There are many TV shows, movies, pictures, etc. in American culture that stereotypes Buddhist practitioners. They are generally perceived as very tranquil and carefree individuals.
The first stereotype that I thought of was one from a TV show I remember watching when I was in elementary school. Hopefully it’s a show most of you guys remember, Rocko’s Modern Life. The clip I have chosen is the episode “Wimp on the Barbie”. It is about how the main character, Rocko, had been bullied when he was in elementary school by his classmate named Dingo. Dingo then tormented him all throughout school all the way until he moved from Australia to the United States. Rocko receives a phone call from his mother telling him that Dingo is coming to visit him. Still being terrified of him, Rocko begins to prepare himself for his arrival by gaining the courage to finally stand up to him by having his two friends teach him to fight. Around 9 and a half minutes into the clip Dingo makes his first appearance as he is now. He shows up a completely changed person and is there to seek Rocko’s forgiveness and to earn his eternal friendship. He is there to seek his forgiveness so he can “become one with the unicorn.” He then asks Rocko to punch him in the face in order for them to be even for all the pain he has caused him over the years. Rocko finally gets to punch him and Dingo was given what he came there for.
The stereotype that I think is being portrayed here can be seen as positive and negative because the sole purpose of this character is for entertainment. It is depicting Buddhist practitioners as very calm. Although Dingo is concerned with the past he is more concerned with what is going on right now. In Brad Warner’s Zen Wrapped in Karma Dipped in Chocolate he discusses that Buddhists are only concerned with the present. He states the following on page 54, “…the only real time as far as Buddhism is concerned is right now. Right now there is no old age or death because old age and death are descriptions of things as they are no when we compare things to how they used to be.”
I used to love watching this show! Brings back lots of memories. I see your point in how Dingo seems very calm when he comes back to see Rocko but I'm not sure if what he's saying about wanting forgiveness to be a Buddhist quality. Because if Buddhist really do want to live in the moment and not think about the past or future then wouldn't Dingo not bother to fix his past problems? What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI also used to love this show, and now that I think about it, I think this was my very first exposure to any sort of Buddhist concepts. The way that Dingo goes from super aggressive to "ultra-zen" is probably one of the most widely held misconceptions about Buddhism: the concept that one can and should use Buddhist practice to manage his anger and make peace with the world. While that is a part of Buddhism, shows like this one and films like Adam Sandler's "Anger Management" portray Buddhism as little more than an anger management tool.
ReplyDeleteI used to watch this show all the time! This was a great depiction of the Buddhist stereotypes. This concept of going from crazy to zen all of a sudden is a concept that seems to be misconstrued in our society. This clip also places an emphasis on how Dingo is trying to fix his past where Buddhism is about what life is giving to Buddhists at the present moment.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a great show, I really enjoyed the portrayal of the stereotype of how calm and poised Dingo has become after becoming a Monk. Although like you said he was very worried about his past and how he bullied Rocko around, when Buddhist live right here in the present moment. I'm glad you put this show up because I haven't thought about that show in the longest time!!
ReplyDeleteI loved this show as a kid, so its great that you posted it. They had a few mistakes when talking about Buddhism like the other commenter's have posted.
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