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Over the millenia, this produced a series of problematic generalizations about what constituted “Western” and “Eastern” sensibilities and frequently involved “Westerners” projecting romantic fantasies upon the peoples and cultures of “the East”. “Western” culture was said to be about logic, the intellect, history, technology, industry, modernity and “progress”. It evolved over time. “Eastern” culture was said to be timeless, intuitive, mysterious, and mystical. This might seem benign but it trapped “Eastern” cultures in inaccurate generalizations that privileged Europe and North America, many of which persist in art and popular culture. The 70’s television series, Kung Fu, with David Carradine, the 80’s film Karate Kid with Ralph Macchio, and more recently (but more ironically), Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino from the 90’s are a few examples.

A more recent example is the Marvel movie, Dr. Strange. Dr. Strange, an arrogant but brilliant New York surgeon loses use of his hands in a car accident. In a desperate bid to salvage his career, he travels to Nepal for mystical healing. As a result, Dr. Strange is taught magic in a strangely generic Kathmandu by a strangely generic celtic Ancient One. Both the Dr. Strange comics and the Dr. Strange movie are heavily steeped, like old teabags, in the romantic lore of Tibet and Nepal. Astral projection, mystic arts, flying, and alternate planes of reality, you name it, it’s all there.

Sadly, this holds but a tenous link to Tibetan and Nepali culture and tradition. And that’s the point. “Western” fantasies about the “East”, in this case, Tibet and Nepal, are often divorced from the historical realities of Tibet and Nepal. In Kathmandu and Chengdu, I felt the strong, restless desire of young Nepalis, Tibetans, and Chinese to be modern and I sympathized. I enjoy modernity. I like good coffee; I enjoy surfing the internet and sending email. I like watching movies. I love a good pizza. Why wouldn’t the Nepalis, Tibetans, and Chinese? And why deny them? It is no accident that young Nepalis recently rose up in massive protests when the government threatened to shut down access to social media. Young Canadians and Americans would do the same.