Wise Old Man again....

A wise old man/mentor is described by Carl Jung as a classic figure or profound philosopher distinguished for his wisdom and sound judgment. They tend to be, as the name suggests knowledgeable elderly men that people respect, look up to and, see as a father figure. In most case when media involves wise old men they normally get killed or dies so that the main character evolves in to the hero of the story. I’m my opinion thank to Cartoon shows and such my interpretation of a wise old man consist of an old man that is Asian and talks as if he is a fortunes  cookie.

An example of this is Master Oogway from Kung Fu Panda (2008). Master Oogway is an Elderly turtle that was the head master of the jade palace, a place where they trained all greet warriors. In the film master Oogway was the creator of Kung Fu and was the Founder of the town where the movie takes place, Oogway was wise and everyone looked up to him especially the main character. Master Oogway the wise old man chooses the most unlikely of heroes to be the dragon warrior the greatest title and honor anyone could receive and he gives it to an overweight Kung-Fu loving panda. In the movie Po (the dragon warrior) turn out to be a force to wrecking with which suggested that master Oogway the wise old man was correct with his decision, but yet every character doubted Oogway. It was not until master Oogway used his last word before he died to evolve Po into the hero of the movie.

Taking a look at most media representation of a wise old man they tend to Asian and regardless their ages they can kick some serious butt. Some examples The Karate kid 1-4, Uncle of Jackie Chan Adventures. Regardless some see these as a typical Hollywood stereo type that audiences enjoy watching. The problem with this is that as more people get used to these stereotypes director and writers get the confidence to constantly milk the stereotype and the cycle continues with director recycling the stereotype over and over again , which just add more fuel to the stereotypes already in place on wise old men.

Work cited
Cowgil , Charles. "Carl Jung." muskingum.edu. Muskingum College, n.d. Web. 27 Feb 2013.                                         <http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/index.htm>.
Osborne, Mark, dir. Kung Fu Panda. Dir. John Stevenson. 2008. Film. 27 Feb 2013. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0441773/>.