In this chapter, it focuses again mostly on Bruce Lee and his work with the fantasy factory workers and the cast of Enter the Dragon, especially with Bob Hall who plays as Ohara in the movie. I was intrigued to discover that in the scene where  Ohara tried to use glass bottles as a weapon against “Lee”, Bob Hall decided to actually use real glass bottles, which injured Lee’s hands as he broke them in the scene. This could’ve been seen as a way to get at Bruce and to defy him, especially to all the Chinese on set who witnessed the incident. Fortunately, he “got back” at Ohara/Hall by pulling off the moves that “defeated” him. While this was happening, all the Chinese extras on set, including the ones under Han, started cheering and getting excited over Lee’s actions. This wasn’t intentional, but it was the fact that Bruce Lee was getting back at Bob Hall for his actions against Lee, especially for the treatment they received from the American cast who insulted them since they believed they did not understand English as Americans do. Another incident that occurred was the shooting of the boat scene for Enter the Dragon, where a man shouted cursed the Chinese for their inability to understand him, causing one of the Chinese cameramen nearby to attack him.

This chapter also mentions the “Oriental” stereotype of Charlie Chan and Dr. Fu Manchu. There were also connections between the story of Enter the Dragon and the cast and directors who were in the movie. The reading made it seem as though they were not entirely that different, having “Lee” take on Han, while off set it was Bruce Lee taking on the Shaw Brothers. There was conflict between both roles here, and it was interesting to find this connection since I wouldn’t have guessed that this kind of relationship even existed during the shooting of the movie.

On Friday the class created a “master list” of terms regarding to who, what, where, and when for the Kato reading. Instead of summarizing the chapter, I’ll just talk about a few things that I remember the most from the reading that we put on the list.

First off, what the force was THX 3800? Did the author actually mean THX 1138 instead? That’s kind of strange they let that error pass onto print. I had to double check just to make sure, and I knew it sounded fishy when I read over that. It could possibly just be my book. 1138 is one of the numbers George Lucas likes to use in his media works. Anyways, the chapter mentions that,

“the appeal of the image of virtual power apparatus does not rest on its futuristic promises. Rather, it is the representation of the inevitability of technological development and its implicit autonomy from the sweat, blood, and tears of living labor that gives the image of the power apparatus’s strong sense of stability and permanence…the image of a technologically saturated power apparatus concurs with the ideological effect that mystifies the fact that the creation of values takes place in multitudinous sites of indentured servitude.” (Kato 79)

So how is the movie THX 1138 related to those statements. Well, the movie takes place in a distant future where everyone dresses the same and takes drugs to “improve” their performance at their jobs, but also acts as a inhibitor for emotions. The city is overseen by a artificial “deity” called OMM and androids created by the denizens function as the society’s police force. The “indentured servitude” can be seen in all the people living in this dystopia, who work long hours to support the city and engage in activities that will make them “perfectly happy”. They have all the services they could want, but one thing cannot exist in this city: love. The “autonomy” here is the machines that run this society and see fit to put human workers in dangerous conditions, while all the “sweat, blood, and tears” are prevented through drugs to increase production. This relates to the other science fiction films Blade Runner and the Matrix by having the machines either being a threat or using humanity as a means to further production.

Second is Hong Kong, probably one of the memorable places in China. Here the company Golden Harvest did some shoots for the movie Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee. What’s interesting here is Hollywood’s presence causes some tension between the American set workers and the “natives”, especially the “fantasy factory” workers. Lee and fellow workers and stuntmen worked under directors the movie did not adhere too much to stereotypes generated by American media. Unfortunately, some of the workers, like director Lo Wei, did not take the shoots seriously enough and led to conflicts between Lee and the higher ups. Another questionable move was the inclusion of real prostitutes in the movie. Golden Harvest couldn’t use actors for those roles and had to use real ones because in Hong Kong it’d be considered “disgraceful” and the inclusion of prostitutes in a movie “had to cast a prostitute for the part,” (Kato 105). I’m not sure if that’s a good move, but on the reverse side they had to respect the culture and setting they were in.

Finally there’s Hollywood, the organization that is head of most of the film media. It’s because of them that stereotypes for Asians were developed and commonly showed to the public. Hollywood and its branches, according to this chapter, had a hand in developing the films Bruce Lee starred in, such as Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon. Hollywood relied on labor in other areas to work on sets as either set staff, extras, and stuntmen. Unfortunately these other labor sources were not treated fairly, which Lee took as offense. For example, some of the American set workers believed the Chinese set workers knew little to no English and used this to insult the Chinese; however, unbeknownst to the American staff, the Chinese understood them well enough that eventually they started rebelling and fighting back.

In the first movie Shaolin Ulyssess, the movie displayed four different monks following the teachings and lifestyles of Shaolin in the United States. Most of them were traditional, but some were a little unorthodox. For example, the second featured monk, whose name escapes me, said he only got into Kung Fu to learn the martial art and that’s just about it, not much for the Buddhism part, although later his wife remarks that he is a Buddhist because of his family. I don’t know if they’re collaboratively trying to establish the a wave of  Shaolin Kung Fu in the United States or are individually trying to spread their own take of Kung Fu throughout. They all wanted to spread the influence of Kung Fu and Buddhism, but they had different ways of coming to it. I find it strange that the last monk featured met a manlike that, who seemed to not really know what he was talking about regarding Kung Fu and acted all clever-like by saying Hooters was “his temple”. Sure it is a way of life, but to me the man didn’t seem like the guy who has the patience and discipline to learn Kung Fu, but that’s just my two cents.

When I saw The Black Kung Fu Experience, I was hoping for a segment that would, even for just a few seconds, mention Black Dynamite, an action and comedy film starring real life martial artist Michael Jai White.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Aside from that, I thought it was interesting how most of the people featured in this movie turned to martial arts as a way to combat the harsh oppressions of society. I found it fascinating how the Snake fight style possessed sub-categories such as Python, Viper, and more which have escape my mind at the moment. I used to think the five animal fighting styles were named that way based on the poses looking like the stances of animals, but it’s based on the quality of the animal too, for example ethe snake is precise, quick, and quite flexible.

The constant theme of viewing martial arts as not only as a means of self-defense, but also as a way of maintaining discipline is a connection seen through both movies. I can relate to this when I took Tae Kwon Do in my youth, where the first things we learned before any real martial arts was how to behave in a disciplined manner and to realize that the techniques we were being taught were for the sake of self-defense. What also seemed to inspire the take of martial arts was the popularity of Kung Fu movies done with Bruce Lee. It seems that Chinese martial arts are the most popular, according to the movies. This doesn’t surprise me though, since the boom of Kung Fu movies pushed Chinese martial arts up the popular culture ladder.

BRUCE LEE REPRESENTED A CHARACTER AGAINST IMPERIALISM AND REPRESENTED CHINESE CITIZENS, INCITING OTHERS TO TAKE ACTION

In the book, the chapters talked about specifically Bruce Lee and the movies he starred in and how they represented a struggle that is personal to Lee. It’s revealed in the reading that Lee’s childhood was spent partly spent during the occupation of Hong Kong by Japanese forces during World War II. Having witnessed the brutal tortures and conditions the Chinese citizens faced under Imperial Japan’s control, Lee developed somewhat an anti-Imperial Japanese stance when it came to his movies.

For example, in Fist of Fury the main antagonist is the teacher of a Japanese dojo named Suzuki, whose students insulted Lee’s character, Chen Zhen, and his deceased master. Wanting to prove that Chinese people were not “sick Asians”, Zhen goes to their dojo and defeats every student there. Distraught, Suzuki sends his students to attack Zhen’s school. After witnessing the aftermath of his fellow students defeated, Zhen confronts Suzuki and defeats him in one-on-one combat.

The imagery here is focusing on the movement of Imperialism and the forces under it. Here Zhen represents the Chinese citizen, being called out as “less” than the Japanese. Lee tries to prove they can just be as equal when he confronts them at their own turf, taking them down all alone. Suzuki, the teacher of the dojo, represents Japanese Imperialism since he is trying to establish a form of superiority by keeping the students of the Chinese dojo down. This alludes to the occupation of the Japanese on Chinese citizens during World War II.

Another example of confronting Imperialism is in his other movie Way of the Dragon, in which Lee fights a Caucasian martial artist played by Chuck Norris at the end. Lee admits that his small physique is not quite as strong as Norris’ character, but he reassures Norris by saying that “speed and flexibility” can overcome strength. This can be seen as a representation for the Chinese citizen being able to survive what comes their way, whether it be occupational forces or opposition in a new nation, the Chinese have been through the rough and made it, regardless of how powerful their oppositions were. Chuck Norris’ character also symbolizes a Western form of Imperialism, specifically the thought of America conquering culture and land alike.

Bruce Lee’s fillms inspired many Asians, specifically Chinese, to start speaking up in important matters rather than being passive. For example, during a martial arts tournament in Japan, the champion was a Japanese kick boxer who defeated all the challengers from Thailand and claimed “kick boxing” was a Japanese martial arts . Many college students in Thailand thought this couldn’t believe this because kickboxing, or Muay Thai, is a marital arts they created, not the Japanese. In response, the students called foul and thought the fights were fixed, while the same time they urged the Japanese to admit “kick boxing” isn’t really a style made in Japan. Like in the Slanted Screen, these movies gave Asian men the confidence to be proud being Asian. This confidence thus allowed Asians and Asian Americans to voice out their own opinions and matters, instead of letting it slowly fade away without so much as a thought.

Chapter 1 – Trance-Formations: Orientalism and Cosmopolitanism in Youth Culture

Never heard the term of “Goa Trance” until viewing this chapter. It could probably be because I’ve never gone a rave or that type of dance before, and probably never will. It was strange that they used all the Hindu imagery for these types of events, to impose a “trance” when entering these types of parties. Sure they might have involved some sort of transient meditation, but not in the form that includes loud music, drugs, and not-so-bright behavior. This thing apparently happens with young people, around the ages of teenagers and young adults, and is giving them a misconception of South Asian culture.

Chapter 2 – Making Transnational Vietnamese Music: Sounds of Home and Resistance

It seems as though the music of Viet Kieu has lost some of its appeal over the years. The main point I saw in this chapter was that regardless of your origin, either born in Vietnam or a Vietnamese American, as an artist one should just find an audience to entertain, even if they are the complete opposite of what you think. There was all this talk about the anti-Communists, mainly consisting of Vietnamese Americans, shutting down singers and musicians from Vietnam since they believe the music of Viet Kieu promotes Communism in some way. The same could be said for Vietnamese Americans trying out their musical talents at Vietnam. All these artists want to do is demonstrate their skills, but due to public pressures they don’t really get that oppurtunity. Fortunately it seems that as time progresses on, the pressures lessen and these musical artists are able to do what they originally intended to do: perform.

Chapter 5 – “Pappy’s House”: “Pop” Culture and the Revaluation of a Filipino American “Sixty-Cents” in Guam

I was born in Guam, but my memories of living there are a blur. My cousins still live there, so I guess I still have family over there. Anyways, this chapter was very confusing to me. The term “Pappy” kept popping up in the reading. I assumed it was intended for the father of the narrator, but as the author mentions at the end, this is a possibility. At least I know now why my family decided to choose Guam as a place to live in at the beginning. Never thought Guam reminded them about the Philippines, despite how much smaller it is. It took me awhile to understand the picture on p.106 with the “Guam” person and the American man on the “Advancement” stand. If I’m right, I think it signifies how Guam, this land populated by Chamorros and Filipinos, is finally “measuring up” to what the American mainland is like.

Chapter 15 – Cibo Matto’s Stereotype A: Articulating Asian American Hip Hop

This is my first time hearing about the band Cibo Matto and Shonen Knife. Never thought that food could be used as a way to represent life and culture. What kind of threw me off was how the bands recognized themselves. Though I’m not quite sure which exact band it was, one of them identified as not being feminists, but believing in feminist ideals while the other band was the complete opposite. After seeing a few songs they did, I must admit they did not turn out to be the kind of band I imagined. It seemed surreal, such as the chicken song, but others said that their genre of music has changed as of lately. Maybe it was the time that inspired their type of approach to music, such as social conditions or what was popular back then.