Says the narrator of the History Channel documentary: “Bruce Lee influenced popular culture more than anyone before or since.” Really? More than Elvis and the Beatles, or any number of Hollywood stars that made considerably more movies than the slender four on his resume? Well, sure, Lee’s sudden burst of popularity in the early ‘70s spurred the growth of martial arts instruction as a legion of wannabes and a few genuine seekers flocked to the ancient discipline he mastered so well at a young age.
But there’s more. Much more. As shown by “How Bruce Lee Changed the World”(out on DVD), the Chinese-American star really is everywhere; his legacy survived a glut of bad kung fu flicks, some of them featuring unknown actors billed as Bruce Lee or snippets of footage in the can when he died at age 32, the result of an allergy to pain medication. Jackie Chan got started as a stunt man in Lee’s movies and for RushHour director Brett Ratner, Enter the Dragon, Lee’s only Hollywood movie, was like Star Wars—the film he saw over and again during adolescence.
Most every martial arts video game is based on Lee. Ironically, he despised special effects. His ballet of choreographed violence, which has become a signature of the martial arts genre and influenced The Matrix and other films, was based on what he could do with his body, unaided by mirrors, wires or the unforeseen development of computer graphics.
“How Bruce Lee Changed the World” also shows how the Hong Kong star changed the way minority groups or non-whites—and not just Asians—saw themselves. So that’s where Wu-Tang Clan got its name? Lee became a heroic figure, overcoming adversity through a balance of body, mind and terse dialogue. He could be interpreted as the ultimate ass kicker or a peaceful warrior. Lee probably preferred the latter. He majored in philosophy and was rather bookish. Grains of his Buddhist-steeped koans (nothing is everything and everything is nothing) filtered into the mainstream. His concept of becoming like water, fluid and adaptable to any situation, is worth considering. His feline, agile body language probably helped inspire skateboard culture as much as karate contests.
Maybe Stan Lee, whose Marvel comic book character the Iron Fist was based on Bruce Lee, put it best in an interview for the documentary. He called the martial artists “a superhero without a costume. His power was his agility.”
