Japanese Nipples

May 9, 2004 6:44 PM

I just watched The Chinese Connection for the first time in a long time. There is a scene where Bruce Lee sees the nipples of his kung fu school's cook. (Lee walks into the kitchen and the camera does a tight shot on the man's exposed nipples.) Somehow, the nipples are evidence to Lee that the cook is in fact Japanese, not Chinese (and therefore the likely murderer of the school's teacher.) Is there any rational reason for this?
posted by badstone to grab bag (12 answers total)

woah. did the drugs just kick in or does this post actually exist?
posted by keswick at 7:36 PM on May 9, 2004

According to this alt.movies.bruce-lee post, he was looking at the man's girdle, called a hatamaki, which apparently Japanese men wear.

I searched Google Groups for: chinese.connection nipple
posted by sciatica at 9:05 PM on May 9, 2004

Well, sciatica, it's easy to see how the layman could get that impression.
posted by NortonDC at 9:19 PM on May 9, 2004

we all know chinese people have sideways nipples.
posted by bob sarabia at 9:55 PM on May 9, 2004

NortonDC, ??????
posted by sciatica at 10:08 PM on May 9, 2004

Don't know about the movie, but the girdle, for keeping the abdomen warm, is actually called "haramaki".
posted by planetkyoto at 10:28 PM on May 9, 2004

Sorry, personal joke, easily grasped when used in-person and in-context.

Me: "2=3"
You: "I thought 2=2...?"
pause
pause
Me: "Well, it's easy to see how the layman could get that impression."

AKA "I'm obviously wrong, but don't feel like admitting it right now."

Thank you, that is all.
posted by NortonDC at 10:50 PM on May 9, 2004

Is that the one with the sign that says "No dogs or Chinese" and the lady walks in with a dog?
posted by yerfatma at 6:38 AM on May 10, 2004

Sounds like another film that is the victim of cropping for television.
posted by terrapin at 8:56 AM on May 10, 2004

yes, yerfatma, it's that one. the sign is at the gate of what looks like a park and there is a guard that won't let him in, but lets a japanes woman with a dog in. someone comments that Bruce Lee is the wrong "color" to enter, which I also found interesting. Japanese and Chinese view themselves as being a different racial color?


The girdle thing makes sense. Exactly what happens is:
1. Bruce Lee walks into the kitchen and looks at the cook
2. The cook is wearing some kind of tube top looking thing, but it has slipped down a bit,
3. Bruce Lee gawks at the guy's torso
4. The camera zooms in for a tight shot on the torso, and as it does, the cook pulls the girdle up a bit so that it just covers his nipples
5. Bruce Lee says the guy is Japanese

So, the way it's shot, it looks like the guy is making an attempt to cover his nipples, but I guess what he's really doing is showing off his proud Japanese girdle.
posted by badstone at 11:11 AM on May 10, 2004

The above post has made me laugh for the first time today.

Thank you very much.
posted by grum@work at 11:46 AM on May 10, 2004

Japanese and Chinese view themselves as being a different racial color?

Yes. There's a lot of prejudice between members of the two groups (though, I suppose, not nearly as much as there was back when the movie was filmed) with an entire range of "racial characteristics" that supposedly pigeonhole people as one or the other. Darker skin tone is, to Japanese, one of the stereotypically Chinese traits. Of course, there are tons of Japanese people who have dark skin tones, and tons of Chinese people with light skin tones, but naturally reality never seems to intrude upon the stereotypes.

It's just the usual racist crap, really... I'd pull up a link for you, but Googling seems to bring up nothing but a lot of "Yellow Peril Reinfects America!" style articles. *rolls eyes* Better to go have some fun with All Look Same - it's a game where you try to identify which Asian country people are from.
posted by vorfeed at 1:43 PM on May 10, 2004