CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Like most men his age, local dad Gorden Thiess (64) has a number of interests that seem to be particularly popular with white borderline boomers from the suburbs.
The most obvious, of course, is the music of Johnny Cash.
Second to that, is his obsession with the Godfather franchise, in fact – any movie with Al Pacino really does it for him. De Niro as well.
As someone who has refrained from joining Twitter or listening to conservative talkback radio to protects his mental health, Gorden remains stuck in a vortex of 1970s and 80s popular culture. Which isn’t a bad place to be.
Still a while away from retirement, the father of two doesn’t even bother with Netflix – opting to throw on a DVD or a football match after work each night. Or he reads.
At the request of his family, our reporters began investigating Mr Thiess to discover what the hell he is going on in all of those hard cover books he keeps in the library.
While most of the blokes he used to cut around with back in the pubs are now infatuated with the mainstream media’s culture wars narrative, Gorden seems quite content with going through life without letting the Murdoch tabloids trick him into thinking he is now a powerless minority.
Outside golf, his train collections, and playing the same movies and CDs he’s been playing since the glory days – Gorden’s kids have no idea who he is constantly reading about.
The answer is Bruce Lee.
There isn’t much Gorden doesn’t know about the iconic Hong Kong American martial artist who died in 1973 on the eve of his first international hit, “Enter the Dragon”.
But he doesn’t let that cat out of the bag too often, unless he’s at a dinner party with another ‘Bruce Lee bloke’ – who he can indulge with stories of one inch punches and Asian philosophy.
“You know he was actually born in America” Gorden tells our reporters.
“The family moved back to Hong Kong when he was a baby, but was technically an American citizen, so that’s why he was able to find work in Hollywood”
However, like most die-hard closeted Bruce Lee fans – Gorden is unable to prevent himself from descending into his own theories about how his childhood hero died.
“Anyway, he died of an cerebral edema on paper, that’s what he was diagnosed with, but a lot of doctors reckon he died because he was too strong.
“He died of actually too much muscle. Apparently it’s pretty common with supreme athletes”
“Either that or he was killed by the American government for promoting Asian culture to their youth.”
“Look into it”
