bruce lee, a chinese hero!!

[Domstarr]

So did Mickey Mouse

[RobertG]

So did Mickey Mouse what? Have a big fan club? Ummm, ok, like that puts me in bad company or something? I mean Mickey had Mouseketeers right? If memory serves these include both Christina Aguilera and Brittney Spears. I could only wish I had those two dressed in silly Mouseketeer outfits, dancing for me and singing songs about me. All of you guys would be worshipping me more than Bruce then. So equating my fan base to that of Mickey Mouse is hardly an insult. Likewise, let us not forget that Mickey made Disney hundreds of millions (or billions) of dollars. I mean ouch Domstarr, low blow. You are equating me with one of the most popular cartoon characters of all time. How insulting. I think I'm going to cry now.

[Domstarr]

Robert G. said.....

I think I'm going to cry now.

Doesn't surprise me. You have a lot of nerve telling a Chinaman
how the Chinese feel. How would you like it if he told you that he didn't like the Muskaeers?

[shasan]

I kinda liked the silly yellow tracksuit....

I don't care what you say, I'm keeping mine. :P

[Tom Yum]

Hate to say this, but most Chinese people (from China) whom I've talked to are only vaguely familiar with Bruce Lee. I say this having frequented Chinese resturaunts and shops in Chinatown. Its like asking a Brit what they think about Benny Hill; you get an "Oh yeah that guy" kind of response.

Jet Li is big on the kung fu movie scene. Even Chow Yun Fat and Yuen Biao are becoming old-skool.

[shasan]

Jet-Li's movies ARE super good though.

I don't think I've seen a Jet-Li movie that I didn't like. He's pretty freaking smart too, I went to his web site and he was discussing philosophy and shiznit.

well.. not literally shiznit... you know what I mean. He's really into Chinese history and philosophy, fiercely proud of his people and his Wushu... it shows in his films.

I actually kinda found some of his musings interesting.

I LOVED Fist of Legend. wicked wicked movie, remake of Bruce Lee's Chinese Connection. (which was also OK).

[RobertG]

Originally posted by Domstarr
Robert G. said.....

I think I'm going to cry now.

Doesn't surprise me. You have a lot of nerve telling a Chinaman
how the Chinese feel. How would you like it if he told you that he didn't like the Muskaeers?

Yeah, well he has a lot of frigging nerve telling African Americans that they all worship Tupac and hold him in the same esteem as MLK. If that isn't some racist crap, I don't know what is. Yeah, all African Americans are soooooo proud of gangster rap.

If he doesn't want to jump the Mouseketeers then he's got serious issues. Sex with Brittney or Christina crosses cultural boundaries. And if he's gay, well hell, Justin Timberlake was a Mouseketeer too, so there's a piece of ass for everyone in the Disney world.

And I might point out that its not exactly P.C. to call Chinese people "Chinaman". And you're telling me I have nerve.

I'm so sorry that I think the two Nobel Prize winners (in Physics and Literature) from China in the last decade should be more important to the people of China than Bruce Lee. Whoo-hoo, Bruce Lee kicked people's butt's in movies in a yellow jumpsuit while making silly noises and he made some innovations to the way people trained martial arts (in America, not China). Yeah, such nerve I have for daring to suggest that over the course of recorded history China has given human civilization more important things than Bruce Lee (who really gave to America more than China anyway). Outside of the world of internet message boards, Bruce Lee is not a very significant figure to the vast majority of humans on Earth (about 1/6 of whom are Chinese).

Now stop posting crap tonight please. Mortal Combat is on and I'd hate to be distracted from this piece of cinematic genius by your drivel.

[swan104]

I'm Chinese, but to me, and many other people around, Bruce Lee was not God. He has been an inspiration to me, but so have many other people.

When my parents see documentaries on him, they'll say something like, "He's been dead for 25 years...why are people still talking about him like he's the Messiah?" I have to say I agree with them. I think to a lot of Chinese people, they just see him as a movie star that died 30 years ago.

I think Bruce really did want to show to the world what the Asian/Chinese culture is all about, but I agree that he ended up making more stereotypes for Asian people. I've lost count of the number of times I've walked down the street and have people make "Bruce Lee noises" (and other racist chants) at me. I used to get into a few playground scuffles because kids used to think I knew kung fu because I was Chinese! Those were the days!!

I can see why a lot of the Chinese would have seen Bruce as a hero in the 60s. I think racial prejudices still exist, but things have moved on a little. When I go into a bar, I am aware that I am seen as a "foreigner" to most people. If I feel something is about to kick off, then I'll head towards the nearest exit.

I'm just rambling on now, but all I'm trying to say is there is a lot more to Chinese culture than Bruce Lee!

[Thai Bri]

Well said.

And Bruce may well have potrayed himself as some kind of great image for the Oriental person. But he allowed many Oriental people to be potorayed in a negative light.

[proud chinaman]

i know bruce lee isnt the best thing chinese culture has to offer, and about the tupac thing there are three black guys that are in my college class and they LOOOOVEEE tupac. they see him as their hero cos of stuff he says in his songs mean stuff to them or whatever from where i come from there are bugger all black people so of course id assume that many black people love tupac!!

also this thread wasnt meant to be this serious i just posted it cos my dad was telling me when he used to live in hong kong that EVERYONE fookin loved bruce lee cos in his films he beat the japanese and white bullys up, it was the first time that most chinese people had seen this kind of thing and my dad told me that when he watched fist of fury(the chinese connection) in the theatre folk were standing up and applauding constantly and cheered everytime a japanese guy got hit! as chinese people have been opressed by many these films were light hearted fun that showed a chinese guy getting his own back. my dad himself said that back in hong kong everyone thought of him as a hero and could not believe it when he died.also about the idol worshipping thing loads of people worship crap pop stars and drug addicted actors, bruce lee is a more positive inspiration than many.

i know that bruce lee is not perfect and is only human but basically my dad says when bruces films first came out he was bigger than fookin mars!! and him and his mates all thought he was a hero.

[proud chinaman]

also in the way of the dragon about the thugs hassling the chinese restaurant and then bruce lee comes and beats them up many chinese people that i know can relate to that as alot of us own takeaways that get abuse so many think of bruce lee as a hero cos in his films there are things that many people can relate to. and yes i know that alot of chinese people dont think of bruce lee anymore but when i was in hong kong about two months ago and i started talking about bruce lee to some relatives they all raised a big smile and still think of him as a hero. this is all from my experience so there!! again this isnt like we worship him as a demi god, and when did i say that bl is all there is to chinese culture?

[Ghost]

Personally I think Bruce Lee has done as much harm as he has good.

The amount of people that make haaaawwwwww sounds when someone chinese goes past.

I think alot of the time he was making a joke out of his culture and didnt even realise it.

Having said that he did pretty much bring MA to the west, at least into the mainstream.

[Lizard]

Is fist of legend that crap one where a kung fu master fights a boxer?

The boxer is a stereotypical white man, he's big and stupid, hunched over, brutish and violent. He breaths heavily and swings his arms around. I found this quite offensive (an exeption to the rule that white people cannot be offended by racism against them).

The kung fu guy put on some gloves and knocked the boxer out easily with one punch. Hooray, die stupid white man!

I also found it interesting that all the baddies did boxing and the old english guy (smoking a pipe and wearing a bowler hat) got thrown in the water and laughed at (some racist comments too I think).

That was a crap movie.

PS what happened when they looked at one of their friends and said "Your japanese?", I'm sure the camera zoomed in on his nipple. Is there some difference between the chinese and japanese that I don't know about?

[kh_s]

Sometimes I get called Chinese SH*T for some apparent reason when I am walking somewhere. But the thing is Im actually Filipino but I look Chinese (actually I have some Chinese background, my grandfather is Chinese). Ohhhh It hurts....

[proud chinaman]

lizard thats not fist of legend, thats legend of a fighter!! fist of legend is an amazing jet li film. yes the racism in that film is quite silly, i aint condoning it, but its nothing compared to the racism chinese get from whites. the most offensive names chinese people can come up with for white people is gweilo, which means a ghost man, which is not very offensive if you ask me, but whites have dozens of names for chinese people!!

many chinese people that i know that have been picked on by big white guys love bruce lee more than anyone just cos of the fact that he gives the image of a powerful asian man sticking up for himself, and thats what gives many shyer and weaker people that i know inspiration, to take up martial arts or whatever.if that aint positive than i dont know what is!!

my dad told me that after chinese people being looked down on most of the time, after enter the dragon came out when he was working as a waiter the usual group of thugs who used to come hassle the restaurant he worked at became alot more open and friendly. thats his experience of bruce lees movies doing some good!