ANOTHER RENTAL FOR THIS WEEKEND (via Oswald Czolgosz)

Remember the Dragon: How Bruce Lee changed America. (Kenneth Silber, July 25, 2003, National Review)

It has been three decades since the untimely death on July 20, 1973 of Bruce Lee, the martial-arts expert and movie star. The "dragon" (as he is known for his starring role in the film Enter the Dragon) has long been a cult hero to fans of martial-arts movies. But Lee deserves broader recognition for his contributions to American culture and society.

Lee served, in fact, as an important counterpoint to some of the negative cultural and social trends that were ascendant in the years when he attained fame. At a time when crime was soaring, Lee developed and popularized techniques that ultimately would help millions improve their self-defense abilities. In the face of a counterculture that derided self-discipline, Lee stood as a veritable embodiment of that virtue. In contrast to the pious (and often hypocritical) pacifism that arose against the Vietnam War, Lee's films were a reminder that force can be legitimate depending on how and why it is used.

The equally magnetic Jason Scott Lee several years ago starred in an excellent biopic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, that relates Bruce Lee's struggles against both white and Asian prejudice. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 26, 2003 9:01 AM