In the film Music and Lyrics, starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, the two characters join in an effort to write a song for a fictional up-and-coming musical artist, Cora Corman. They visit the set of Cora’s most recent music video to get a feel for her style. The music video she is recording is to her song, “Buddha’s Delight”.  In Cora’s song she makes reference to the Buddhist ideas of meditation, karma, past lives, paradise, salvation, and more. While these ideas themselves are valid, it is the way they are portrayed that makes this something worth discussing. In the song, Cora’s quest for “paradise” is a quest for a particular boy and a romantic relationship with that boy, rather than a quest to reach enlightenment. The music video she is filming in the movie features Cora dressed in next to nothing, dancing sexually with, and in front of, male and female background dancers wearing orange/yellow fabric. They bow to Cora at one point. Hugh’s character makes a comment towards the end of the video, “It’s nice to see a young woman exploring religion.” Of course, he’s being sarcastic, but he brings up a good point. 
        In Western culture, the idea of Buddhism, though practiced right here in the United States, is often portrayed as a foreign and exotic faith. Cora’s sensual lyrics and promiscuous dance moves enhance this idea. Similar to the SNL skit “Rude Buddha”, while entertaining, the video portrays a false example of Buddhism.  Buddhism is not a religion that glamourizes skimpy outfits and sexual desire, but rather a religion that espouses the idea that we should detach ourselves from these things. While humorous, “Buddha’s Delight” is a very poor representation of the faith of millions of people. Even though this song and video are meant to make fun of our own over-stereotyping, they only enhance ideas that many people hold about the Buddhist faith. In describing nirvana solely in terms of sexual pleasure and likening many sacred parts of Buddhism to sex, the video demeans a sacred religion and inappropriately depicts its characteristics.