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The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

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Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That might be true, but I think HN readers are not commonly aware that he is one. He once said in December 2012, that “Hong Kong is a ‘city of protest,’ suggesting that demonstrators' rights in Hong Kong should be limited. The same month, in an interview with Phoenix TV, Chan stated that the United States was the ‘most corrupt’ country in the world.” This is a man whose made plenty of his fortune in the US. Before we…

i'm all for "exposing" how people really think but China is a country that literally disappears people, high profile internationally famous people like fan bingbing, for not paying their taxes. judicial process is almost a non-entity there if you anger the government.do you think chan has a choice in anything he says? his choices are to toe the government line or never go back to his homeland. do you also criticize t…

He does have a choice—and he lives in Hong Kong. There are those Hong Kong citizens that have expressed their free rights yet are not able to enter the Mainland.

Here’s the HK newspaper view on him: https://m.scmp.com/culture/books/article/2176919/why-hypocri...

This is about Jackie Chan. I’m afraid you’re presenting a strawmam’s argument with respect to what else the Mainland Chinese government has done—while you seem to be refuting my argument, you are presenting an argument that I didn’t present. I’m obviously fairly critical of the Chinese government.

I’m reminded of this poem:

``First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a socialist. / Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a trade unionist. / Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. / Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.’’

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lack of respect Chan gets in the west What? He's one of the biggest breakout stars from Hong Kong cinema in Western History. Is a household name, and starred in scores of movies during his career, including a 3 picture comedy/action movie series (Rush Hour), then went on to reboot a beloved 80's action story alongside the son of one of Hollywoods biggest names. He also had his own cartoon for a while. How the hell…

He's more of a caricature; following under the idea that Asian actors are always portrayed as comical Chan is someone you emulate when pretending to do some ridiculous silly kungfu fu move with your friends rather than appreciated as a seriously talented actor in his own right (anecdotally).

That sounds like massive selection bias.

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lack of respect Chan gets in the west What? He's one of the biggest breakout stars from Hong Kong cinema in Western History. Is a household name, and starred in scores of movies during his career, including a 3 picture comedy/action movie series (Rush Hour), then went on to reboot a beloved 80's action story alongside the son of one of Hollywoods biggest names. He also had his own cartoon for a while. How the hell…

I don't think most people truly appreciate how good his direction is, even if they enjoy watching him on screen. This oversight extends to Hollywood producers, who insist that his classic movies require "adaptation" before release in America. If Jackie Chan were truly respected, "Legend of the Drunken Master" would never have happened.

Hollywood is about money, its a mashine. Redoing movies has nothing to do with respect.

Movies of pretty much ever forign directors have been remade or rebooted.

So if you want to say that Hollywood has respect of nothing, then fine, bit it does not reflect on him at all.

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#234
post #2

Here’s a really cool video breaking down exactly how Jackie sets up his stunt-action-comedy. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1PCtIaM_GQ One thing that was particular interesting to me is how the setup always starts with him at an extreme disadvantage: no shoes, tied to a chair, hanging upside down, etc. I never noticed it before and it’s exactly what makes his action so enjoyable to watch. (The YouTube Channel is call…

He’s also incredibly expressive, which to a western audience may come across as “cheesy” but I personally love it. Give Rush Hour a shot and I guarantee you’ll enjoy it.

Rush Hour 1 is a fun movie, the others are meh. They are not even close to the quality of some of the Hong Kong movies. Also Tucker gets pretty old quickly.

Rumble in the Bronx is an insane movie that is US based, better then Rush Hour.

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#235
post #76

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all of your stuff for at least the last month has been shadowbanned. idk why.

It seemed to start after sctb said "We've banned this account for repeatedly breaking the guidelines and ignoring our requests to stop." 37 days ago.

Makes sense. I missed that when I was skimming through their history :c

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lack of respect Chan gets in the west What? He's one of the biggest breakout stars from Hong Kong cinema in Western History. Is a household name, and starred in scores of movies during his career, including a 3 picture comedy/action movie series (Rush Hour), then went on to reboot a beloved 80's action story alongside the son of one of Hollywoods biggest names. He also had his own cartoon for a while. How the hell…

He's more of a caricature; following under the idea that Asian actors are always portrayed as comical Chan is someone you emulate when pretending to do some ridiculous silly kungfu fu move with your friends rather than appreciated as a seriously talented actor in his own right (anecdotally).

And every time I shoot a wadded up paper towel at a trash can I yell “Kobe”. Imitation and flattery...

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But anybody can use the same inner tools that Chan did that got him famous, What inner tools were those? From the article, it seems that it was a willingness to do extreme, mortally-dangerous stunts? Is that the lesson people should take away–forget about being successful unless you're willing to constantly put your life on the line?

> it was a willingness to do extreme, mortally-dangerous stunts? Something like that. It's up to you what you want to take from it. But inspiration is such that you might not be inspired to follow the example directly, but you can use the example to find some other kind of courage to display. For example, your company may need someone to do some really dirty task that no one wants to do. If you step up to the plate,…

At this point, the 'inspirational' aspect of Jackie Chan being talked about so far in this thread, is watered down to a generic 'he had the courage to do something scary'. I mean, you can say the same thing about Kim Kardashian's photo shoot that 'broke the internet', but I doubt most commenters here would hold her up as an inspirational example.

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> lack of respect Chan gets in the west What? He's one of the biggest breakout stars from Hong Kong cinema in Western History. Is a household name, and starred in scores of movies during his career, including a 3 picture comedy/action movie series (Rush Hour), then went on to reboot a beloved 80's action story alongside the son of one of Hollywoods biggest names. He also had his own cartoon for a while. How the hell…

He's more of a caricature; following under the idea that Asian actors are always portrayed as comical Chan is someone you emulate when pretending to do some ridiculous silly kungfu fu move with your friends rather than appreciated as a seriously talented actor in his own right (anecdotally).

> when pretending to do some ridiculous silly kungfu fu move with your friends

Maybe you just need better friends?

Your anecdotes certainly aren't universal.

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Man, believe whatever you like, but it's pretty obvious that there are a lot of people who were in Chan's miserable situation--indentured servitude, endless hours, extreme poverty--and worked hard and weren't able to become, you know, Jackie Chan. It sort of stands to reason that it has to be that way, too, for the whole system to work. Chan is able to be the celebrity that he is, specifically because there's only on…

It's not demeaning and cruel to his fellow countrymen. They are what sustain him. Chan is somewhat popular in the West, but he's a veritable god in the East, like Manny Pacquiao is to Filipinos. You are the one demeaning the people there. Chan is the one inspiring them. It's silly to think that everybody in Hong Kong is going to compare themselves to Jackie Chan and lament that they won't be able to do what he does.…

Noam Chomsky once said something like this .The hardest part in liberating people is to make them understand they are being oppressed.

Most of the times people who advocate for oppression are the people who benefits out of it. Like the caste system in India or slavery elese where

Re: The Painful Price of Becoming Jackie Chan

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it was a willingness to do extreme, mortally-dangerous stunts? Something like that. It's up to you what you want to take from it. But inspiration is such that you might not be inspired to follow the example directly, but you can use the example to find some other kind of courage to display. For example, your company may need someone to do some really dirty task that no one wants to do. If you step up to the plate,…

At this point, the 'inspirational' aspect of Jackie Chan being talked about so far in this thread, is watered down to a generic 'he had the courage to do something scary'. I mean, you can say the same thing about Kim Kardashian's photo shoot that 'broke the internet', but I doubt most commenters here would hold her up as an inspirational example.

You're not taking Chan as an inspirational example because you don't live in shithole colonial Hong Kong. If you did, then maybe you'd appreciate more the massive lengths he's gone to improve himself.

Instead you and everyone else just compare themselves to him like you deserve his success. That's what's really going on here.

Kim Kardashian is indeed inspiring to a certain generation of kids. You can't see her as inspirational for the same reason, because you don't think she deserves the success but you do.

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