All three of the main characters have goals centered around power and society. Yu Shu Lien submits to the patriarchal society and follows the strict moral codes within it, even at the expense of her emotions and desires. Mu Bai also focuses on selfish concerns, only involving himself in the pursuit of wisdom and teaching others while he denies his feelings just as Shu Lien does. Lastly, Jen is driven to power and freedom within the Wudan and the Green Destiny. This choice also keeps her from experiencing love with the desert bandit Lo so she can concentrate on being the greatest warrior.
At the end of the film, Mu Bai has been poisoned by his enemy Jade Fox and is preserving his energy until the antidote is retrieved by Jen. By his side is Shu Lien, devoted to him to the end, reminding him not to waste energy by talking. Mu Bai confesses to her that he loves her and that because he never acted on these feelings he has "already wasted my life". This character, Mu Bai, who had been a pillar of wisdom throughout the film, finally sees what is truly important. Shu Lien realizes that denying your true feelings can be the biggest regret of your life. This is wisdom she imparts to Jen, who arrives with the antidote too late.
Jen sees that the search for power is filled with revenge and death as her former mentor Jade Fox reveals with her dying breath that her true intent was to kill Jen. Fox tells her that Jen's selfish pursuit of excellence was a betrayal and that the real poison in this world is, "the deceit of an eight year old girl". These revelations change Jen's point of view and show her that her quest for freedom cannot be selfish.
Jen's leap off of Wudang Mountain is symbolic of her transcending her earthly desires, letting go of a love to Lo that would hinder her freedom and letting go of her journey to master the Wudan. Her embrace of death is the ultimate powerlessness and an atonement for her selfish desires.
If letting go of personal want and human law is paramount , the film sugggests that love does not deny others. Mu Bai and Shu Lien both denied their feelings in order to conform to society, which resulted in regret and tragedy. Jen denied both Jade Fox's desires and Lo's love in search of her own personal goals, which resulted in betrayal and lonliness. As Lady Chatterly's message is not to deny one's self, Crouching Tiger's message is not to deny others.
On another note, I really enjoyed this film for it's portrayal of women as complex and central characters. Although her ambition goes a bit off the rails by the end of the film, Jen's fight against a restaurant full of male warriors was extremely exciting to watch. Jen and Shu Lien are friends to a certain extent, although they have their dissagreements, and the viewer isn't forced to choose one woman or the other, as a lot of entertainment would have you believe is neccesary. Even the terribly unlikeable Jade Fox isn't just evil for evil's sake. She was denied by the sexist society and betrayed by her only friend. We aren't made to like Fox, nor is she demonized. She is a sympathetic and complex character like the rest.
The women in this film are all dealing with the mobility and male privlege that society does not grant them. Although I am satisfied with the film's ending because the movie is so well made, I wonder about the conclusions that can be drawn from the fate of all three women. Jade Fox dies as a result of being told she isn't good enough, both by men and by her ambitious pupil. Her death, I think is less problamatic than that of Jen's because Jade Fox commits murder to right a wrong. Jen, however, desires freedom and in her journey to the top rejects social conventions. Unlike Fox, she does have the power and capability to break gender barries and wield the Green Destiny. Her efforts are met with tragedy and, by the film's message of caring for others, she bears the burden of what her actions have caused. Jen's fate is to die. Although her death is highly symbolic and a tie back to legends Lo and herself spoke of in their past, the film suggests that women who fight for their freedom are great and all, but they have to die. Sure Mu Bai dies as well, but his life is marked by inaction, which is perhaps more reprehensible than Jen's very active characteristics. She fights for what she believes belongs to her whether it be a jade comb or the Green Destiny. For all of Crouching Tiger's progressive features, does this film promote that women with ambition should be cut down at the last minute?
-Claudia
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