Three Jewels in Buddhist cinema
The Three Jewels of Buddhism, Triratna in Sanskrit; and Ratna-traya in Pali are the three hearts of Buddhism. As Buddhism spread across Southeast Asia it changed to suit each culture it found itself in, adopting local customs, adding sutras and Bodhisattvas. However Buddhism might have evolved, these Three Jewels, the Buddha, Dharma (teachings) and Sangha (community) have remained constant in all variations. It is in the Jewels that Buddhists look for guidance, for inspiration and for support in their practice and their path of soteriological enlightenment. These Three Jewels are represented in Buddhist films. This quarter films containing representations of the Three Jewels have acted as vehicles to highlight
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You cannot simply tune into a movie that features Buddhism and expect to walk away with an ability to see the world through Buddhist-colored lenses. Sadly, elements of racism, portraying Buddhists in particular and and Asians in general as outsiders are found overtly in the early films we viewed this quarter. Broken Blossoms showcased a Caucasian actor made to conform to racial stereotypes of Asians, poor posture, heavily lidded eyes, uncertainness of movement, opium use and overall sneaky nature. The character of ‘Yellow Man’ conformed with the racial fervor of the anti-Chinese movement known as the Yellow Peril. Edward Said labels the portrayal of Asian subjects by Western authors with a spin as Orientalism. Orientalism is a textual construct of the Orient written about the Orient from Western perspective and include their inherent biases about the East. Said notes that the Orient is formulated to be backwards, sinful, eccentric. This wrongness allowed Western states to colonize with no moral qualms. Orientalism exists across political, intellectual, cultural and moral boundaries. This discourse caused the West to feel superior and that the East was in need of …show more content…
Lessons that might be stark on the page are given life on the canvas that film furnishes. Movies are able to convey a story in an imaginative and inventive way. Some films are able to convey weighty messages in accessible ways. In some of the films this quarter we see echoes of the Three Jewels, these jewels often show us key beliefs of Buddhism and touch on themes of the course - Samsara and Nirvana, impermanence, cyclical nature, community, diaspora and among others. Film is able to deal with concepts as Three Marks of Reality, 4 Noble Truths, Right Mindfulness from the 8-fold noble path in a way that you don 't have to be a Buddhist scholar. You can experience the essence of the message. In a way this couldn 't be more American in nature, Buddhist film can present an easy entrance, an ‘all gain, no pain’ delivery. Seeing the message of a film loses the viewer theopportunity of self discovery and the difficulty associated with creating your meaning of the text is lost. This struggle of the mind is crucial for a lasting lesson to be gained. We see the importance of the struggle in the films discussed, Hwaomkyung, Why has Bodhidharma Left for the East?, Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring. Buddhist film is able to present to the lessons of the Three Jewels in an accessible way. This golden bullet of film leaves bright flashes of upsight that do not stick with the viewer as they might had the revelation come from more orthodox Buddhist
Neill, Alex. “Empathy and (Film) Fiction.” Philosophy of film and motion pictures : an anthology. Ed. Noel Carrol and Jinhee Choi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. 247-259. Print.
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
Walking into the Hall of the Buddhas, there was a sense of peace and guidance lingering inside me. The seated Bodhisattva, of the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534), CA.480, from the Yungang, Cave xv, Shani Province, made of sandstone, guarded the entrance. At first, I thought it was a time to be disciplined, but the transcending smile from the statue was a delicate fixed gesture that offered a feeling of welcome. It was not a place to confess your wrongdoings; neither was it a place for me to say, “Buddha I have sinned.” It was a room to purify the mind, the mind that we take for granted without giving it harmony. There was a large mural decorating the main wall called “The Paradise of Bhaishajyaguru”(916-1125). I sat down wandering if the artist of the portrait knew that his work would one day be shared on this side of the world, in my time. Much like Jesus Christ and his followers, the mural is a painting of healers and saviors. It was a large figure of the Buddha of medicine, (Bhaishajyaquru) surrounded by followers of Bodhisattvas, Avalokiteshvara, and Mahosthamaprapta with twelve guardian generals who have pledged to disseminate the Buddha’s teaching (Tradition of Liao 916-1125, Metropolitan Museum wall plaque).
...en in this film have any strong masculine qualities. They cannot take charge, they are easily intimidated, and they are never assertive with their beliefs and restrictions giving the impression to the movie viewers that Asian Americans are docile beings and Asian Americans are obstacles easily overcame.
The postmodern cinema emerged in the 80s and 90s as a powerfully creative force in Hollywood film-making, helping to form the historic convergence of technology, media culture and consumerism. Departing from the modernist cultural tradition grounded in the faith in historical progress, the norms of industrial society and the Enlightenment, the postmodern film is defined by its disjointed narratives, images of chaos, random violence, a dark view of the human state, death of the hero and the emphasis on technique over content. The postmodernist film accomplishes that by acquiring forms and styles from the traditional methods and mixing them together or decorating them. Thus, the postmodern film challenges the “modern” and the modernist cinema along with its inclinations. It also attempts to transform the mainstream conventions of characterization, narrative and suppresses the audience suspension of disbelief. The postmodern cinema often rejects modernist conventions by manipulating and maneuvering with conventions such as space, time and story-telling. Furthermore, it rejects the traditional “grand-narratives” and totalizing forms such as war, history, love and utopian visions of reality. Instead, it is heavily aimed to create constructed fictions and subjective idealisms.
Sluyter, Dean 1st ed., ‘Cinema nirvana enlightenment lessons from the movies’ (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2005).
In the book, Philosophy Film, by Mary M. Litch, it examines the question briefly, “Does life have meaning?” To explore this idea, a question must be asked, than an argument must be formed, which requires critically thinking to concluded the discussion. This question is a basic question that can be answered through ones deep and disciplined thinking with multiple answers. The purpose of this book is to understand the foundation of Philosophy as well as its expression through film.
Subsequently, in Edward Said’s Orientalism discusses about the West’s patronizing perceptions and illusory depiction of the East, which connects why white men had stereotypes of other races. According to Said:
Media often exaggerate the characteristics of Asian and Asian Americans. Stereotypes in film maintain common ones like Asians who are masters of martial arts a...
Rascaroli, Laura. "The Essay Film: Problems, Definitions, Textual Commitments." Framework: The Journal of Cinema and Media 49.2 (2008): 24-47. JSTOR. Web. 08 May 2014.
For those Asian Americans who make known their discontent with the injustice and discrimination that they feel, in the white culture, this translates to attacking American superiority and initiating insecurities. For Mura, a writer who dared to question why an Asian American was not allowed to audition for an Asian American role, his punishment was “the ostracism and demonization that ensued. In essence, he was shunned” (Hongo 4) by the white people who could not believe that he would attack their superior American ways. According to writers such as Frank Chin and the rest of the “Aiiieeeee!” group, the Americans have dictated Asian culture and created a perception as “nice and quiet” (Chin 1972, 18), “mama’s boys and crybabies” without “a man in all [the] males.” (Chin 1972, 24). This has become the belief of the proceeding generations of Asian Americans and therefore manifested these stereotypes.
In the remainder of my essay I will be commenting on many modern films and their use of this trope, and why subscribing to this filmmaking strategy is problematic. The White Savior Complex is a trope where an ordinary ethnically European character meets an underprivileged non-European character. Taking pity on the other characters situation, the White Savior ‘selflessly’ volunteers themselves as their tutor, mentor, or caretaker, to help them rise above their predisposition (White Mans Burden, 2004). The White Savior, at their core, is the application of colonialized ideals, which cast people of colour as incompetent, and hopeless, until the White Savior comes to rescue them (White Mans Burden, 2004). A common destructive trait of this trope involves white people conquering non-white people, and eliminating their culture under the prefix of 4helping them (White Mans Burden, 2004).
The representation of race in Hollywood cinema has been a widely discussed topic in film analysis since the medium’s inception. Historically, non-caucasian ethnicities have been underrepresented and/or misrepresented on the silver screen. It was normal for a white actor or actress to adorn themselves in black or yellowface to represent these races and further alienate them into the category of “the other”. This exclusion has been used time and time again as a tool for distinguishing not the race being alienated but those who are doing the alienation. In the following essay I aim to assess this phenomenon specifically in relation to representation of Asians in Hollywood cinema. To support my theory, I will put into conversation both Gina Marchetti’s essay, “White Knights in Hong Kong” and Anne Cheng’s essay, “Beauty and the Ideal Citizenship: Inventing Asian American in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song (1961)”. It was when asked to consider the question of national identity projected upon the bodies on screen as written about by Marchetti and Cheng that I came across my own thesis. Through their in depth analysis I was able to code an underlying theme in the historical representation of Asians in cinema. The theme in which Asian identity is derived through strategically situating them as “the other” in order to explain what it truly means to be an American.
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.
Movies take us inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves and to places different from our routine surroundings. As humans, we always seek enlargement of our being and wanted to be more than ourselves. Each one of us, by nature, sees the world with a perspective and selectivity different from others. But, we want to see the world through other’s eyes; imagine with other’s imaginations; feel with other’s hearts, at a same time as with our own. Movies offer us a window onto the wider world, broadening our perspective and opening our eyes to new wonders.