Connor Lee, Period 6, 12/7/22

 Connor Lee

Period 2

12/7/22

Modern Mythology 2023

• Socio-political Consciousness

• What are your thoughts and feelings about issues of inequity, oppression, and/or power?

• How do you reflect critically on your own beliefs, assumptions, values, and experiences, and how these can influence your perception of self and others?

What is justice? Do people do things that are inherently wrong on the basis that they believe it to be right? From the beginning of mankind and to this day, questions about what’s right and wrong has always been a part of the way we live. From everyday decisions to political debates, the differing opinions that people have about different subjects help us try to find a middle ground to account for all sides.

As a child, there were a few shows and movies that I remember watching where I was confused as to why the “villain” was portrayed as such. From one of my favorite movies, “Kung Fu Panda”, the story follows the main character Po and his journey to become the dragon warrior. The main antagonist is revealed to be Tai Lung, an adopted child of Master Shifu. Tai Lung had spent most of his life training under his father, in hopes of becoming the dragon warrior, just to have his dreams crushed by Oogway, telling him that there is darkness in his heart. Later on, in an attempt to get revenge, he comes back to fight his master and father, only to be disappointed and infuriated to find out who had taken the place he believed belonged to him. This movie made me wonder, did any character truly have ill intentions, or were they doing what they believe in and following their set of morals. On one side there is the protagonist of the story, Po, who goes through his struggle in training to take on the position that was suddenly bestowed upon him. On the other side there was a child who grew up only thinking about making his father proud and taking on a position he had dreamed of his whole life. In the end, the main character wins as usual, and Tai Lung leaves in defeat. It is only when one side is defeated that the winning side is deemed to have been “correct”. As Winston Churchill said, “history is written by the victors”.

This way of thinking has shaped the way I try to view the world and those around me. Everyone comes from a different background and grows up surrounded by different people. It helps me stop and try to understand what someone is going through before making judgements about them. Although it won’t stop the disagreements with others that are bound to happen in the future, I try to understand these other perspectives.