There is a very interesting difference between Eastern and Western stories. I've discovered this after a bit of indulgence in Eastern myth and modern Asian animation. In both cases, the interesting thing seems to be how the hero prevails (or falls) in the end.
At the beginning, both storytelling traditions read rather the same, with the hero enduring arduous trials and suffering heartbreaking defeats as he learns the ropes of heroism. The interesting part, however, comes at the end, when the hero arrives on the scene of the final showdown and faces his nemesis. In a Western story (pick one... I like the example of modern comic book movies such as Spiderman) the hero will almost always enter this battle either terrified or angry and thirsty for revenge. He will get completely worked over by the villain and then, at the last moment when all seems hopeless, a seemingly random circumstance (e.g. falling piece of ceiling, vaguely concealed lever working a trap door below the villain's feet, etc.) will allow the hero to achieve victory. The hero, battered and on the verge of death, collapses in relief and is glad for the stroke of luck that saved his life.
In an Eastern story, by contrast, the much anticipated final duel is almost always marked by calm and confidence on the part of the hero. The situation looks dire, his friends are in trouble, and to the rescue comes this serene, confident and awesomely powerful figure in all of his enlightened and unstoppable glory. The villain trembles in fear at his nemesis's new-found power or, on occasion, is at first smug and boastful, unaware of this new power (which only heightens the joy of watching the hero easily own the villain in the end). Once the catastrophe is averted and villain is soundly trounced, the Asian hero's friends marvel at his power and he comforts them with a firm but tenderhearted rebuke along the lines of "didn't I say I'd do it?"
The odd thing about this to me is that the Eastern heroes come off as so much more "god-like" than those of the Western tradition. Whenever I watch a good comic book movie, I can't help but wince while I watch heroes like Superman get the tar beat out of them by the evil villain and end up winning by a fluke. Comic book movies aside, there's even something frustrating about the fact that stories like the Lord of the Rings trilogy end with Frodo's failure (he gets the ring to Mordor, but he can't destroy it... Golem helps him do the job inadvertently). Western heroes are weak... strong as they may be (and they're stronger than the rest of us), they still need help to win or else they're doomed.
You see, when I watch a good action movie, I want to see a hero that is unstoppable. I want to know that there's someone out there so strong that nothing is able to stop him... and I want to see him prove it. I want to see evil tremble as it realizes that it doesn't even stand a chance. Pretty much, I want a god-man to come and make things right. And here's where I'm torn. The inherent frustration that I have with Western stories is the deep frustration of innate human weakness. In the end, there is no human power strong enough to defeat the evil in the world, and it is not only cynicism that makes us feel that this is true. After all, the good guys still win in the end of Western stories, even if it isn't their power that accomplishes the victory. The real difference in stories is where the help comes from.
I believe that there is good reason to believe that the kind of conception of Providence that can only creep in to the immaginations and sentiments of a deeply Christianized culture is the driving force behind the Western method of storytelling. I believe that the underlying assumption behind the hopeless plights and the implausible escapes of the Western heroes is that (thanks to Christianity) we really believe that man is a weak kind of thing, and that unless he is saved by "something" besides himself the world is doomed. Often in our skeptical world this "something other" manifests itself as a kind of irony or an inflated idea of karma visited upon the evil-doer. But farce or cynical dimness aside, I think the difference in storytelling speaks volumes.
Eastern culture just may be the last place on earth where people are still really looking for a savior - where the god's have yet to make their peace with the immagination of man, and where there is no god-man on the throne of the mind (as unpopular a despot as he may be to most of Western culture), interceding on the behalf of mankind. As a result, we see in Eastern storytelling that which must have made the heart of pre-Christian culture leap for joy... a shining god-man, our friend, come to save us from our weakness, to set us free, and ready to come and put a stop to villainy once and for all. In these stories you see the kind of hero that nothing can stop - not even death - and the kind of hero that you can have absolute faith in, even in the most dire of circumstances.
I think that Western stories are very wise... and perhaps I ought to be more grateful to them for reminding me that I am a man and not the savior of the world - that the position has already been filled, and that I owe all of my victory to the one who first won it for me. I cannot, however, help but love Eastern stories for showing me what a real god-man looks like, and for reviving in me that great wonder that is born of beholding the Divine friend, the all-powerful protector, and the good man that is able to look you in the eye and ask you "oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?"...
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