This past summer, Quentin Tarantino released his ninth film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which stirred controversy as an actor who portrays Bruce Lee in a scene that feels like a mockery toward Lee’s legacy. In a piece written by Yohana Desta for Vanity Fair titled Once Upon a Time’s Bruce Lee Actor Was “So Conflicted” About Fight Scene, she states that actor Mike Moh understood backlash from Lee’s daughter Shannon Lee toward his role. The article links to various sources, such as Shannon Lee’s interview with Vanity Fair, titled Bruce Lee’s Daughter Has More Questions About Quentin Tarantino’s “Troubling” Depiction of Her Father.
As a whole, the article draws from numerous sources, providing many reference points for readers to go to and learn more about the story. The quality of the article is unaffected, as it is not dependent on prior knowledge that a reader may or may not have. Instead, links are spread throughout the piece. The writer describes backstory which the audience might not be aware of. For instance, Desta also links to an LA Times article as she first mentions the backlash that Tarantino’s film faced. This was unnecessary to link to, but it is helpful information for a reader to have easy access to, validating the premise.
The author does not fail to address any questions that are critical to the subject matter. However, it is immediately clear with the piece that the author might have some bias. Throughout my research into this controversy, it has been common for writers to be Asian, and therefore feel more personally about the issue than other people might. Since there is a formulated opinion, it can be obvious what thoughts the writer has regarding the topic. Yet, it does not affect the overall piece, since the primary focus are the statements by Moh.
In the piece, Mike Moh says, “I can see how people might think Bruce got beat because of the impact with the car—but you give me five more seconds and Bruce would have won. So I know people are going to be up in arms about it, but when I went into my deep dive of studying Bruce, he more than anybody wanted people to know he’s human. And I think I respect him more knowing that he had these challenges, these obstacles, just like everybody.” These comments are extremely interesting, as it tells that Moh was self-aware when the film was made. But, it also comes across like he might be backtracking, feeling bad for offending so many in his first major part in a studio film. This is in no reference to the author’s language used to depict his comments, but it is not hard for a reader to access this might be her opinion as she includes Moh’s statements in a very cut and dry way. One might even assume the headline’s way of quoting Moh’s words, “so conflicted” could come off as sarcasm.
This story deserves an A in the author’s display of media literacy. A wide range of film news sites and other sources are used, such as the LA times and Birth.Movies.Death as well as past articles by Vanity Fair. It is surprising to read an article that links to websites aside from the one it was published through.
