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I’m Not Mad When People Call Me ‘Jackie Chan’
He was the most universally recognizable Asian actor in Hollywood when I was growing up
I have a hard time thinking of Asian actors. Honestly, off the top of my head, I can list Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Aziz Ansari, and George Takei. The latter two I had to really think about.
I started teaching in the Baltimore City Public Schools two years ago, and during a work icebreaker last year, my boss asked us to name an actor we’re most similar to. When it came time for me to share, I just had to say “I don’t know — George Takei? There aren’t many Asian actors I can name off the top of my head.” Another Asian female teacher also said the same thing. We got into a heavy discussion on Asian American representation in the media—that is, the lack thereof.
Last year, my school district was short staffed, so I was asked to cover a math SAT prep class. One of the high school seniors greeted me by saying, “Hey! Jackie Chan!” Another called me Bruce Lee. At the time I laughed it off and thought it was funny — other people might think differently but it really wasn’t too big of a deal to me. Throughout the year, kids would say, “Be careful around Mr. Fan because he can karate kick you,” despite the fact that I don’t know any karate or any martial arts.
Since then, I have developed more wisdom and experience as a teacher. While I process comments like that with humor, not everyone will, especially during a time of escalating anti-Asian hate, so I’ve learned it’s better to shut down comments like that than to just let them happen.
But I have to say—I love Jackie Chan. The Rush Hour series is still the funniest movie from my childhood. I’ve seen them several times, and will particularly stand by Rush Hour 2 as a personal favorite because of its setting and the particularly strong chemistry between Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. I’m also a sucker for comedy. Conversations around race between Asian and Black lead actors in the movie are navigated in a humorous light, whereas in this day and age, they’re always very serious (though I’m not saying they shouldn’t be). Some might think the movie hasn’t aged well because some of the jokes play on cheap racial stereotypes.
