You all know I love a good fight scene, and really the best place for those is Kung Fu movies.
So Boyfriend and I watched the Ip Man movies on Netflix about the guy who would eventually teach Bruce Lee. They are seriously dude heavy and don't pass the Bechdel test (this is not true of all Kung Fu movies, btw) but I liked them anyways.
Aside from the awesome fight porn (so freaking pretty!) there is a whole fuck load of Chinese propaganda in these films. Which I'm down with. It's like watching Doctor Who and seeing the Brits be all "of course aliens would land in Great Brittan first! We're number 1!!!" The first Ip Man movie is set during WWII when parts of China were occupied by Japan, and it's up to our hero to (reluctantly)hand the Japanese a can o' whup ass. The second movie is set in Hong Kong, and Ip Man must show the lousy occupying "white devils" that they are not so tough. I found myself humming the Rocky theme song through the 2nd movie. Now if only they'd make a 3rd movie where Master Ip teaches Bruce Lee so that he will become a stealth weapon against American Imperialism......
Also, it is interesting to watch the Chinese stereotyping of the Japanese and the Brits. Like there's some serious race issues there, but I am hesitant to call it straight up racism because both the Japanese and the Brits were occupying forces which makes it problematic in the whole ____ism = privilege + power equation. In these 2 specific situations, the Chinese were not the ones wielding power.
But you don't have to think to deeply on that (if you wish) to just enjoy an old fashioned, good man literally fights the evil bad system and wins movie. Plus FIGHT PORN!
Bonus, while the movies are not Bechdel-y, the guy who plays Ip Man, Donnie Yen, first learned martial arts from his mom. Way to go mom!
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