Jackie Chan and the Rise and Creation of Action-Comedy

Jackie as a henchman in
Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury

         In the 1980 film Shi di chu ma, also known as The Young Master, was starred and was directed by the now iconic Jackie Chan. During the 1980s Jackie Chan was one of the first to push forward the new action-comedy genre in the film industry. In The Young Master Jackie was one of the first to successfully eject comedy into a martial arts film.  As many of these action-comedy martial arts films Jackie starred in became a hit took this to his advantage. From 1980-1987 Jackie rode his success on the many and numerous action-comedy films and thus propelled himself into the spotlight.  However at first this newly acquired fame had only was only present in Hong Kong because of Jackie Chan’s return to Hong Kong films. Like his mentor Bruce Lee, Jackie became greatly disheartened by the American film industry’s refusal to grant him a leading role in martial arts/action films. These films however granted leading roles to white actors because they felt that the American audience would relate better to a white actor. 

         Deprived of leading roles in America Chan turned to Hong Kong for his key to stardom in the 1980s. His prayer was answered as became a star in Hong Kong and his movies skyrocketed Chinese box offices charts. As an added bonus his success even spread to America as many of his films found their way back to the United States. His fame and popularity also spread across East Asian countries and reached wide markets such as Japan with the films titled, The Young Master and Dragon Lord.

         Slowly and slowly as his popularity in China increased, so did the interest for him to return to the United States.  The 1980s for Jackie Chan was the career boost he needed to reach stardom. Through this new action-comedy comedy he helped create and promote got him where he is in his career today. For in the late 1980s and early 1990s Jackie Chan returned to the United States and has become an ionic figure in Hollywood ever since. Because of Jackie’s unique clownish charm with slapstick humor and amazing action stunts, the genre action-comedy is very popular genre today.

         However, it is his success he created within Hollywood makes up his iconic legacy. Along side with Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan is one of the most successful and renown Asian American actor of all time. Picking up where Bruce Lee has left off, Jackie’s struggle and tribulations have cleared the way for Asian Americans in the film industry. Without his decision to not give up and pursue his acting career in Hong Kong that has had an impact on the lives of the aspiring and current Asian Americans actors and actresses of today.  Still even today there is still a somewhat small percentage of Asian American performers in Hollywood however it is because of Jackie that this number has increased. 

Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000329/

http://www.tysto.com/2009/11/80s-action-movie-timeline/

http://jackiechan.com/biography

Vietnam War Memorial Controversy

Ariel View of Vietnam Veterans Memorial

         On May 6, 1981 a board of architects and sculptors chose the winner of the design competition for the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial. Out of 1,421 design entries the board unanimously chose the winner, Maya Ying Lin a Chinese American architecture student at Yale University. The design stood out from many of the traditional war memorials that featured statues of veteran soldiers during the war. Lin’s design however was large “V” shaped wall that went down into the earth like an indent, and increased in height as the two sides join together. The black reflective wall houses the names of the fallen U.S. service members that died during the Vietnam War. For Lin, the creator, this design symbolized a wound, the Vietnam War, and the healing process and scar that are formed after. Unfortunately many veterans and the rest of the public didn’t take it that way and a great amount of controversy hovered over the design. Many veterans protested against the design stating that it was a “black gash of shame” and some even went so far to harass Lin with racial slurs.

         However what really created so much controversy was not really the design but the creator, as seen by the many inappropriate comments and reactions from Vietnam veterans.  I’m sure if that if a Caucasian girl presented the same design there would not be a controversy. The true and unfortunate is that Maya Ying Lin is Asian and she has presented a design for the veterans of the Vietnam War. These veterans have been trained during the war that these Vietnam “gooks” were inferior and deserved to die. Because how could you kill many other humans if you still see them as human. This slaughtering had to be justified and it was through the great amount of propaganda that was funneled into the average G.I’s mind. 

         So of course it is not surprising that these veterans reacted this way when an Asian American presents a design for their memorial. We really can’t blame them though, after years and years of brainwashing by the war effort and American propaganda it only seems reasonable that those beliefs stuck, especially with the war just ending. Even today this aftereffect can be seen with the end of the Iraqi war and the controversy with the Muslim mosque near ground zero. Like Maya Ying Lin the group of Muslims that were hoping to build the mosque aren’t even the same ethnic tribe as the Muslims that crashed the planes into the towers on 9/11. However like ignorant America that isn’t taken into notice because all muslims like Asians are grouped together.

         Even though ethnicity shouldn’t matter, the fact that Asians, Muslims, or any other non-white Americans are “some ethnicity”-American, the fact that they are still American is not taken into notice. For they are simply still not totally accepted as Americans in this nation. Despite it all the ground for the Vietnam Memorial was finally broken on March 26, 1982. However the complete memorial was not completely like the original design. The once simplistic design that Lin had intended for was altered and so as a result of the controversy a statue called “The Three Soldiers”.  However despite it all it is in the design’s symbolic sentimental value that Lin has created that makes the Vietnam memorial the most visited public monument in the country. 

Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Night

Sources:

http://www.greenmuseum.org/c/aen/Issues/lin.php

http://www.jackmagazine.com/issue9/essayksands.html

http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/whm/bio/lin_m.htm

The Video Game Revolution

Super Mario Bros. Game & Watch

           In 1980 Nintendo launched one of the first series of portable video games called Game & Watch.  These devices featured a video game displayed on an LCD screen and also functioned as a clock and alarm system; thus bearing the name Game & Watch. This collection of ingenious and revolutionary gaming devices was designed by an employee at Nintendo, Gunpei Yokio. As the story goes, inspiration hit him after he witnessed a man on a train playing with a LCD calculator to pass the time away. This sparked Yokio with the idea of a portable device that the user could use to engage in a game and so after tampering with a calculator Yokio created the basis for what would later be known as the Nintendo Game & Watch. 

   

           However as we all know the legacy of Yokio’s Game & Watch did not stop there, and luckily for us eventually the Game & Watch series evolved into the Gameboy, Gameboy Color, Gameboy Advance, and the modern time DS and DS Lite. Funny as it may seem the Nintendo DS, or Nintendo Dual Screen, was not really the first double screen game console presented by Nintendo. The first actual dual screen game console was the Oil Panic Game & Watch. This design was also used to feature Donkey Kong and Zelda’s first presence in the gaming industry. Over a period of 11 years and 59 games Game and Watch also featured the ever so famous Mario Brothers, and in partnerships with United States companies the collection also featured several games with Snoopy and Disney’s Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.

            In a time of the European Atari crave the United States along with among the rest of the world was amazed by the portable and affordable Nintendo Game & Watch series. With affordable prices and its easily accessible size the Game & Watch caused the video gaming to spread into mainstream culture across the world and economic classes. As videogames spread into the mainstream culture Japanese companies such as Nintendo and Sony became leading companies in this growing and now billion-dollar industry. The Nintendo Game & Watch created an economic and social bridge of profit, partnerships, and ideas between the United States and Japan.  As interest in Japanese video games grew Americans realized how much more advanced Japanese technology was. With cell phones and computers way past the capabilities of American technology the United States has greatly engaged in the trading of these ideas and devices. Transferred with its technology Japanese popular culture has became increasingly evident and influential in American popular culture.

            Through American’s interest in Japanese video games it has created a bridge in which other Japanese popular culture forms were able to reach the interest of Americans.  Karaoke, anime, Pokemon, Hello Kitty, and much more have become the legacy that the Game & Watch has left behind.  With this Asian American and other Americans have been able to openly engage with Japanese popular culture. As Japan still continues to be referred to as the technology advance center of the world its relationship with the United States has become vital for Americans if they wish to be able to compete in this worldly race of trade. With a Game & Watch in hand Japanese popular culture has been able to make its mark and maintain a respectful place within American popular culture.

Sources:

http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcomputer_videogames.htm

http://ds.about.com/od/nintendods101/a/gameandwatchhistory.htm