Despite being a comedian, Joe Rogan didn’t find Quentin Tarantino’s portrayal of Bruce Lee funny. The UFC commentator bashed the movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood‘s portrayal of Bruce Lee on his popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast.
“That was fu**ed up,” Rogan told his guest Brendan Schaub.
“He was a dummy in the movie. The problem was in real life, there was no evidence that he was an egomaniac dummy. He was a very interesting guy. Very insightful.”
In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Bruce Lee (played by Mike Moh) fights Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt). At first, Lee knocks down Booth. In the second round, Booth launches Lee into a car. They then continue to strike each other before the fight is interrupted. The Bruce Lee character is presented as less-skilled, weaker and dramatic. Some fans were irritated by the representation, including Rogan and Bruce Lee’s daughter.
Rogan’s podcast guest, Brendan Schaub responded, “He was a philosopher and he’s brilliant. But when it comes to actual toughness, we don’t know. And you’ve heard that narrative before — that he’s not an actual tough guy.”
“The problem was they made him look like a buffoon. There was no evidence that he was a buffoon…It’s a movie about a real person who has a real legacy and a bunch of people love him,” added Rogan.
The movie takes inspiration from real-life characters and real-life circumstances, including the Manson Murders.
“There was a lot of evidence that Bruce Lee was this brilliant, insightful guy and in that movie, they made a character of that. I didn’t like it,” Joe Rogan said.
“You’re making the guy looking like a fu**ing idiot when he wasn’t an idiot.”
Joe Rogan also critiqued the actor portraying Bruce Lee, Mike Moh:
“The dude who played Bruce Lee was not quite shredded enough.”
Brendan was not offended by Bruce Lee’s character and expected nothing less from the controversial director Tarantino. Here is the trailer, if you haven’t seen the movie already.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/9/2019.