Jackie Chan and the Re-invention of Tradition

One of the presenters at the 1994 Golden Horse Awards was Taiwanese actress Yeung Hwei-San, who commented that there are three things an actor is afraid to work with: animals, because they are cute; children, because they are precious; and Jackie Chan, because when he's on-screen the audience will pay attention only to him. This comment, which links Jackie Chan with the old Hollywood saying about never working with children or animals, is interesting because it connects Chan with part of American film lore, mingling Hong Kong and US film traditions into one statement. This statement is thus a fitting reflection on the career of Jackie Chan as well, which can be seen as the mingling of the Chinese traditions of the Peking Opera and kung-fu films which he was a part of, with the Western tradition of classical Hollywood cinema, of which he became a part.