Buddhism and American Cinema (SUNY series in Buddhism and American Culture)

Discusses both depictions of Buddhism in film and Buddhist takes on a variety of films. In 1989, the same year the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a decade-long boom of films dedicated to Buddhist people, history, and culture began. Offering the first scholarly treatment of Buddhism and cinema, the editors advise that there are two kinds of Buddhist film: those that are about Buddhists and those that are not. Focusing on contemporary American offerings, the contributors extend a two-pronged approach, discussing how Buddhism has been captured by directors and presenting Buddhist-oriented critiques of the worlds represented in films that would seem to have no connection with Buddhism. Films discussed range from those set in Tibet, such as Kundun and Lost Horizon, to those set well outside of any Buddhist milieu, such as Groundhog Day and The Matrix. The contributors explain the Buddhist theoretical concepts that emerge in these works, including karma, the bardo, and reincarnation, and consider them in relation to interpretive strategies that include feminism, postcolonialism, and contemplative psychological approaches. John Whalen-Bridge is Associate Professor of English at the National University of Singapore. Gary Storhoff (1947–2011) was Associate Professor of English at the University of Connecticut, Stamford and the author of Understanding Charles Johnson. Together they coedited The Emergence of Buddhist American Literature, American Buddhism as a Way of Life and Writing as Enlightenment: Buddhist American Literature into the Twenty-first Century, all also published by SUNY Press. Contents 8 Foreword 10 Acknowledgments 12 A Tribute to Gary Storhoff 14 Introduction: Some (Hollywood) Versions of Enlightenment 18 Part I. Representation and Intention 30 1. Buddhism and Authenticity in Oliver Stone’s Heaven and Earth 32 The Critical Reception of Heaven and Earth 34 Vietnamese Folk Beliefs and Buddhism 35 Buddhism, the Agrarian Family, and Vietnamese Ancestral Beliefs 37 Village Buddhism Transplanted to America 45 Notes 53 2. Buddhism, Children, and the Childlike in American Buddhist Films 56 Orientalism and Tibetan Buddhism 57 Tibetan Buddhists Portrayed in Film: The Childlike and the Mature 60 Rites of Passage, Binary Divisions, and the Play of Opposites Observed 62 The Limits of Hollywood Appropriations of Tibetan Buddhism 65 An End to the Play of Opposites 67 Notes 69 3. Consuming Tibet: Imperial Romance and the Wretched of the Holy Plateau 70 Tibet as the Other of Imperial Fantasy 71 The Logic of Conquest 75 Shangri-La: Elegy of Utopia 78 Recreating Tibet in Post–Shangri-La Hollywood 85 Notes 98 4. Politics into Aesthetics: Cultural Translation in Kundun, Seven Years in Tibet, and The Cup 100 The Child in Translation 101 The Landscape in Translation 107 Translation of Politics and History 109 The Translation of Tibetan Buddhism 115 Part II. Allegories of Shadow and Light 122 5. Momentarily Lost: Finding the Moment in Lost in Translation 124 The Buddhist Attitude toward the Moment 124 Finding the Moment in Lost in Translation 129 Notes 140 6. Dying to Be Free: The Emergence of “American Militant Buddhism” in Popular Culture 150 The Awakening: “Your Anger Is a Gift” 155 Free Your Mind: The Matrix 158 You Are Not Your Khakis: Fight Club 160 A Culture of Regenerative Violence 163 Adaptations and Manipulations of Buddhism 165 The Dangers of a New Vehicle 167 Notes 171 7. Buddhism, Our Desperation, and American Cinema 174 The Buddhist Diagnosis of Our desperation 175 Wall Street: A Parable of Greed 177 Annie Hall: Craving Sex and Relationship 180 Leaving Las Vegas: Craving Nonexistence 184 It’s a Wonderful Life: The Illusion of the Dream Self 187 Concluding Thoughts: Buddhist Echoes in American Films 190 Notes 191 8. Christian Allegory, Buddhism, and Bardo in Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko 196 Notes 210 9. “Beautiful Necessities”: American Beauty and the Idea of Freedom 216 Notes 230 Afterword: On Being Luminous 232 American Buddhism: An Idea Whose Practice Has Come 233 Toward Buddhist Criticism 233 Seeing Dharma through Cinema 237 Different Flavors for One Taste—(The Taste of Freedom) 238 Long Live Impermanence! 240 The Road Ahead 241 Notes 241 Bibliography 244 Filmography 260 About the Contributors 264 Index 270 __Discusses both depictions of Buddhism in film and Buddhist takes on a variety of films.__ In 1989, the same year the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a decade-long boom of films dedicated to Buddhist people, history, and culture began. Offering the first scholarly treatment of Buddhism and cinema, the editors advise that there are two kinds of Buddhist film: those that are about Buddhists and those that are not. Focusing on contemporary American offerings, the contributors extend a two-pronged approach, discussing how Buddhism has been captured by directors and presenting Buddhist-oriented critiques of the worlds represented in films that would seem to have no connection with Buddhism. Films discussed range from those set in Tibet, such as and , to those set well outside of any Buddhist milieu, such as and . The contributors explain the Buddhist theoretical concepts that emerge in these works, including karma, the bardo, and reincarnation, and consider them in relation to interpretive strategies that include feminism, postcolonialism, and contemplative psychological approaches In 1989, the same year the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, a decade-long boom of films dedicated to Buddhist people, history, and culture began. Offering the first scholarly treatment of Buddhism and cinema, the editors advise that there are two kinds of Buddhist film: those that are about Buddhists and those that are not. Focusing on contemporary American offerings, the contributors extend a two-pronged approach, discussing how Buddhism has been captured by directors and presenting Buddhist-oriented critiques of the worlds represented in films that would seem to have no connection with Buddhism. Films discussed range from those set in Tibet, such as Kundun and Lost Horizon, to those set well outside of any Buddhist milieu, such as Groundhog Day and The Matrix. The contributors explain the Buddhist theoretical concepts that emerge in these works, including karma, the bardo, and reincarnation, and consider them in relation to interpretive strategies that include feminism, postcolonialism, and contemplative psychological approaches. --Publisher website John Whalen-Bridge: Some (Hollywood) versions of enlightenment Representation and intention. Hanh Ngoc Nguyen and R.C. Lutz: Buddhism and authenticity in Oliver Stone's Heaven and earth Eve mullen: Buddhism, children, and the childlike in American Buddhist films Jiayan Mi and Jason C. Toncic: Consuming Tibet: Imperial romance and the wretched of holy plateau Felicia Chan: Politics into aesthetics: cultural translation in Kundun, Seven years in Tibet and The cup Allegories of shadow and light. Jennifer l. McMahon and B. Steve Csaki: Momentarily lost: finding the moment in Lost in translation Richard C. Anderson and David A. Harper: Dying to be free: the emergence of "American militant Buddhism" in popular culture Karsten J. Struhl: Buddhism, our desperation, and American cinema Devin Harner: Christian allegory, Buddhism and Bardo in Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko David l. Smith: "Beautiful necessities": American beauty and the idea of freedom Postscript Gary Gach: Afterword: on being luminous.