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But the rest of the article seems to drunkenly wonder around bumping into rhetorical questions that don't lead anywhere other than the reporter believes that Jackie Chan didn't complain or rejoice enough in his hardships or successes.
Ok, sure. I guess that's one opinion. But I'm kind of surprised that the reporter didn't have more to say than that.
The author doesn't want to treat Chan's insistence on his account being an inspirational one and just wants to see it as sad. I'm reminded of a Quora answer by a guy who loved fighting, one phrase he used stuck out at me. "Great fighters have to kind of like getting hit." You can't push your body to its very limits without getting injured. Planning and preparing for it is not sad, it's smart. Chan's account should be…
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…
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Particularly in the case of a minor, who has no say in the contract. Chan was sold into servitude while most of were still in primary school. The way I read it, he wasn't able to break free until his early-20s.
Particularly in the case of a minor, who has no say in the contract. Wasn't the contract entered into by his parents? The way I read it, he wasn't able to break free until his early-20s. Was he kept under lock and key by armed guards willing to main or kill him to keep him from escaping? Or did he primarily think of it as working through a contract his parents had signed him up for?
I cannot conceive of any answers that would.
The author doesn't want to treat Chan's insistence on his account being an inspirational one and just wants to see it as sad. I'm reminded of a Quora answer by a guy who loved fighting, one phrase he used stuck out at me. "Great fighters have to kind of like getting hit." You can't push your body to its very limits without getting injured. Planning and preparing for it is not sad, it's smart. Chan's account should be…
>I'm reminded of a Quora answer by a guy who loved fighting, one phrase he used stuck out at me. "Great fighters have to kind of like getting hit." Floyd Mayweather disputes this.
Jackie Chan, though, is an apologist for the Mainland government, and even suggested that Taiwan, perhaps (as of now) the only Chinese-speaking democracy, has “too much freedom.”
There's no country named "Taiwan". It is the Republic of China. "Taiwan" is the name of the island in Chinese. It is where the Chinese nationalist government (Kuomintang) sought refuge after losing mainland to the CCP. So it's not only a Chinese-speaking country, it claims to be the legitimate China.
The informal name of the Republic of China is “Taiwan”, just as the informal name of the Republic of Korea is “South Korea”.
> "Taiwan" is the name of the island in Chinese
There is no one language “Chinese”, but “Taiwan” is a transcription of the Mandarin name of the island on which ~99% of the land area of the territory effectively administered by the Republic of China is located. (And also of the province containing the island, both for the ROC and PRC.)
We have this tendency to look at successful people and think we can imitate them and have their success. I see Bill Gates is always giving a list of his favorite books of the year. Sorry Bill, if I read your books, I won't be a billionaire. Well Jackie Chan as great, talented, funny as he is. No matter what, I will never be him. Survivor bias and luck play a large role beyond what hard work and pain alone do.
Right. A large part of success is definitely luck and random opportunity, but I will say that you still have to be prepared for those instances to take advantage of them(unless you have nepotism on your side, then you can coast to your heart's content). For us in the the lower / middle class, the best we can do is prepare as much as we can for the day we encounter luck or opportunity. No amount of preparation / commi…
Also agree, failure is complex and society has been known to sweep people under the rug.
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Ah that’s disappointing. I hope he knows the first movie was a highlight of my movie-going childhood!
In terms of martial arts action those movies are pale shadows of his earlier Hong Kong work. Partially because Chan is older in those movies and is a little less physically capable. But IMO mostly because of Hollywood's unfortunate style of directing fights and martial arts battles. Traditional Hong Kong martial arts movies use a lot of wide and long, unbroken shots. You can really see the performers performing these…
Jackie Chan, though, is an apologist for the Mainland government, and even suggested that Taiwan, perhaps (as of now) the only Chinese-speaking democracy, has “too much freedom.”
There's no country named "Taiwan". It is the Republic of China. "Taiwan" is the name of the island in Chinese. It is where the Chinese nationalist government (Kuomintang) sought refuge after losing mainland to the CCP. So it's not only a Chinese-speaking country, it claims to be the legitimate China.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think what the previous commenter was reacting to in your post was not your defense of Chan an his memoir as inspirational, per se, but rather the specific phrase "If he can do it anyone can" as ignoring the fact that Chan -- and celebrities like him -- are extreme outliers, and extremely lucky for their success. Yes, Chan worked his ass off. But to have the success he did, he also had to have an insane amount of l…
The greatest challenge to overcome is disbelief that you can do something. Heroes have a place, precisely because they inspire. I get what you're saying, but in any system having an aspirational role model is a benefit!
I'm deeply skeptical of this. I don't want to assume your background, so please don't take offense to this. But I can only imagine someone is able to seriously believe this if they've never had anything more challenging than their own self-actualization and ambition.
You can (and should) believe in yourself as fiercely as you'd like! But the blunt reality is that hunger, poverty, disease and a lack of familial support structure will break you down unless you're astronomically lucky. If the most difficult thing stopping you from achieving your goals is your own belief in your ability to do it, you're in an exceptionally privileged position.
I think we miss the forest for the trees on HN quite a lot. The modal commenter here is most likely to be affluent with respect to their local environment and wealthy with respect to the world. We don't often have people commenting here to share experiences of the real obstacles someone like Jackie Chan had to deal with growing up.
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…