Yes, this Bruce Lee biopic about Bruce Lee stars STEVE MACKLIN? Who the fuck is Steve Macklin? I can’t even tell if Steve Macklin is a real person because Google is now filled with hundreds of blogs that copy/pasted the original story. There is no Steve Macklin in this list of students of Bruce Lee’s nor on this section about his Oakland school. I can only conclude that the character of Steve Macklin is fake.
Not only that, I can also conclude that he’s probably white. But even if he’s black, it still leads to the same problem, which is we have a movie about an Asian-American, probably the most famous Asian-American ever, and it can’t even have an Asian star. It’s got to be about a white guy! Did the producers of the The Last Airbender film suddenly get put in charge?
Did I miss an important piece of pop culture where instead of people of all races wearing Bruce Lee shirts and putting up Bruce Lee posters for 40 years, everyone has been wearing Steve Macklin shirts? Again, who the fuck is Steve Macklin?
A Bruce Lee biopic is the last place I would expect yet another example of Hollywood’s reluctance to cast Asian males in leading roles. The Last Airbender is the most famous example of recent casting that eliminates minority roles (and thus spawned that racebending term), other examples include Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness, the film 21 (the guy who wrote the book the film is about is Asian, but white in the film), Mike Myers as an Indian in The Love Guru (shudder!), and Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince of Persia.
The fact that I’m writing this soon after a weekend where a female-lead movie (Maleficent) did $70 million, followed by a weekend where the female-driven The Fault in Our Stars and Maleficent demolished Tom Cruise’s latest action vehicle at the box office, is especially weird. We can have films with non-white male leads that make money! There are plenty of awesome Asian-American and Asian actors would would make great leads.
A bunch words written on TarsTarkas.NET by some guy with a computer won’t change how Hollywood does business. But it does add to the voices who are pushing back against stupidity. And it is stupid as hell to have a Bruce Lee movie where Bruce Lee isn’t the main character. So who the fuck is Steve Macklin? Someone people DON’T want a movie about!
(No offense to the actual Steve Macklins out there who have nothing to do with this film.)
14 Comments
Bob
July 6, 2014 at 12:07 pm“Not only that, I can also conclude that he’s probably white.”
I don’t care how likely it is you are right, you are writing as if this is fact which it is not. Maybe you should wait until you have some facts before you start reporting.
Tars Tarkas
July 6, 2014 at 12:51 pmNo, I’d rather complain now when there is a chance to influence production and keep this idiocy from happening, thanks.
celia
September 3, 2014 at 6:15 amj aime bien bruce lee
azziza
September 3, 2014 at 6:17 amje kiffe bruce lee celui ou celle qui est daccord avec moi me dit oui ou non et vous aimez a combien de poursent bruce lee moi a 95 poursant
Rachel
August 6, 2016 at 11:11 pmSteve Macklin is inspired by Steve McQueen who was a student of Bruce Lee.
My friend worked on the film. The story is about this White dude Steve, played by Billy Magnussen who is the lead actor in the film. The title ‘Birth of the Dragon’ is meant to mislead you to think it’s ALL about Bruce Lee and Wong Jack Man to get you to see the film! It’s NOT a Lee biopic. YES, a white guy is the main character in a story about an international Asian icon. This is going to be more controversial than the casting of Matt Damon in The Great Wall.
Tars Tarkas
August 11, 2016 at 3:37 pmHa! This seems to confirm my suspicions, and it has been odd that this movie has been radio silent for over a year. I expect once the trailer drops we can have a whole new round of people talking about this. Thanks for the info!
Rachel
August 19, 2016 at 3:19 pmIt is going to have its world premiere at the Toronto film festival in September. My friend said the production may want to re-edit the film to make it more about Bruce Lee. But the story is still from the POV of a white guy, who gets to rescue a helpless beautiful Chinese witness from nasty Chinese gangsters. Yes, the white guys always the girl !
Tars Tarkas
August 24, 2016 at 3:04 pmSounds like they are going to try to save it, but it’s way too late for that. Either way, reaction to the premiere will provide a lot of fun as they either backpedal or try to make excuses!
Rachel
August 24, 2016 at 8:28 pmHere’s the link http://www.tiff.net/films/birth-of-the-dragon/
Rachel
August 24, 2016 at 8:21 pmtypo! It’s a Chinese waitress and not a Chinese witness. 🙂
Rach
September 14, 2016 at 10:05 pmBirth of the Dragon Promo : http://deadline.com/2016/09/bruce-lee-birth-of-the-dragon-movie-promo-first-look-george-nolfi-1201819257/#comments
Tars Tarkas
September 15, 2016 at 7:55 amWow, that promo reel looks really bad! And Wong Jack Man is suddenly a monk spouting fortune cookie quotes?
Also:
Yes, it is so rare to see white guys get the main story arcs in movies, very brave.
C
September 20, 2016 at 12:02 pmBecause, you idiot, Steve McQueens name wasn’t able to use. That fictional character was really Steve McQueen, Bruce Lees student
Tars Tarkas
September 21, 2016 at 9:46 amNone of that was clear at all in 2014, you trout sniffer.