes in Fate.

Po does indeed discover the "Secret" to Kung-Fu mastery. Shifu begins by tapping into the inner psyche of Po - food as his source of strength and hope - and uses dumplings as the reward for harsh training. There are hilarious scenes of Po mastering chopstick battles, treacherous jumps and superpanda climbs and elaborate duels for the sake of dumplings. The key to Po's mastery, is the idea of self-belief and what the self can achieve now. There are three integral scenes to Kung-Fu Panda that support this theory. The first happens under the Tree of Sacred Wisdom. Oogway says "that yesterday is history, tomorrow's a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why it's called the present." Po realizes he needs to seize the moment and make the most of it, because whether he believes in himself yet, he IS the Dragon Warrior. The second happens when Shifu hands over the scroll containing the highest Secrets of Kung-Fu mastery. But to both Shifu and Po's surprise, the scroll is just an empty parchment. We see a little of Eastern philosophy meeting Western anime. Enlightenment is a certain truth for us westerners in the past, but for the East, Enlightenment simply IS, and is literally nothing. "Nothing" IS the secret answer to Po's question and desire to Kung-Fu mastery.

This answer doesn't satisfy Po yet. It requires a final third scene of revelation, just prior to the epic battle between Po and Tai-Lung, now freed and wreaking havoc on Animal China at will. Po meets his father and has a heart-to-heart chat about the Secret Ingredient to tasty noodles. Po's father reveals that the secret is "Nothing". Again there is no certain truth to tasty noodles. What Po gathers from these three moments is that indeed he needs no truth in order to attain mastery, enlightenment and his dream. Nothing is the Secret. Po then, like the Post-God Western Philosopher, places himself at the centre of the question and answer. He simply begins to believe in himself, as there is no external and Greater truth on which he can rely. All that he has done, accomplished and learned, he had done so out of belief in the existence of the a Secret Truth. Now that he realizes there is no such Truth, He fills the void with self-belief, as though this was what had got him through all the previous obstacles.

On the surface it is certainly uplifting and has the nuance of wisdom. Self-belief will be an adequate answer for most people of our age. It is a common Disney message, and it is easy to accept. As a Christian, however, do I really want myself or my children making this their basis and foundation of confidence? Is this wisdom workable? For that is the litmus test of any wisdom: value for this life. Is is wisdom spiritual as well? Does it hold any truth in the Biblical view of Man?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

"A man's ways seem innocent to him,
 But motives are weighed by the Lord." (Proverbs 16:2)

"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him...
  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:7-10)

Simply put, man does not hold the truth within himself, or put negatively, not even his heart or motives can be fully trusted. Man's judgement of himself is blinded. So self-belief is not the starting point for a biblical Christian. God-belief, or trust in God, is a better alternative. That is the common starting point of biblical wisdom: acknowledging the goodness, authority of the wise God and Judge and trusting in His strength and command. With Jesus's life, death and resurrection as the ultimate expression of such wisdom (see 1Corinthians 1-2) of God, Christians are given a new self, one which is renewed in the knowledge of the glory of God through Jesus (2Corinthians 4:6). For Paul, this knowledge does have existence outside of the Self and in the person of Jesus. Through this knowledge, hard-pressed, defeated and weak Christians understand and have within themselves [their bodies or "vessels"] the glory of God in reproduction. Self-confidence then can not be separated from one's relationship with the glorious God.

Please don't let the above deter you from seeing the anime. It's brilliantly casted, scripted, animated. There are many sweet moments in the interaction of master and students, and father and son in this motion picture. But wise parents will then need to address the problem of self-belief with impressionable ones, in case children begin to build their self-beliefs on something like "nothing".

4 out of 5 for me.