Bruce Lee's Daughter Pens Open Letter About Hollywood's Portrayal of Her Father

Shannon Lee, the daughter of Bruce Lee, shared an open letter in regards to the portrayal of her father in Hollywood.

She began the letter by addressing Quentin Tarantino‘s homage to Bruce Lee in Kill Bill and his depiction of her father in Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood — a portrayal she has openly criticized as “inaccurate and unnecessary to say the least.” She adds that actor Mike Moh, who played Bruce in the film, should not be blamed and that while she is grateful that the filmmaker recently acknowledged her feelings about the portrayal, she is “really f*cking tired of white men in Hollywood trying to tell me who Bruce Lee was.”

Shannon continues to describe the impact that her father made in Hollywood and how many of the criticism about him — he was “arrogant and an as*hole,” not a real martial artist and not American — were lies. She points out that it was extremely difficult for a Chinese actor to make it in Hollywood in the ’60s and ’70s, and that his “confidence, passion and skill for hubris” was reinterpreted negatively because it was difficult for white men to “believe that Bruce Lee might have really been good at what he did and maybe even knew how to do it better than them.” She added that he “lived and breathed martial arts,” was actually born in San Francisco and that many his accomplishments as a 32-year-old Asian-American were downplayed.

“Mr. Tarantino, you don’t have to like Bruce Lee. I really don’t care if you like him or not. You made your movie and now, clearly, you’re promoting a book,” Shannon wrote. “But in the interest of respecting other cultures and experiences you may not understand, I would encourage you to take a pass on commenting further about Bruce Lee and reconsider the impact of your words in a world that doesn’t need more conflict and fewer cultural heroes.”

Elsewhere in entertainment, HBO cancelled Lovecraft Country after only one season.