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| FEATURE STORY |
| Wild, wild East |
| When Bruce Lee first flew like
an avenging god across the silver screen with his awe-inspiring kicks, he
redefined cinematic action and brought the heroic Asian male onto the world
stage.
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| BY ANDREW LAM |
Picture this sun-drenched memory: I am five years old, in
white pajamas, and swinging on a hammock. On the flame trees the cicadas are
humming, but I’m not entirely there in the Mekong Delta. In my hands is a
thick picture book. I’m on a quest with Monkey King, Pig Monster, and the
half-water demon, Sha Wujing, as they search for their kidnapped master in
Journey to the West—my first martial arts, magic-endowed epic.
That well-loved 16th century yarn came down from far up
north—an equally mythical country called China. Besides Confucianism
and Chinese New Year (which we called Tet), China gave me clashing swords,
flashing silk brocades, and demonic fighters dancing on mountaintops. For
many childhood siestas, my imagination would not let me sleep.
Picture then another memory: I am nine and being driven to
school in an army jeep in Saigon. But today the street is filled with weeping
young men donning white headbands. On their shoulders sits a garlanded altar.
My jeep draws near. Bruce Lee’s handsome face stares out from the altar with
determination and seriousness. Asia’s most famous son had died a few days
earlier while making a film in Hong Kong. I, too, begin to cry.
Every schoolboy I know loves Bruce Lee, and I am no
exception. At school, the older boys often say, "Little Dragon Lee shows
the Americans and the French how to fight, and what honor really is."
Through Little Dragon Lee, we can imagine our own faces on the silver screen.
Never mind that Vietnamese saw China as a traditional enemy. Lee transcended
race and national boundaries. In the schoolyard many of us, after having seen
a Bruce Lee movie, would pretend to practice martial arts. We would fight each
other under the shade of the tamarind trees, and repeat certain lines learned
from the film, and echo that famous Bruce Lee high-pitched growl to unnerve
our opponents. Lee single-handedly brought the heroic Asian male image, long
suffering from invisibility, onto the world stage, restoring Asian pride. How
could I not weep at his passing?
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