For many years and for many people – especially in his native Hong Kong – Jackie Chan was a hero. Not just an action hero, but a bona fide cultural icon who made it cool to be Chinese and put his hometown on the cinematic map.
And then he started to make us all cringe. Here are five of the kung fu star’s top moments in cringe.
1. The One Where Jackie’s Shilling for Carcinogenic Shampoo Spawned a Meme
Earlier this year, an old ad featuring Chan waxing lyrical about the benefits of a herbal shampoo – later accused of containing cancer-causing chemicals – was revived and repurposed into a brilliant parody video centered around Chan's ad-libbed onomatopoeia for the springiness of hair, "Duang!"
(If English subtitles don’t appear automatically, click CC to turn them on.)
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2. The One Where Jackie Publicly Scolded His Son for Smoking Pot
An anti-drug ambassador for both China and Singapore, Chan was quite the disapproving papa bear when his 31-year-old son Jaycee Chan was busted for the heinous crime of marijuana possession. Chan, Jr. served six months in prison for having 100 grams of pot. That’s one month per 16.6 grams.
Rather than fight the harsh sentence, Papa Chan took to Weibo to express his shame:
“When I found out about my son, I was extremely angry and also extremely shocked. As a public figure, I’m ashamed…. I hope young people can learn from Jaycee’s lesson and stay away from drugs. I also want to say to Jaycee: You did something bad and you have to take responsibility.”
3. The One Where Jackie Made a Buddy Comedy with a Cartoon Condom Called Mr. Condom
This one really needs no introduction.
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4. The One Where Jackie Asked You to Cough Up RMB128 to Visit His Museum
Not enough Jackie in your life? Head over to his little-visited museum in Shanghai, the Jackie Chan Film Gallery, which is chock-a-block with inspirational Jackie quotes, such as, “There’s no way to go backwards in life. The only way is forward.” Here’s what our reviewer made of Chan's “ridiculous ego project”:
"Was a glass container of crushed plastic bottles, demonstrating Jackie’s passion for recycling, really necessary? And the replica of his work space on a movie set, with the fridge open to show the drinks he always shares with all his “brothers” on the crew? We feel a chance was missed here: why not a preserved bead of JC sweat to show how hard he works?"
5. The One Where Jackie Said "Chinese People Need to be Controlled"
You know how it’s best to avoid talking politics with certain family members? Well, that’s the rule Jackie Chan should follow when making public remarks.
Although he has since uttered several eyebrow-raising remarks, this now-classic line that Chan uttered in 2009 in response to a question about censorship, is the one that tipped many people off to Jackie’s very questionable political views and led to his de facto disownment by the people of Hong Kong. If you think the statement might have been taken out of context, here’s a translation of the full quote:
"Is it better to have freedom or not? I’m actually confused now. Too much freedom and it’ll be like Hong Kong is now, really chaotic. Or like Taiwan, which is also very chaotic. So I’ve slowly started to realize that we Chinese people need to be controlled."
Well, things certainly were looking rather chaotic in the SAR's legislature yesterday when pro-Beijing lawmakers staged a walkout in an failed attempt to prevent a quorum. That's what happens when you try to control Chinese people.
[Image via SCMP]
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