As with everything, scripts are living documents that change based on presentation, themes, or the whims of the moment. Originally I had different plans for the friendship podcast and wanted to share them here. While I love the finished result, it cannot hurt to include where my ideas originally came from. :) Thanks, Cruellica Kain
Hi everyone, we am here finally with the first installment of pop culture therapy. It has been a year in the making, but what a busy year that has been.
But I digress, let's talk about what we are to analyze today….. friendship, specifically in the eyes of Goku. Why Goku you ask…. Well let me explain.
Friendship is something we can excel at or have difficulty achieving. Some don't even have to put in effort and they can walk away with thirty friends. And they suck!
Just kidding, for us that have to work for it we are just jealous.
My grandfather once told me as a child that throughout your life you will have many friends. But you will know when they are true based on different periods and incidents in your life. And I have to admit he was right. Also, Goku perfectly demonstrates this philosophy as well.
So before we move on, let's analyze the different elements of friendship.
Friendship is not magic, so I am sorry to say MLP has lied. Well, not entirely…. the title lies that is. Those lovely six ponies are great examples of the dynamics of friendship.
Friendship takes effort to maintain, patience in understanding others, and a small amount of compassion. Without these elements, you are only acquaintances. Friends have a sense of investment on what is going on in your life.
Finally another element of friendship is that it is not perfect from the get go. It can years and is constantly growing. I myself have had friend for over 25 years that I still care very much about.
Now how does Goku from the dragon ball franchise succeed in showing us how friendship works for therapeutic reasons, that's easy. We can use him to identify the traits used to make new friends and strengthen our current relationships.
Let's look at the first element of friendship, effort. Even if it does not seem like it, this lovable dumbass puts in a lot of efforts for his friends. As well as a lot of effort into making new friends. Let's quickly dissect some of these friends.
Bulma Briefs, Goku's first friend. While not wanting to give out spoilers if you do not know the story of how they became friends, there was minimal effort needed. I look at this relationship as something similar to siblings. Bulma is the big sister who is selfish but protective.
Krillin is one that took a great deal of effort but not as much as others. Goku is very easy going and does not look at any challenge as such. Krillin in the beginning was serious and focused on achieving his goal. However the level of trust was easily achieved.
Piccolo and Vegeta take the most effort. There is a lack of trust due to starting out as enemies. They each intended to take something from Goku which enacted his rage. To overcome this, many things had to happen. Fighting a common enemy or saving someone precious helped to create this bond.
As in reality this can absolutely happen. Either due to lack of trust, differences of opinions, or something else can be at the starting point of any friendship. Therefore effort is needed to look past or identify commonalities to make a relationship work. While a friendship may not always come as an end result, it is possible.
Like Goku you have to decide is it worth the effort to try. And later it is worth it to continue trying. Personally I have faced this decision on both many times. This is never fun to go through and can be extremely difficult. But as the skeleton of the friendship it is important.
Next is patience, the blood of a friendship. Think of the friends to Goku as they are the ones that need this with Goku. Goku himself as infinite patience that can handle just about everything. Whereas the likes of Bulma, Vegeta, and Krillin have to manage themselves. For example Bulma is the friend and sister to Goku and works to teach him all of the elements of life. Vegeta looks to Goku as a rival for his ease at accomplishing goals or continue drive to never give up. Vegeta as seen in the most recent series, super, patiently evaluated his friendship and what he will do for him. Krillin has had to come to terms with not being as strong as his friends, which includes his own wife. His patience comes from self reflection and caring of others.
Once again these elements are natural in the real world. We have to have patience with our friends as they are not carbon copies of ourselves. Therefore you have to acknowledge their differences and have patience with working together as friends to have fun. Through patience we have fun and become stronger together.
Not that this is always unicorn and rainbows. You may have arguments, disagree, or noticeable differences. Depending on you are, they could be the differences in morals, ethics and life choices. Through self reflection, friendly rivalry, or education allows us to become patient and take a risk on friendship.
Last but not least is compassion, the heart of any friendship. This is where you show you care about one another. Or will go the extra mile for one another. Patience leads into compassion as it helps to acknowledge these differences. But compassion does not mean you overlook or disregard something as a fear to not caring. Friendship means being there to help and look out for each other. I mention this as it is important to note that friendship is a two way street.
Consider this, you have a friend who lacks confidence or has anxiety or depression. Some compassion means knowing it exists but not doing anything to help. For example, let's take someone not from dragon ball, Ami in Sailor Moon live action. She suffers severe anxiety and depression. Her friends so fixated on her intelligence and other things, do not think to acknowledge or help. She then takes a dark path in the wrong direction that her friends have a hard time helping her with. Stop and think about that for a minute….
Good, now consider Goku who has no filter and makes sure to speak up even if it is tactless. This is something that can also be hard with compassion. Finding a happy medium is a challenge and not anyone's fault. Goku is tactless and seeks to be honest. The girls in sailor moon care but easily get caught up in other things. We all make both mistakes all of the time. We are human and prone to them. But to be compassionate friend we have to learn to communicate, respect others feelings, and protect our friends. To make strong bonds we have to get to know each other and respect their boundaries.
Goku is a great example of friendship building, as he can do so easily. He has a knack for understanding others even when they are unable to reciprocate. But they are also able to rely on him as he makes an effort.
So think of Goku anytime you hang out with friends or are looking to make new ones. And don't be like Dio from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Put in the effort, have patience in then, and so compassion to their differences. Then together you can kick ass and have fun.
