In the course of one month, I have presented three papers at two conferences (MATC and CDC)... and I have listened to two brilliant playwrights (Rajiv Joseph and David Henry Hwang) give their views on life, theatre, and, oddly enough, Bruce Lee. Now, the Hwang connection is actually fairly logical, as this famous Chinese-American playwright just opened a play about Bruce Lee in New York about a month and a half ago, so it seems fair that Lee would be on his mind. But Rajiv Joseph's connection was much more indirect - as he explained that much of what he knows about dramatic structure he learned from watching Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Lee's The Game of Death over and over as he was growing up. These are two different writers, from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, with different central messages to their talks... but somehow Bruce Lee managed to find his way into both talks. It sort of got me thinking about what Bruce Lee stands for. Hwang pointed out that, nowadays, he's more of an icon than a person in the collective unconscious (another term I heard in a presentation today). Lee is strength and grace and - let's be honest - no small amount of cheese. Inspiration can come from anywhere...and can lead pretty much anywhere!
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