This week Jonathan sits down with San Diego State University’s Dr. Brian Hu about his article, “Bruce Lee” after Bruce Lee: A Life in Conjectures. Then in the second half of the interview Jonathan asks Brian’s opinion about a question Jonathan has been toying with: Will the powers that be, attempt to mold late actor Chadwick Boseman’s (1976-2020) legacy and image in much the same way film studios’ attempted to do so with Bruce Lee (1940-1973)?

Also, be sure to check out Dr. Hu’s book Worldly Desires: Cosmopolitanism and Cinema in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Also, Brian is the Artistic Director of the San Diego Asian Film Festival. This year’s festival runs October 28 through November 6, 2021 – so be sure to check out their great programming. Also, here is Brian’s faculty page at SDSU.

Then be sure to check back in with us in two weeks for another brand-new episode.

Bruce Lee in his most famous film, Enter the Dragon (1973), with the chiseled look that is now forever frozen in our memories. The 1980 Bruceploitation film, The Clones of Bruce Lee starring multiple Lee impersonators.Fans reinterpret and remix Lee’s photographic likeness – blending his philosophic and martial arts “cool” with the cool of hip-hip and rap.Chadwick Boseman’s most high-profile role, and the pose that excited an entire movie-going generation.Boseman was as much dramatic actor as he was action hero, much the way Lee was as much philosopher as he was martial artist. Black Panther’s (2018) ancestral plane scene is one of many from the film that spoke to audience’s hunger for depictions of heritage, lineage, strength, and respect. Lee’s daughter now controls her father’s image and has been actively molding it in an appropriate, respectful, and lucrative fashion. In 2013 whiskey advertisement, a CGI Bruce Lee was constructed.