The Man With the Iron Fists Was Terrible

Yeah, just so you know, not only did it put the "F U in Kung Fu," it put the "RZA" in "RZA probably shouldn't have creative control over a movie."

But more importantly, watching this movie got me thinking about something. Note that everything I'm about to talk about is based on anecdotal evidence and shouldn't be regarded as the sole truth, it's just based on something I've seen that I find interesting.

Fantasy appears to be a fairly white genre. White people watch it, white people act in it, and white people write it. Kung fu movies, on the other hand, tend to be bigger with the black demographic. I mean, even in blaxploitation films, the main characters tend to know some sort of martial art (see Dolemite or Black Dynamite). I started looking at it, and I think I see why.

Fantasy movies/TV shows tend to be about 2 things: 1) an evil king has taken over a good kingdom and the good people rise up and fight them or 2) an evil king rules over an evil nation that is at war with a good kingdom. These sorts of stories have themes of xenophobia, the good nature of people, the evils of totalitarian governments, and the power of the individual to change the whole world.

Kung fu movies, on the other hand, are more consistent in their setting than their stories. They tend to take place in small communities that are ruled by corrupt government officials or crime families. Even stories without the emphasis on community tend to focus on themes of crime, the apathy from national organizations towards corrupt local officials, the abuse of power by those in authority, and the importance of friends and mentors over everyone else.

I think you can see where this is going: white people lead a pretty advantaged life, and because of that they have the luxury to spend more time worrying about big ticket issues that don't directly affect them personally. Black people, however, are hated in their own home, and so are focused on day to day survival in one of the most affluent countries on Earth. I think that it is this difference in life experiences that can account for the two groups's preferences in entertainment.

Just a thought.

Seriously, though, don't see The Man With the Iron Fists when Enter the Dragon is available on Netflix.