Dr. Strange and Chan

 Tonight I had a chance to watch the movie Dr. Strange, and I had a few thoughts about this film. The movie is in some ways typical of a Hollywood adventure with the usual trappings of special effects, explosions, chase scenes and collapsing buildings. But what made this movie distinct, at least from a visual perspective, is the way reality itself is conveyed as continually collapsing, like a magic mirror which distorts and re-distorts things to the point where nothing seems quite what it appears to be. Visually, this movie is quite stunning, and it forces viewers to subconsciously balk at what they thought was a solid element, such as buildings and time itself.
   Strange is a very talented doctor who can solve just about any problem that his patients present him with, including a bullet lodged deep into a vital part of a man's brain. One evening, he is in a serious car accident, and not even his beloved colleague and fellow doctor can help him recover use of his hands to resume his career as a world-renowned surgeon. Strange ends up finding a man who fully recovered from a debilitating spinal injury, who then directs him to Nepal where he discovers a teacher by the name of the Ancient One. She is the one who in fact reveals to Strange that it is not the body which heals but the mind. One is only limited by one's imagination in terms of what is possible. Strange is skeptical, and he attributes this idea to a kind of cheap or crass New Age sentiment. It's only later, after a shocking demonstration of different dimensions of reality, that Strange realizes that what he believed was true is only a tiny, miniscule piece of an infinite reality. He is so inspired to become the Ancient One's disciple that he even camps out in front of her abode after she kicks him out for being an arrogant and egoistic pain!
    The rest of the movie explores Strange's induction into the magical world, where he learns to use his mind to avert the evil plots of one of the Ancient One's former disciples. One of the most interesting scenes, however, occurs when Strange is training in using his new-found powers, yet lacks faith in the strength of his hands and mind to do what others are doing. The Ancient One then pushes him into a situation where he is on the coldest part of Mount Everest, and he truly needs to use his powers to get back to the Ancient One's abode. "Surrender", the Ancient One urges Strange, after he despairingly tells her how impossible it is for him to do what others are doing. When Strange finally does surrender his limiting beliefs about what it means to know something and perform it well, he is able to return.
     A lot of these ideas about surrendering to one's true nature and powers are found in other science fiction or fantasy movies, Star Wars being one example. What impressed me about this movie is how sophisticated the magic is, to the point where even the concepts of space and time are being challenged. This isn't about using magic to ensure that the good folks win over the bad, but about using magic to challenge and subvert the human tendency to limit their beliefs to what they think they know. Even the very 'laws' of good and evil are challenged, as Strange is forced to decide whether to trust the sincerity and goodness of the Ancient One, after he learns that she has been using dark magic to keep herself alive indefinitely. 
     But what impressed me the most is the Chan perspective that this film sometime exudes: the idea that the biggest enemy is not outside oneself but actually consists of the beliefs that one has related to what they can and cannot do. It's these beliefs which create the ego, and they become even more dangerous when they mask as 'the good of everyone'. For instance, Strange begins the movie a very self-assured man, so confident in himself and his own decisions. When he is stripped of that confidence, he is forced to admit that his ideas of what is good and evil were only relative to his functioning as a prestigious, well-respected member of a community. In contrast, the Ancient One has used dark magic to try to restore balance to the world and is well aware of the contradiction this creates. Somehow, she shows a humility, in realizing that what she is doing is complex, but she is also doing it for the benefit of others, not herself. The contrast between these characters suggest that sometimes the wisest and most compassionate actions are deeply complicated, and even a wise and selfless person might live a life of ambiguity. But when viewers become aware of this ambiguity, they are not so quick to judge who is the good or the bad person in this movie, or what 'good' and 'bad' magic is.