Half a century after his death, Bruce Lee remains a symbol of physical strength and masculinity for the Asian community and an icon of cinema in the 20th century. But his daughter says there’s more to his legacy that deserves to be acknowledged.
Shannon Lee, who was 4 years old when her father died in 1973, said he rejected toxic, traditional ideas of masculinity, instead placing value on expressing emotion. As she reflects on her father’s life on the 50th anniversary of his death Thursday, Lee said she hopes others will recognize how Bruce Lee defined strength: as vulnerability.
“As masculine as he appeared physically, through the amount of strength and action of martial arts, there is actually a very inherent sort of softening of his masculinity that I think gets overlooked,” said Lee, who’s an executive producer on HBO’s “Warrior.” “He advocated for really showing up, really being present.”
Bruce Lee, who died in Hong Kong at age 32, has largely been credited with popularizing martial arts in the West, introducing the art form to new cultures and across color lines, as well as bringing it to the big screen in films like “Enter the Dragon.”
But for the Asian American community, he was seen as a resistance hero, challenging stubborn stereotypes around Asian men, who were often portrayed as weak, emasculated and deferential. However, Shannon Lee said, it was really her father’s emotional intelligence that made him a trailblazer.
“We have a letter where he wrote to the head of this studio and he says, ‘Listen, I want to deliver you the most amazing action film, but you have to give me not just your head but your heart,’” she said.
She said that since her father’s death, some have defaulted to a view of him that she sees as “patriarchal.” In Quentin Tarantino’s controversial 2021 film “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” Bruce Lee is portrayed as an arrogant, competitive character, a depiction that got significant…
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