The Martial Arts and American Popular Media A
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THE MARTIAL ARTS AND AMERICAN POPULAR MEDIA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI AT MĀNOA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN AMERICAN STUDIES MAY 2018 By Bryant Murakami Dissertation Committee: Joseph Stanton, Chairperson David Stannard Jonna Eagle Wimal Dissanayke Glenn Man Keywords: martial arts, film, television, sport, popular culture ABSTRACT This dissertation examines the representation of martial arts within American popular media with particular attention to the recent popularization and development of the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). In its earliest form, the aesthetics, rules, and marketing of the sport were heavily influenced and borrowed from the martial arts film genre. Although the growth and popularity of the sport can be attributed to its “new-ness” factor or the way it might separate itself from other popular sports, I argue that MMA’s mass appeal is due in large part to the ways it utilizes aspects and expectations from the martial arts film and television genre. This use of genre conventions and iconographies in early MMA events helped to establish a sense of familiarity for audiences, while at the same time, promoting itself as a unique sporting competition, the result of which is the creation of both a new sport and a new niche category in the larger martial arts universe. This study provides the cultural and historical context needed to understand the significance of the sport of MMA as an extension of the larger world of martial arts and as a phenomenon that goes beyond the fighting arena, speaking to contemporary discussions on globalization and the media industry. The different sections of this study map out the history of the martial arts genre in America from the 1970s to the present by examining various representations in film, television, and video games. In doing so, this study reveals the multifaceted and widespread nature of the martial arts with the inclusion of mixed martial arts as a sport designed and created from popular film and media. This is important for two reasons: it underscores the strong visual nature and component of contemporary sport and it provides a template for the examination of sport and media together. i The Martial Arts and American Popular Media Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………....i Introduction and Background……………………………………………………………………..1 Methods and Archive…………………………………………………………………………….13 Theoretical and Literature Overview…………………………………………………………….17 Chapter Summaries……………………………………………………………………………....22 Chapter One: Blaxploitation, Kung Fu, and the 1970’s………………………………………….26 African Americans and the Martial Arts…………………………………………………26 Blaxploitation Saves Hollywood……………………………………………………..….30 Hong Kong Cinema……………………………………………………………………...36 Enter Kung Fu: 1973……………………………………………………………………..39 Crossing Over: The Black Martial Arts Films…………………………………………...52 Ron Van Clief and the Legacy of Black Martial Arts…………………………………...58 Chapter Two: Ninjas, The Nineties, and No-Holds Barred Ultimate Fighting……………….…64 The Martial Arts Genre in the Eighties…………………………………………………..64 The Ninja Archetype……………………………………………………………………..70 Kickboxing in America…………………………………………………………………..76 The Direct-to-Video Martial Arts Boom………………………………………………...80 Designing the Ultimate Fighting Championship……………………………………...…85 Backlash and the Cultural War of the Nineties…………………………………………..90 Chapter Three: The Martial Arts on Television……………………………………………...…102 The Martial Arts and Classic Network Era Television………………………………....102 Deregulation and the Rise of “Extreme Sports”………………………………….…….113 The Ultimate Fighter, Bully Beatdown, and Reality Television………………………..118 Television Audiences and MMA……………………………………………………….131 Chapter Four: The Martial Arts and Media Convergence……………………………………...137 The Martial Arts Video Game Genre…………………………………………………..138 Participatory Culture and Watchdog Fandom……………………………………….…148 Transmedia Storytelling and MMA Paratexts……………………………………….…154 MMA Outside the Octagon……………………………………………………………..163 Conclusion: A New Era………………………………………………………………...171 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………177 ii Introduction and Background This dissertation examines the representation of martial arts within American popular media with particular attention to the recent popularization and development of the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA). Although MMA is a relatively new sport, it is part of a longer history of the interest in both eastern and western martial arts as forms of sport, popular entertainment, and recreation. Currently, the sport itself integrates and allows the use of techniques from a variety of martial arts traditions. Yet, in its earliest form, the aesthetics, rules, and marketing of the sport were heavily influenced and borrowed from the martial arts film genre. Although the growth and popularity of the sport can be attributed to its “new-ness” factor or the way it might separate itself from other popular sports, I argue that MMA’s mass appeal is due in large part to the ways it utilizes aspects and expectations from the martial arts genre in film and television. This use of genre conventions and iconographies in early MMA events helped to establish a sense of familiarity for audiences, while at the same time, promoting itself as a unique sporting competition, the result of which is the creation of both a new sport and a new niche category in the larger martial arts universe. This study provides the cultural and historical context needed to understand the significance of the sport of MMA as an extension of the larger world of martial arts and as a phenomenon that goes beyond the fighting arena, speaking to contemporary discussions on globalization and the media industry. The different sections of this study map out the history of the martial arts genre in America from the 1970s to the present by examining various representations in film, television, and video games. In doing so, this study reveals the multifaceted and widespread nature of the martial arts with the inclusion of mixed martial arts as a sport inspired from popular film and media. This is important for two reasons: it underscores 1 the strong visual nature and component of contemporary sport and it provides a template for the examination of sport and media together. The term “martial arts” can be defined broadly as a set of combat systems, yet its applications, representations, and cultural traditions can be specific and vary depending on the country of origin. Thus, apart from its physical elements, it is also a cultural system or a “vehicle utilized to embody and perpetuate a particular culture, philosophy, or ideology.”1 In other words, examining a particular martial art would yield insight into a society of interest. The martial arts are also entrenched within many societal institutions such as military, religion, education, and communications/media. It can be also difficult to define the term itself due to its inclusion within various parts of culture. In addition, research in the martial arts can be daunting due to a historical record dating back to ancient civilizations, and difficulties inherent in separating myth and fiction from reality; nevertheless, I would like to provide a brief background on the martial arts in order to underscore how their widespread use is embedded in the fabric of our society. The popularity of the martial arts as a form of sport has been recorded since the days of the ancient Greek civilizations and continues in the present day as both amateur and professional endeavors. For the ancient civilizations, combat sports such as boxing, wrestling, and pankration served as ways to sharpen martial skills required on the battlefield. Yet, more importantly, the combat sports of the ancient world served as more than practical military training by creating an outlet for competitive and individualistic impulses that Ancient Greece developed during the seventh to fifth centuries B.C.E.2 This is evident in the both the nature of the competitions and the way in which rewards and recognition for the victors were institutionalized.3 The 1 Donohue, John. Warrior Dreams, 4 2 Poliakoff, Michael. Combat Sports in the Ancient World. 115 32 Ibid,Poliakoff, 104 Michael. Combat Sports in the Ancient World. 115 43 Guttmann,Ibid, 104 Allen. From Ritual to Record. 16 2 transformation of Asian martial arts into sport such as Judo and Taekwondo can be seen as products of modernity and have so risen in global appeal that they are now part of the Olympics. In fact, the Olympics now contain six different forms of the martial arts both eastern and western in origin: judo, taekwondo, boxing, wrestling, archery, and fencing. This speaks to a worldwide interest in combat sports as a legitimate competitive endeavor. Modern sport can be examined as a cultural form that became subject to change depending on societal factors and technology. In his study of modern sport, Allen Guttmann outlined seven characteristics of modern sport that separate it from its more ritualistic past: secularism, equality of competition, specialization of roles, rationalization, bureaucratic organization, quantification, and the quest for records.4 He used basketball as an example of a sport that was consciously created out of circumstance and, within a few decades, became an organized sport with standardized rules and regulations.5 Its inventor, James Naismith took elements from American football and lacrosse with the philosophy