Bruce Lee The Difference Between Miracle And Bowman

From its entry into the American mainstream following US’s occupation of Japan during the Second World War, Asian martial arts have grown in popularity far outmatching the Golden Age of boxing of the early twentieth century. However, many martial arts academics insist that Asian martial arts have undergone more alteration in America over these six decades, than they experienced in their respective countries since their inventions. Initially this may seem farfetched or culturally obtuse, but it is certainly a idea that stimulates and deserves research and discussion. What constitutes alteration vs. adaptation? What forces present in America contributed to this departure from traditional martial arts? Have these changes taken away from the original
However, when it comes to agreeing on the most influential films and/or actors, the two authors go their separate ways. Bowman and Miracle both identify Bruce Lee as being a significant martial arts actor, although Bowman dedicates far more attention to Lee (I must point out that Bowman has written two academic monographs directed at Lee). As Bowman puts it, Bruce Lee was “of almost epochal importance” to the cultural translatability for Asian martial arts in America, as well as the sociopolitical status of Asians in America. As both an American citizen and having been raised in Hong Kong, Lee was able to appeal to both cultures and in doing so, was subject to scrutiny by each. Bowman illustrates Lee’s ability to weave the symbolism of colonial oppression vs. national pride and bully vs. underdog that succeeded in reaching the audience of both, dramatically different countries. Lee’s The Chinese Connection (originally titled Fists of Fury) broke box offices across Asia, as it foregrounded the complex foreign aggression and imperialism against China by addressing the memory of wartime massacres and oppression under colonial rule. Bowman explains that the film was the perfect recipe for the Asian audience in the current setting, but
Instead Miracle provides more focus to Japanese inspired martial arts films because judo and karate were far more popular in America. While this may be technically true, the fact that this is the only mention to Bruce Lee or other Chinese martial arts films in Miracle’s analysis of martial arts media could be seen as remiss. Miracle insists that Westerners were more drawn to the white-washed, Western-centric films like the James Bond series (1962-), the Kung Fu series (1972-75) with David Carradine, and Bloodsport (1988) with Van Damme, whose actors commanded next to no proper training in the martial arts they acted out, but whose characters champion over martial artists. Furthermore, Miracle identifies yet another shift in American hegemonic masculinity in the early 1980’s with the releases of Rambo (1982) and Conan the Barbarian (1982) featuring body-builder actors Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose “primal” characters intentionally desecrated discourses of feminism on their violent, man-grunt filled journeys for revenge. These movies functioned as a “reassertion of a sense of control and masculinity” and provided the outlet or qualification for the deep-seated violence fostered in men of certain cultures (Miracle