In the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Fox killed her teachers because he had refused to teach her the skills of Wudang. A masked thief steals the Green Destiny, and the precious item is traced back to the house of governor Yu, where Fox has been the governess of Jen, Yu’s daughter. She challenges the two people and Master Bo to a fight, and she is defeated. When Mu Bai is about to kill her, the masked thief comes to her rescue, and they flee. She then discovers that the masked thief is Jen and that she had learned the Wudang skills because she could read. Jen promises Mu Bai to be her teacher if he beats her with moves but goes against her word when he beats her at it. Mu Bai then tosses the Green Destiny over the cliff that caused Jen to dive after it. Fox saves Jen and takes her to the forest, where she has induced her into a deep sleep, and Mu Bai and Shu find Jen. Fox then attacks the two in a fight using poisoned needles; on realizing one of the needles hit her, she confessed that she had intended to kill Jen because she felt she had hidden the art of Wudang from her.
Fox plays the trickster because she tricked Jen into thinking she was her governess and a confidant, yet she had all intentions of killing her even after saving her from the jump of the cliff.
Kirikou and the sorceress also have the theme of trickery. Kirikou, an abnormal boy, is born when the land is dry, and Karaba has killed the community’s warriors, or they disappeared without a trace. The land is also very dry and unfertile; he sets on a quest to save the land with his uncle, who was visiting Karaba to find out the community’s price for Karaba to let them live a normal life. He stays inside his uncle’s hat and manages to save him and the children from being kidnapped by the sorceress boat and tree. He finds out from his grandfather that the sorceress is evil and has such power due to a thorn in her back that always leaves her in pain. Kirikou steals the sorceress gold, which brought the sorceress outside, where he jumped on her back and removed the thorn from her.
The trickster is Kirikou because he knows he wants to get rid of the thorn on the sorceress’s back, and the only way to do so it luring her out in the open so that he can jump on her. He tricks her by taking the gold and placing it in the open to achieve this, knowing she will look for it.
Kirikou and Fox are different because their motives for tricking people are opposite. Kirikou tricks the sorceress into saving his village from her ruthless curse, while Fox tricks Jen because she wants to kill her out of jealousy of a craft she has. Another difference would be how each action affects different groups; in Kirikou’s case, his actions affect a whole village because the water from the spring is finally running after saving them from the sorceress. On the other hand, Fox’s action has led to the death of Mu Bai and her teacher.
In the Kirikou’s culture, men are considered the warriors of the land and expected to protect their families and property when needed. Therefore, when Kirikou decides to follow his uncle to see Karaba, the mother does not oppose this. Given he is a small abnormal boy, he takes it upon himself to restore order in the land and tricks the sorceress; the decision to bring Karaba back to the land shows the submissive nature women have for men because they are the head of society. Men who come back home after heroic adventures are celebrated, and the drumming of the sorceress guards and Kirikou’s grandfather acknowledge the job well done.
For the crouching tiger, hidden dragon, the main cultural influence of Fox’s action is the denial of some advantages to women. She wanted to learn Wadung, but this was not so because her teacher took advantage of her instead. On the other hand, Jen is seen to have learned martial art secretly because she could read the manual. Jealousy was fostered because Fox felt that she couldn’t learn the art.
In conclusion, both films used trickery for different end goals, but the actions were well thought out with an end goal in mind. The actions were also fueled by a feeling where Kirikou experienced love for community and empathy. On the other hand, Fox experienced anger and jealousy that drove her to plan the killing of Jen. There is also a similarity of culture in the cultures because the women in both films seek validation from the men and see them as a superior gender. In the latter film, when Jen sneaks to see Lo, she is stopped by some soldiers because it is not allowed.
Work Cited
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Directed by Ang Lee, Starring Yun-Fat Chow, et al. (Chinese/Action-Adventure)
Kirikou and the Sorceress (2005), Directed by Michael Ocelot, Starring Doudou Gueye Thiaw, et al. (African/Action-Adventure/Fantasy)
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