How a person acted around those that knew them and how they acted while on set in Hollywood are two very subjective matters that don’t seem to be taken into account in this instance. Shannon Lee likely knew her father in a very different light than many of the people that worked with him, but it could be that she’s not really overreacting to Quentin Tarantino’s use of Bruce Lee’s legend, but is instead just firing back after Quentin decided to make his own statement. After all it wouldn’t the first time that someone has simply escalated a problem by responding more with emotion than logic. Jeremy Dick of MovieWeb and just about everyone else might want to pick a side in this nonsensical argument but seriously, those that knew Bruce the best would likely claim that he might just brush this off or have a serious issue with how Tarantino used his image and name. It’s all a matter of timing and how the director chooses to showcase a certain actor when it comes to who gets offended and who simply accepts that it’s an act and nothing more. Really and truly you can’t blame Shannon for wanting to see her father’s image upheld in a way that continues the legend that so many people ascribe to, but at the same time, Bruce Lee’s legend really was that for the most part, a legend.
Before getting into that, let me thank Bob Calhoun of Ozy for his article about how Quentin did sell Bruce Lee a little short since there was a stuntman named Gene LeBell who locked up with Bruce at one time and actually did run the risk of humiliating him. This however was due to the fact that Bruce had yet to learn that he could go half-speed on the stuntmen and still look good doing it while on camera. So Gene, a judo champion at that time, was called in to chill Bruce out, and he did put him in fireman’s carry and paraded around the set. Not long after this though Gene and Bruce would go on to train together as Gene would show Bruce several grappling techniques that his style, Jeet Kune Do, had been missing. As a result Gene became Bruce’s kicking post to make him look good, and he seemed to have a good time doing it. In other words, Brad Pitt’s character would have been one of the stuntmen trying to call a time out in order to get Gene in there to help. So yes, in this light it’s easy to see how Quentin did in fact take history and twist it to his own end, which isn’t exactly the first time he’s done such a thing.
On the other hand, there are quite a few legends that do more damage to Bruce’s reputation than any director ever could since they’ve been built up in his absence throughout the decades since his passing. In many ways Bruce Lee has been turned into an almost godlike being thanks to rumor and gossip that has flown about in such a big way. Brian Dunning of Skeptoid and many others that have gone so far as to at least see what’s myth and what’s reality have gone digging as far as they can into Bruce’s past in order to find out just what he was like, and what they ended up finding was that while Bruce was a skilled athlete and was quite fast with his punches and kicks, he wasn’t the master of any one particular martial art. He was flashy, he was cocky, he knew how to put on a good show, but without trying to tear him down, Bruce really was more of a showman than anything else. Now, Quentin using this to his advantage isn’t much of a surprise since quite honestly Quentin is well-known to go for broke when it comes to his movies and how he portrays certain characters. It could be that he stepped over the line with Bruce Lee or it could be that Shannon might need to shrug her shoulders and move on since it was a movie and there’s really nothing to get bent out of shape about.
It’s a movie, that’s the simplest and best way to describe the reason behind this argument. Those that knew Bruce the best, including his daughter and even Gene LeBell and others who acted with him, need to realize that their memories of him are much more valid than a caricature used on set. Despite the fact that Quentin’s movie is doing well in the theaters and that he is a bit of hothead and a loudmouth when he gets going it’s still just a movie, and not worth the aggravation that comes from arguing over it. We all choose to remember our legends in our own way after all, and one representation shouldn’t change that.
Follow Us
