Berry Gordy x (Kung Fu movie set in Harlem + Vanity ) ÷ DeBarge on the soundtrack = Arguably one of the best pieces of cinema ever. |
When the Awesomeness Consultant was a little lad, his poppa took him to see “The Last Dragon.” His young mind saw: karate fights, random breakdancing, glowing people, bullets caught in teeth, and DeBarge. He was overwhelmed by the film’s awesomeness, and wanted to glow badly.
Having grown up a little, my perspective of the movie has grown up as well. Now I see someone on their journey to awesomeness. Along the way, he is misled by his own misconceptions which make him easily susceptible to confusion. He believes that belt buckles are magic charms. He believes that supreme masters can be found at fortune cookie factories. He believes that avoiding confrontation is victory. He is constantly seeking something outside of himself, but it can only be found inside. He wants to find the master, but never looks in the mirror.
At the climax of the film, our hero is facing defeat and possibly death at the hands of his nemesis. The villain taunts him, repeatedly asking “Who’s the Master?” The hero is finally awakened to the fact that he is himself the master. He starts glowing and kicks fireworks out of the villain’s face…seriously. Being a fully realized master, he goes on to catch a bullet in his teeth and get the girl. The end.
We can all relate to Bruce Leroy, the awakened master. We spend countless hours, days, and years of our lives seeking something outside of ourselves that has the answer. It may be our work, our friends, our books; it may be anything. And we remain painfully unaware of the fact that we already have what we seek – in fact, we ARE what we seek.
Maybe we have to acquire that knowledge in the fight of our lives against a guy in pajamas with glowing red hands…who knows? But I do know that your awesomeness is waiting to shine. So, dazzle us with your glow.
Great blog man. Yes, I posted in fb that we are our own knight in shining armor.
ReplyDeleteTughril
You have single handedly made me look at this movie differently. I just thought it was another one of your black exploitation flicks with a few more special effects. Nice post
ReplyDeleteAh "The Last Dragon". Truly a cinema classic. If it we're for the acting, directing and plot this film surely would have been an Oscar contender. Yet what "TLD" lacked in terms of "Siskel & Ebert" cinematic quality, it made up for in instilling the lesson of believing in oneself and embracing the power within.
ReplyDeleteOn a side note - after seeing "The Last Dragon" as a child, I raided my mother's vanity (which was simple all her cosmetics piled atop a tall dresser slightly out of my young reach), snatched up a jar of her vaseline and slathered my entire bare prepubescent torso and nappy head of hair in an attempt to gain 'THE GLOW'. Needless to say, the only 'glow' I saw was the blurring light of the sun as I regain consciousness after she knocked my a$$ out from the blindside.