Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Bhuddism
In this short clip from King of the Hill , Hank hill is speaking to this Buddhist monk telling him to tell his son that he is not a Buddhist. Hank gets upset with the monk and says " I am going to kick your ass." The monk responds and says " If my ass is going to be kicked then it will be kicked." This in a sense is a positive stereotype about Buddhism in the sense that Buddhists take life how it is given to them. Brad Warner states in his book in the chapter about possibly killing his mother " When Shunryu Suzuki and Dainin Katagiri were dying of cancer they did not ask their students to end their lives for them, nor did Dogen when he was dying at age fifty-four of what was most likely tuberculosis. I would imagine these men believed it was their duty to experience what life demanded they experience." This quote reinforces the fact that in Buddhism they believe in living life and dealing with it the way that it is presented to them. This directly relates to how the monk reacts when Hank Hill tells him that he is going to kick his ass.
The clip also displays another stereotype that monks will always be depicted as being dressed in robes. This is a negative stereotype because monks are not at all required to wear robes at all times. In Warner's chapter about real Buddhism existing in the West he states," Yet it seemed like the media was chasing after tawdry fantasies promoted by charlatan in pretty robes instead"(26). As Warner continues to talk about in his book, robes are in fact not even required and many monks don't always wear robes at all.
Many Americans continue to be clouded with these stereotypes and seem to get a very skewed perception about Buddhism .Growing up in America and seeing many things on television about how all Buddhists wear robes and speak in proverbs has really given viewers the wrong idea about the religion itself. If I had not taken this class I probably would not have learned that some of these stereotypes were in fact incorrect.
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That was a great clip! I totally agree about how Americans perceive Buddhist Religion. I said on another blog about how some American Buddhist teachers are trying to exploit our lack of knowledge on their religion. And they are charging absurd amounts of money for instant enlightenment. I did not know that monks did not always wear robes, and that they were not even required to wear them.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting how the first stereotype you mentioned is somewhat accurate. I think that stereotype is actually what I find so interesting about Buddhism. It makes sense to not struggle against the inevitable and to just accept it and continue working on towards your own goal, but it is so easy to get caught up and divert your attention and energy towards things that are going to happen anyway and don’t really matter.
ReplyDeleteI found your video very funny and thought what the monk said was very interesting. It totally follows the stereotype of Buddhists following ahimsa and not putting up a fight when it comes to it.
ReplyDeleteI just have to say, what an awesome clip! I used to watch that show all the time.
ReplyDeleteI liked the parallel you made, comparing the monk's attitude of being kicked, to the way Buddhists just accept what is coming to them. It reminds me of how Siddhartha was on the brink of death due to starvation, and he was basically willing to accept it.
I also agree that it is interesting that the first stereotype is somewhat accurate. It also shows the stereotype that Buddhists are very calm. Because of these stereotypes it gives Americans a skewed perception of Buddhism.
ReplyDeleteI like that you used a positive and negative stereotype of Buddhism and i liked the clip and how it showed that the monk just accepted what was going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that shows like these give people the wrong impression of many things including monks and Buddhism. I thought it was funny that the monk sounded more like Confucius because he was speaking in proverbs.
ReplyDeleteI loved the clip. It is very funny. Additionally, with the clip is has given a wrong perception of Buddhism.
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