Black Belt Test Essay: Asian and Black Characters in Martial Arts Films
By Theo Brunson-Chang
Resistance, revenge against oppression, self improvement, determination were all themes of martial arts movies that the black audience identified with. Black filmmakers were inspired by martial arts and decided to make martial arts films. In the 50s and 60s, they were inspired because martial arts films were about fighting the man with more power. This was around the time that a lot of black heroes died like Martin Luther King Jr. and they had a desire for justice. Black people looked to stories of self defense to think about liberation for black people.
Kung Fu battles were a lot like rap battles; they are about honor and reputation. There weren’t a lot of black heroes in most movies, except for blaxploitation films which had black stereotypes. Watching Kung Fu, black people were exposed to ideas to fight global imperialism. In this essay I will discuss the films, Dragon, Rush Hour 1 and Rush Hour 2 and how martial arts is portrayed in them. All these films feature Black and Asian characters.
Dragon
My impression of Bruce Lee from Dragon is that he loves his family, making movies, and Kung Fu. However, he has trouble balancing all three at once. If he does one, the other two don’t get as much attention. What I remember most from the movie is when he was fighting Johnny Sun. It was an intense fight scene because they were fighting for a reason. Johnny Sun doesn’t want anyone who is not Chinese to learn martial arts because it is mainly a part of Chinese culture. Bruce Lee wanted to be able to teach martial arts to non-Chinese people like Black and white people, whoever wanted to learn.
Rush Hour
The two main characters in Rush Hour are Lee and James Carter. Their dads were both police officers. Lee is Chinese and Carter is Black. Lee always wants to get the job done as fast as possible and is good at martial arts but Carter goes on to these unnecessary places and likes to talk a lot.
The daughter of Consul Han has been stolen and put in a bomb vest. Someone is threatening to blow her up if Consul Han doesn’t pay them money. Consul Han has sent Lee to investigate this and the FBI has sent Agent Carter to escort him. But Carter wants to solve the crime instead of escorting Lee around, so they have to learn to work together.
As Lee and Carter investigate more, they learn more about each other. They teach each other their culture. For example in the car, Carter shows Lee how to vibe to music. And in Chinatown Lee shows Carter some martial arts moves. They also tell each other about their dads and how good police officers they were. In conclusion, they are two people who meet each other trying to solve a crime, but they also become good friends and teach each other about their culture along the way.
Rush Hour 2
At the beginning of Rush Hour 2, Carter wanted to go home because he was on vacation and didn’t want to get involved with this new case. But Carter finds out this new case is personal for Lee because the person involved, Ricky Tan, was his father’s partner, and Carter decides to join. Carter is also motivated by the money. They learn to work together in the end.
A scene that was memorable was one of the last scenes where Lee is going to shoot Ricky Tan but decides not to. It was memorable because he relented to shoot a man when he had a lot of reasons to. This shows in martial arts it requires discernment, a constant assessment of your values and respect for others despite their differences.
In conclusion we see a Black character that is loyal to an Asian character which demonstrates that they are good friends
