Not many people realise what Bruce Lee represented back in his day. His first TV show in the US, The Green Hornet (1966, known as The Kato Show in Hong Kong) gave Americans their first positive Asian male character in a leading role. Mind you, this was shortly after Vietnam War started. It was short lived, but highly impactful, including a cross-over 2-part episode with Batman, where Kato and Robin fought to a draw (neither actor wanted to lose). A few TV guest appearances followed, before Bruce reluctantly returned to Hong Kong. Only after three local box-office-breaking films, Hollywood noticed and gave him Enter the Dragon (1973), the Citizen Kane of martial arts movies. This was the first time ever that a Chinese, or any Asian, actor was given a starring role in a post-WWII Hollywood film. Only Anna May Wong had that privilege in the 1920s and 30s, but was reduced to supporting parts in the sound era.
As a writer/director/choreographer, with The Way of the Dragon Lee became a de-facto auteur of action cinema. The climactic Colosseum bout with Chuck Norris still has no equal 47 years later. His Game of Death, interrupted by Enter the Dragon, remains an unfinished attempt to broaden our understanding of what martial arts meant for Lee – the entire plot revolves about various combat disciplines. Bruce had always been a prolific writer on martial arts and philosophy, and wanted to share his thoughts with non-Asian audiences. Most of his writing is now available.
The ultimate irony is that the very next time another actor of Asian descent was permitted to star in a Hollywood movie was in 1992. Bruce's son, Brandon Lee got his big break in the highly entertaining Rapid Fire. Next year, the spirit returned again: Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story was a good, if sanitised, biopic starring Jason Scott Lee. Brandon Lee's tragic death on the set of The Crow (1994) marked the last time an Asian actor was solely carrying a Hollywood blockbuster.
It's a long way to go before we embrace all cultures and treat each other equal – martial arts cinema may not be the preferred way for many. But without Bruce Lee, we would be even further behind. Respect.
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