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Bruce Lee biopic criticized for making him secondary to a fictional white friend
- Thread starter Alessandra Kelley
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Seriously?! Bruce Lee isn't an interesting enough person to headline his own biopic?!
Though of course, the director won't just admit that the studio wouldn't bankroll a picture with an Asian guy front and center. Even though Bruce Lee was one of the most badass mother-effers ever, so badass that you have no trouble believing any positive statements said about him. Tell me that Bruce Lee once punched a tank unconscious and I'd have no trouble believing you.
Though of course, the director won't just admit that the studio wouldn't bankroll a picture with an Asian guy front and center. Even though Bruce Lee was one of the most badass mother-effers ever, so badass that you have no trouble believing any positive statements said about him. Tell me that Bruce Lee once punched a tank unconscious and I'd have no trouble believing you.
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I'm glad I saw this. Thanks for posting about it. Bruce Lee is one of my heroes. He was more than an amazing martial artist in terms of the punching, kicking, tactics, and strategy of fighting. He was a martial artist on the inside as well. His essays are wonderful. I think this is the book to read to get a good feeling for how he thought about the world: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0804832633/?tag=absowrit-20
What's next? "To show a heroine who's currently engaged to a cad, but she falls in love with a heroic character and must make a choice which man she'll end up marrying ... This is just such a new concept in a Hollywood film. I'm not sure if the audience will be able to grasp it."
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The IMDB reviews make me want to laugh and cry at the same time.
"I got nothing against white guys, but what is he doing as the focus of a Bruce Lee biopic?"
"I got nothing against white guys, but what is he doing as the focus of a Bruce Lee biopic?"
"It's a martial arts movie, but we're keeping the main character white and doing the classic white savior deal: white guy with an Asian mentor saves the day."
"So what makes this one different from the 5,000 other movies we've made like this?"
"We're making the Asian mentor younger!"
"Brilliant!"
"So what makes this one different from the 5,000 other movies we've made like this?"
"We're making the Asian mentor younger!"
"Brilliant!"
Maybe it's a "fictional biography" like the Nicole Kidman movie Fur that was about Diane Arbus. Which I did love, by the way, but know not to take it as real life. Anyway, Bruce Lee deserves better.
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I understand they also caught some flak for making Bruce Lee come across as extremely arrogant and cocky.
As a martial artist myself, I'm insulted as well at this twisting of Bruce's legacy.
As a martial artist myself, I'm insulted as well at this twisting of Bruce's legacy.
This is kind of a common thing in movies where the subject of the film is reduced to a supporting character because the producers want a White face playing a lead role.
I'm thinking of Cry Freedom, a film ostensibly about the South African activist, Steve Biko, but instead is just another Black and White buddy flick with the character who should be the centerpiece being nothing but the tragic catalyst that awakens the White character as Roger Ebert wrote in his review:
"Cry Freedom" begins with the story of a friendship between a white liberal South African editor and an idealistic young black leader who later dies at the hands of the South African police. But the black leader is dead and buried by the movie's halfway point, and the rest of the story centers on the editor's desire to escape South Africa and publish a book. You know there is something wrong with the premise of this movie when you see that the actress who plays the editor's wife is billed above the actor who plays the black leader. This movie promises to be an honest account of the turmoil in South Africa but turns into a routine cliff-hanger about the editor's flight across the border. It's sort of a liberal yuppie version of that Disney movie where the brave East German family builds a hot-air balloon and floats to freedom. The problem with this movie is similar to the dilemma in South Africa: Whites occupy the foreground and establish the terms of the discussion, while the 80 percent non-white majority remains a shadowy, half-seen presence in the background.
I'm thinking of Cry Freedom, a film ostensibly about the South African activist, Steve Biko, but instead is just another Black and White buddy flick with the character who should be the centerpiece being nothing but the tragic catalyst that awakens the White character as Roger Ebert wrote in his review:
"Cry Freedom" begins with the story of a friendship between a white liberal South African editor and an idealistic young black leader who later dies at the hands of the South African police. But the black leader is dead and buried by the movie's halfway point, and the rest of the story centers on the editor's desire to escape South Africa and publish a book. You know there is something wrong with the premise of this movie when you see that the actress who plays the editor's wife is billed above the actor who plays the black leader. This movie promises to be an honest account of the turmoil in South Africa but turns into a routine cliff-hanger about the editor's flight across the border. It's sort of a liberal yuppie version of that Disney movie where the brave East German family builds a hot-air balloon and floats to freedom. The problem with this movie is similar to the dilemma in South Africa: Whites occupy the foreground and establish the terms of the discussion, while the 80 percent non-white majority remains a shadowy, half-seen presence in the background.
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