The Other Side of Bruce Lee

[Jesse Smooth]

I've been thinking about this for awhile now and I know the answer (lazy journalism), but one had to wonder about this. Dion Brother mentioned this as well. your usual martial arts magazine, when doing interviews and so forth regarding Bruce, they seem to go towards Linda Lee, Dan Inosanto, Taky, Bob Wall, etc. In fact, there was an interview in Black Belt last year with Bob Wall that was so boring, predictable and routine.

However, they never seemed to go the extra effort to contact his people in Hong Kong - co-stars, crew guys, etc...

The only person who has done that is perhaps one of the most hated men in the kung fu film fandom - Senor Jorge Tan! Given his reputation, it's a shame, because he seems to be more knowledgeable than the most academic of Bruce Lee historians. Anyone else ever think about that?

[jiujitsu77]

black belt had an article about "the ten things you didn't know about bruce" in the early 90's. i remember reading it and disregarding it because some of the tidbits contradicted everything i thought of about bruce. i think that is the reason so many people don't care to listen or dispute because it ruins the superhero image of bruce. when it comes to george tan...well i think it's more of his ego than the info he gives that makes others not like him too much. plus i feel he LOOKS for stuff like that to present so he has something to say. im not saying bruce wasn't human like the rest of us, but you get what i mean. being told when you are 10 years old that the man you idolize was a hot tempered, egotistical hash smoker does not sit well

[Tosh]

Given BL was a child actor I'm not surprised he was egotistical, he was definitely confident in his abilities which can also be seen as egotistical. A lot of people are hot tempered, especially when they're younger, he's no different then anybody else there, it's one thing to have a fit and another to go off and beat your wife because of it. Honestly, who gives a fuck if he smoked hash.

[Jesse Smooth]

Just find it odd that the media tries to whitewash Bruce as if he was the cleanest person who had ever lived. He was an asshole, but that doesn't make me respect him any less. He was human. I also find it interesting that no one in the States would make an extra effort to actually find the people who worked with Bruce in the film industry other than Bob Wall or Chuck Norris.

Just a shame that Jorge Tan's book Tracking the Dragon will never be released (more or less published).

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

I remember Bey talking about why it is so difficult to get interviews from people who worked with, or knew a star in question! It is a chinese thing. It is considered bad form to talk about someone else, even if it is good. And is seen as trying to latch on their fame, when you have nothing going on, yourself. or something to that effect. Many of those people don't even like talking about themselves, let alone others!

[bolofan]

Bruce probably was egotistical, but that shouldn't tarnish his image.
For example, I have just finished Jackie Chans autobiography and Jackie admits that he was a nasty, big headed young man when he became famous.
They were all like it. Just Jackie had a chance to grow up and chill out.

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Bruce probably was egotistical, but that shouldn't tarnish his image.
For example, I have just finished Jackie Chans autobiography and Jackie admits that he was a nasty, big headed young man when he became famous.
They were all like it. Just Jackie had a chance to grow up and chill out.

Of course they were! Humility comes with age and experience. These guys were young and famous, of course they had big egos at that point! They came from nothing, and suddenly everybody thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bamboo shoots!

Which is why I don't get when hardcore BL fans get their panties in a twist, whenever someone brings this up! Take the blinders off!

[The Dragon]

... Which is why I don't get when hardcore BL fans get their panties in a twist, whenever someone brings this up! Take the blinders off!

:nerd:

Lol.

[makone]

i am a bruce lee fan, have been for 29 years still buy the books , the films search for rare footage and all that stuff. But i don`t believe he was the best fighter in the world , i don`t believe he was superman (even if he does look like clark kent in some of those early photo`s) i laugh when people claim he could beat this guy and that guy , they don`t know and nor do we.
i have read things from his friends and they try to put a positive spin on it but he still comes across as being a bit of a prick at times, also a bully (maybe that was just his sense of humour , but if he punched me in the face or phoned me at 2 am to pick him up , i`d say he was being a prick)
As i said i am a big fan and i think his screen presense has never been matched and whenever he is on screen you look at him nothing else.
give me the real bruce lee i can handle the human failings he had, and to know that he was just as fucked up as the rest of us makes him more accessable in my oppinion.