The Kung Fu Panda Test

Back in biblical times an ancient tribe of Hebrews employed a simple test to determine if an individual was an authentic member of the tribe. If the person could pronounce the word “shibboleth,” then he or she was considered authentic.

The dialect spoken by members of the opposing tribe did not contain the “sh” sound, and thus, its members pronounced the word as “sibboleth.” And this was bad news for them. Scripture tells us that 42,000 individuals who said “sibboleth” were slaughtered. Ouch.

To this day we still use the term shibboleth for any test that serves to identify an individual as being an authentic member of a group.

So, why, you ask, is this information being shared? Well, now that PJ has booked Kung Fu Panda 2, he is reminded of a shibboleth of sorts that presented itself during the first Kung Fu Panda’s run.

You see, at the we share, or some would say, suffer from, what we like to think of as a “highly refined” sense of humor. Others, however, poor souls that they are, see little or no humor in what the PJ staff thinks is funny. Frankly, these others just don‘t get it.

So, consider, please, this incident of spontaneity that occurred at the box office back during the showing of the first Kung Fu Panda. PJ now uses this anecdotal as a shibboleth to determine if an individual shares that “highly refined,” strange sense of  PJ Cinemas humor.

If you believe that this story is funny, you pass. If, however, you just stare in benign dismay, you fail the shibboleth.

And that being said, here is the story.

A horse walks into a bar, and... oops, wrong story.

Let’s try again...

It was just about show time during a busy Saturday matinee about two years ago. A man with two children hurriedly approached the box office and asked breathlessly, “Do you have any Kung Fu Panda left?”

Well, PJ couldn’t resist.

“No, sir, it is all sold out, however, they are serving Kung Fu Panda just as we speak next door at the Chinese take out.  And, you know what’s really amazing, it doesn’t taste like chicken.”

Well, while the saddened movie-goer stared in a state of abject disappointment, the next guy in line, a guy with an excellent sense of comic timing, added the coup de gras without missing a beat.

“Hey,“ he said, “everything can’t taste like chicken.”

And there it was. Our shibboleth.

Half the people on line thought this was funny and burst into laughter. The other half found no humor whatsoever in the exchange. Especially the last contribution.

PJ often shares this story.

He has learned that it may be used to identify kindred spirits.

Is is about a fifty-fifty split.

Those who think it is funny versus those who merely give the stare. And although this box office tale will certainly never be written in scripture as was the original story of the ancient Hebrew tribe, it is, nevertheless, to PJ, a useful device for weeding out the humorless. Of course, no harm comes to those who fail. They still get to stare at their movie.

Oh, and by the way, the film wasn’t really sold out that day two years ago, and the guy and his kids did, in fact, get to enjoy some Kung Fu Panda.

And it was delicious.