This model was introduced to America, and through America to the world, by Bruce Lee. Where the typical American action hero has swagger and a huge gun, the heroes in Bruce Lee movies achieve strength and mastery over violence through self-discipline. In a film like Enter the Dragon, the physical conflict is forced on the hero. He’d rather just be training all the time, honing his skills and improving himself, but when the situation requires it, he does his duty flawlessly.
L.A.’s Bruce Lee statue is not the first of its kind in the world, of course. In 2005, the small Bosnian town of Mostar put up one to celebrate warrior culture and community spirit without being ethnically specific. The memorial didn’t work out as planned — the Croats and Bosnians in town were upset that Lee’s warrior pose faced their neighborhoods, and the statue was vandalized within hours of being unveiled — but the residents were nonetheless correct to put it up. Their doing so was as fitting a testament to Lee’s achievement as any, an unabashed expression of the kind of idealism he still embodies even forty years after he died (at thirty-two — what have you done with your life?).
Today, we have a clearer picture of Bruce Lee’s legacy. He was not just a badass, not just the leading evangelist for martial arts and innovators of cinema. He was also one of the founders of the self-improvement movement, a representation of the virtues everyone wants for themselves, and especially for their kids: self-control, fair play, and a willingness to work hard. And, yeah, sometimes being a badass.
Read more: Bruce Lee Anniversary – 40 Years After Dying, Bruce Lee Is Still Saving the World – Esquire Follow us: @Esquiremag on Twitter | Esquire on Facebook Visit us at Esquire.com