Master Shifu, from the Kung Fu Panda series, has been on my mind for a long time. He has trained some of the best in Kung Fu. Deservedly, he commands instantaneous respect and admiration.
Yet, what could he be beyond what has been portrayed of him on-screen? What could be his past? His fears? His insecurities? For some reason, I am sure he has a lot of secrets.
I find so many complications and convolutions in him after thinking much about him. I am tempted to reach certain conclusions that might make some of his admirers want to castigate me.
But let me still put out a few key thoughts.
A Victor Frankenstein of sorts
Master Shifu is a good guru. He knows how to hone skills. That’s how he trains Tai Lung, the snow leopard, and many others ably.
The belief of a master and affection of a father-figure combined makes Shifu shape Tai Lung’s aspiration to become the destined ‘dragon warrior’. But in all probability, the belief was arbitrary and despite the affection, there seems to have been no foresight. It is Shifu’s own ‘random’ and ‘uncalculated’ decision to assume that Tai Lung is the ‘chosen one’. So not surprisingly, Shifu gets an egg on his face when Master Oogway negates Tai Lung as being the ‘chosen one’.
Here’s where Master Shifu royally becomes a turncoat under the pretext of ‘obeying the master’. He does not for once stand up for Tai Lung or question Oogway.
So when Tai Lung turns out to be devious and devil-ious, would I be wrong to say that Master Shifu had failed Tai Lung a la Victor Frankenstein failing the monster he created?
However, in the case of Frankenstein, it was the uncertainty of the monster’s being and primarily, fear of the unknown that led to his abandonment. In Shifu’s case, he knew for what purpose he was preparing his prodigy, and yet when the time came to stand up for him, Shifu left him hanging by doing nothing.
I feel empathy for both Victor Frankenstein and his monster meeting face-to-face, and when the monster says, “I ought to be thy Adam, but I am rather the fallen angel…” In the case of Shifu and Tai Lung, meeting after years, I only feel empathy for Tai Lung. Shifu dares to tell Tai Lung he wasn’t meant to be the ‘dragon warrior’. Moreover, he passes the buck onto Oogway saying it was never his decision to make.
And then when Shifu is overpowered by Tai Lung, he uses the ploy of apology to say his love for Tai Lung had blinded him and that’s why Tai Lung had become what he had. I am not being harsh by calling the apology a ploy but I believe it was because Shifu fails to see the child in Tai Lung who ‘all he ever did, he did to make Shifu PROUD!’ For Tai Lung who so desperately looked up to Master Shifu, frustration and anger are natural and his becoming a ‘twisted’ adult is justified.
Master of blind beliefs?
Brickbats for Shifu continue in my head when we see that after Tai Lung was away in jail, Shifu starts rooting for Tigress as the ‘dragon warrior’. Maybe this time, he isn’t as vocal nor does he fuel her fire. That’s wise.
Turncoat again
But somewhere Tigress seems to have an inkling that she had blessings of Shifu. Of course, there are no clues on what his rationale could be for even the subtle support. It seems to be the same short-sightedness. And maybe that’s why he gets another egg on his face when the time to make the decision comes, Master Oogway chose Po, the panda, over Tigress.
When Po was chosen by Oogway, Shifu’s changing face emerges. This time, when Po is chosen over Tigress, Shifu bats for Tigress to Oogway albeit politely and diplomatically, calling it an ‘accident’, and saying that Oogway was about to point to Tigress. Ironically, Shifu didn’t say a word for Tai Lung previously. Then, it was pure ‘obedience’ and that is what he told Tai Lung too. But it is obvious now that it was an excuse. Why else would he not accept Oogway’s decision of Po being the ‘chosen one’ unquestioningly? Isn’t he the same being who told Tai Lung, “It was never my decision to make.”?
So, of course, while Shifu couldn’t defy Oogway outright, he tells the Tigress that if Po has not quit by morning then he would have failed her. Here he is scheming to set up Po for failure. Why would Shifu not have faith in his own master’s word adherence to which he professed? And isn’t it unbecoming of a master to not want to give chance to another soul to be the ‘chosen one’?
Never takes a stand
Master Shifu never takes a stand. He is meandering. He destroys the faith of Tai Lung after building it but doesn’t say a word in his support. For Tigress, he says a few words subtly to Oogway, but when it fails, he builds faith in her and takes the onus to eventually make Po quit. Naturally, he opposes Po without even evaluating him. He goes so far as to tell Tigress that ‘ If the panda has not quit by morning, then I will have failed you.’ That also exposes his double-standards when it comes to his intent of ‘obeying’ Oogway as per his convenience.
Master Shifu — the metaphor
One may say Master Shifu’s behaviours are circumstantial — and I would agree. But that is exactly why I feel that Master Shifu is convoluted and complicated. So despite him being a good being, Master Shifu is a metaphor for people who can be respected and admired, but caution should be exercised to look up to them. They can break your hopes despite promises or rather, they will continue to portray they stand by you in word, but in reality, will only serve their purposes according to their motivations.
To be fair, Master Shifu like people are complicated. Maybe their pasts have been tumultuous and current situations are as difficult. But that is what makes them more opaque (and rigid). So it is difficult to figure out if they are masterminds, or manipulators or inherently mangled messes who are masters of contradictions (both in action and words).
However, empathy is a natural virtue that emanates for such persons. Yet, they refuse help and try to act strong. So one must figure out when empathy starts becoming into a personal ache, as such people are masters at flips when least expected. Once again, a cyclic emotion of empathy and love can drive one to ‘understand’, to ‘let go’ and keep loving the master, but Shifu may just not even be bothered for all you know.
Chances are that if Master Shifu like people are your mentors — you may be Tai Lung — starting out thinking that you both are partners and you will make each other proud and as a team, you will create miracles. Eventually, though you will be left nursing your wounds forever. This is the worst space to be in.
Or you will become like Tigress — who in turn will blindly trust Shifu. While Shifu will not be able to fully support you because of his stresses and dysfunctionalities, he will make all effort to stand by you, convoluting systems, playing games behind the back of the very authority he professes to represent. This is a great place to be in.
What about Po? Po’s is a journey where Shifu subjects him to flak and disdain at the very outset. Sure, Master Shifu comes to trust Po finally. But I deliberately have kept much of the relationship between Master Shifu and Po out of the picture because, in some ways, I can say that Master Shifu had no choice other than to discover a hidden talent of Po and somehow the oddball manages to play saviour when all fails. Clearly, this shows Shifu as an opportunist. But I will for now assume Po to be simply a cinematic device — merely for a great story — maybe, wholly imaginary.
For now, only Master Shifu, Tai Lung, Tigress and Oogway seem to be real.
As for Master Shifu — I admire him, I respect him, but I will be cautious to build expectations of him.
*All images in the blog belong to their respective owners. They are sourced from the public domain.
