Steven Seagal and Bruce Lee

To refer to Steven Seagal as a “fake” is not an insult once you realize two things: (1) negative publicity is still publicity and he feeds on his “bad boy by any means necessary” persona and (2) the definition of the word “fake.” When something is fake it is “not genuine or counterfeit.” When you read about how Seagal got to where he got to and the lies he told to make it appear as if he was some kind of “guru,” then you realize that the word “fake” fits him like a glove. You can tell when a man is great by this: say his name and everybody recognizes it, smiles and has good memories of him. Bruce Lee, born Lee Jun-fan was considered by many to be one of the most influential martial artists of all time. The fact that he died at age 33 speaks even more to his long-time commitment and work ethic as he is known as the founder of the martial art Jeet Kune Do. These are the types of facts and foundations that justify labeling a man like this as being “fantastic.” This book focuses on Bruce Lee and his role in the movie “Enter the Dragon,” which may well be the best martial arts movie of all time. In that analysis I concentrate on the racial relationships that the film attempted to portray by adding a white novice, John Saxon and a black martial arts expert, Jim Kelly. It is the view of this writer that the multi-racial experiment was a failure. The saving grace of the movie was the presence and on-going spectacular fight scenes that featured the one-and-only Bruce Lee. Seagal, as this book clearly shows, burst onto the scene with an incredible skill set, mainly consisting of Aikido. This book offers that after his first four mega-hits – “Above the Law,” “Hard to Kill,” “Marked for Death” and “Out for Justice,” Seagal’s career petered off even as his waistline increased and his obvious consumption of mayonnaise sandwiches probably reached world record proportions. This book also makes it clear that one man (Lee) was an original, a leader and an iconoclast. The other man (Seagal) is a chameleon, attempting to sound and act Italian at one point, and once he was introduced to black rappers, began to try to sound and even walk “like a black man” (his words). Clad in black gear including oversized black leather coats that he wears even in tropical weather, Seagal has found it easier to cover and hide his girth rather than to work it off. Bruce Lee, on the other hand, viewed the body as a temple and probably had less than 2% body fat. Bruce Lee and Steven Seagal, both martial artists but in almost every other respect, as different as night and day. Seagal has had and has exploited the benefit of “white privilege” and in the process, did what he had to do to get what he wants. Bruce worked hard and struggled and used his skill set to bring attention to Chinese culture in general and the martial art of Kung Fu, in particular. Many say that the comparison is akin to comparing apples and oranges. Perhaps this would be a better argument had not Bruce Lee been the best – ever. And because of that lofty achieved status, the “ascribed” status of Steven Seagal is often mistakenly compared and contrasted with that of the hard-working Lee. Seagal’s race, contacts, network and “I’ll-do-anything-to-be-a-star” approach to life is the key to his meteoric rise to movie stardom. All Bruce had was his skill set, belief system, cultural commitment and love for people. In America Seagal’s way is the typical winner and people like Bruce usually end up finishing last. Most of Seagal’s movies are also reviewed and analyzed. Enjoy the book.

Author Biography

Matthew C. Stelly is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working on a degree in Urban Education and Community Policy. He holds three Master’s degrees: Urban Studies (1982), Urban Education (1983) and Political Science (2000). He is the former editor of the Milwaukee Courier newspaper, former director of the Great Plains Black Museum and the Plano (TX) African American Museum, and lead archivist for The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) in Dallas, Texas. Stelly has more than 2,500 articles in print and has won two national essay competitions. He is the founding director of the largest African-American neighborhood group in Nebraska, the Triple One Neighborhood Association and Parents Union. He is the father of five children – Mandla, Malik, Clariece, Charisse and Shannon — and remains actively involved in community organizing and neighborhood development in several cities, including Milwaukee and Omaha.