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Thread: Enter the Dragon

  1. #1
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    College paper- Enter the Dragon

    I am a college student working on a paper for my Cultural Anthropology class. My assignment is to examine how a society (“the west” in this case) reacts to images in the media that portray the “other” (Chinese culture). I am currently writing my paper on images of Chinese culture that are represented in the Bruce Lee classic “Enter the Dragon.”
    Please send me any thoughts you may have or cite any images from the movie that you found particularly powerful. Not all of these images have to be good. Please mention if you find any images of ethnocentrism, racism, or prejudice.
    Please also be aware that I may quote any post in this thread. In maintaining anonymity, I will only use screen names to cite these quotes. If you do not wish to have even your screen name published, please mention this in your post, and I will use anonymous as the citation.
    Your opinions matter to me. I thank you for any time you spend reading or responding to this post.
    Sincerely,
    Humble College Student

  2. #2
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    I'd say Enter the Dragon is the most mainstream of fu flicks. It set the standard for the stereotype of chinese martial arts, wherein practioners make high pitch screams.

    If you're looking for how the west portrays the east, Romeo Must Die is another one.

  3. #3
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    Well this was a big step up for kung fu, and traditional martial arts. Before the introduction of Kung Fu from pioneers such as Bruce Lee, people would've still have looked Kung Fu as a sort of karate.
    Kung fu and martial arts began to spread because of the influence it had through the big screen.

  4. #4
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    Sorry dude never really paid that much attention to it but I'll TTT it for ya

  5. #5
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    well, Enter the Dragon was a fantasy film and offers really no bridges between east and west and rather portrays all characters as a conglomerate outside of their own cultural trappings.

    For example, all the main characters are each from a differnet aspect of american culture.

    The Chinese (Lee), The black Ghettoized guy (williams) and the white golfer/player (saxon).

    each of these guys represented the paradigm of the day.

    as far as insight into chinese culture, there is very little of this.

    1 instance is teh lesson to lau by bruce wherein bruce imparts a tidbit of taoism with his finger/moon koan.

    2nd instance is on Han's Island where the party takes place and we see a setting of what may have been a scene in Kublai Khans pleasure dome where there are wrestlers and dancers and musicians and endless trays of food (more mongol than chinese really and in fact it looks like the directors idea of what xanadu must have been like )

    The movie in itself doesn't window into the chinese culture too much, but instead it seems to show chinese culture as it is percieved through the american paradigm of that day and age. (even now sadly )

    cheers
    Kung Fu is good for you.

  6. #6
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    exactly the point

    Thank you for your replies. Kung Lek hit the nail on the head with his final comment. This is the goal of the assignment- to examine Chinese images as they are dictated by a western studio.

    This paper is an undertaking similar to "Reading National Geographic" by Lutz and Collins. The photos in the magazine are not always true to form of the cultures they represent. At all times, these photos are being shaped by western producers and a western audience. By presenting photos of bright colorful clothing, the magazine gives the western audience the exotic images they wish to see.

    The banquet scene is a particularly interesting one. Without Kung Lek's comments, I never would have noticed the Mongolian images. One particular image that I am interested in is the 2 sumo wrestlers in the center ring. Why are they here? Sumo wrestling is clearly a Japanese art. Are the film makers trying to pass Sumo off as Chinese? or by placing the wrestlers in the center, do they call attention to cultural differences?

    There I go again. I always end up with more questions than answers.

    Thank you to all who have posted. I would like to encourage replies and further posting on this thread.
    Sincerely,
    Humble College Student

  7. #7
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    Enter the Dragon

    I saw Enter the Dragon for the fifth and final time last night. I used to like it, but realized yesterday what a crappy movie it is.

  8. #8
    I'm holding my breath for your words of wisdom! Ha! Ha! You know how bull is, you bait it with a red cape and watch how it charges straight pass you. Ole!

  9. #9
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    Cool

    No seriously, it was quite disappointing. Just wondering if anybody has gone through the same process where their kung fu has improved, look backed on ETD, and saw it as crap...

  10. #10
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    Enter the dragon

    Before we say its a crappy movie lets look at the facts. It is a martial arts movie of a chinese fighter that until this movie was more or less a B-list actor in america. Not to mention its form the 70's . Plus dude of course its not supposed to be all that great martial art wise. look at the matrix if Keanu Reeves didnt dodge bullets and levitate and slowdown time that movie would have been crap. The Bruce lee movies did suck in many ways because its all acting and not actual combat it was scripted and aimed at an unapreciative american audience that would only see the "neat kicks and stuff". However for not actually hitting anybody i think Bruce Lee still pulls off a very effective combat simulation even though contact is never made.
    Sanity is only the dull,predictable, and repetitive actions of the average

    -Tajiquan Ninja-

  11. #11
    Okay, guys. Here are what I like so much about the movie:

    1. Good overall philosophy of MA : "Don't look at the finger!", "It hits by itself", "the art of fighting without fighting"...

    2. Good expression of fighting spirit and power: Body, mind, and emotion are packed into a powerful blast of pure killing energy. This kind of volcanic fury can be seen and felt in the fight scene with O'hara and have thrilled legions of fans unfailingly across the decades.

    3. Good brain. How do you fight against shadows? Break the mirrors of illusion to reveal the true enemy.

    Good MA movies come and go, but fans that are touched by the Dragon's magics will treasure again and again those timeless moments when Bruce made the impossible possible. What more can a guy ask for in this kind of movie?

    Regards,

    PH
    Last edited by PaulH; 10-21-2003 at 07:17 PM.

  12. #12
    ETD, was light years ahead of the other chop socky flix of it's time. and it still sux. Lee never was in a good movie.

    Keng Geng, have you gone back and watched the other Bruce Lee movies? It's like he's the only one with any training.

    Now I liked him in the Green Hornet and Longstreet. Very cool in those.
    Last edited by rogue; 10-20-2003 at 06:54 PM.
    I quit after getting my first black belt because the school I was a part of was in the process of lowering their standards A painfully honest KC Elbows

    The crap that many schools do is not the crap I was taught or train in or teach.

    Dam nit... it made sense when it was running through my head.

    DM


    People love Iron Crotch. They can't get enough Iron Crotch. We all ride the Iron Crotch for the exposure. Gene

    Find the safety flaw in the training. Rory Miller.

  13. #13
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    Ya know, many years ago I found a bunch of tapes at Wal-Mart of the Green Hornet series, however at the time, not into MA, I did not pay attention. (I also did not know Bruce Lee was Kato at the time).

    Now I wish I could find those tapes again to watch.
    I have a signature.

  14. #14
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    yeah you guys are right i watched it again. as far as it goes i still think it is a great movie but ....i dont know it lacked something. i think that if Lee had written the script, done the casting roles himself, done the caureography, and had those jerk-off extras trained in basic MA then the movie would have been at least 5 times better than it currently is.



    " Good MA movies come and go, "
    Sanity is only the dull,predictable, and repetitive actions of the average

    -Tajiquan Ninja-

  15. #15
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    yeah you guys are right i watched it again. as far as it goes i still think it is a great movie but ....i dont know it lacked something. i think that if Lee had written the script, done the casting roles himself, done the caureography, and had those jerk-off extras trained in basic MA then the movie would have been at least 5 times better than it currently is.



    " Good MA movies come and go, "
    thats what paul said and he is right remember jet lee's "Red Dragon" for example? (i wouldnt be suprised if you didnt the ma in it was pretty good but the plot and the characters were terrible not to mention the knee high invincible metal chariot car thing that the imortal exiled shaolin monk drove around in that looked like it was made out of doweling rods and aluminum foil)



    oh yeah philbert that "Your bus gets shorter by the day." quote is hilarious
    Sanity is only the dull,predictable, and repetitive actions of the average

    -Tajiquan Ninja-

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