Abstract

Jackie Chan （JC） is a unique case in contemporary Chinese film history and even world film history. On the one hand，due to the extensive spread of “action hero” persona in his films，JC has won adoration from audience both at home and abroad. On the other hand，by virtue of his active participation in charity and other social activities，he has built a friendly image as a “cultural hero” which has spread his reputation well beyond the film field：to the Chinese people，he is a reliable “Big Brother”；to the non-Chinese，he is a symbol of Chinese culture. The enormous popularity JC enjoys both at home and abroad has made him a cultural phenomenon，with JC's movies as its main body and JC's activities outside film field as its peripheral content. JC phenomenon communicates different group's cultural imagination of “hero” and is therefore worthy of detailed study.

Jackie Chan movies （JC movies） are the foundation for any analysis of JC phenomenon. Not only are they of significant inspiration for today's Chinese-language movies' overseas marketing，but are important texts for analysis of cultural changes in contemporary Chinese society. For the convenience of analysis，JC's movie career is divided into three phrases in Chapter One：JC's Hong Kong （HK） movies，JC's Hollywood movies and JC's Chinese-language movies. As auteur of his Hong Kong and Chinese-language movies，JC has set up a widely popular “folk hero” image on the silver screen，especially with his HK movies which has action comedy as its main genre.

The two typical features of JC movies are body spectacles and justified stories. Body spectacles of cinematic level are analyzed in Chapter Two which have made JC a comedic “action hero”. As the trademark figure of action comedy genre，JC has contributed fabulous physical comedy and flesh myth which constitute the action spectacles in his movies. Rhythm and “Beauty of simple actions” are crucial to comedic body，while “realness” plays an important role in JC's flesh myth. However，“body of desire”，the third aspect of JC's body spectacle，is generally neglected，which is actually the reason why JC's movies are “comedy without obscenity”.

Chapter Three investigates the justified stories in JC movies which are the narrative and cultural feature that have portrayed JC's roles as “moral heroes”. HK's citizen values and traditional Confucian values are the two value sources for what JC communicates in his movies. As a film author，JC's own identification in different stages has significantly influenced his movies，so JC Films of different periods emphasized different values. In the early period of JC's HK cinema，i.e. in early 1980s，local HK stories were told and HK identification was highlighted. From the late 1980s throughout the 1990s，JC movies aimed at “globalization” with natural values suitable for all mankind as the emphasis. In JC's Chinese-language film stage，ethnic patriotism is particularly highlighted.

Compared with typical JC Films which construct JC's “Mainstream Hero” image，JC's Hollywood films have portrayed JC's roles as “Other Hero”，yet they do have positive significance，and these are discussed in Chapter Four. Unlike in his HK movie production，JC does not have control over his Hollywood film production，which directly resulted in the obvious difference between JC movies and JC's Hollywood films. First，JC only performed subdued action spectables in Hollywood films. Second，due to the overwhelming Hollywood racial stereotype tradition，JC's roles in Hollywood movies are “asexual” （even “pervert”） Asian male stereotype，which seriously hurts the hero persona JC has already built.

Yet JC's Hollywood movies are not without positive meanings. Their commercial success prompted JC to the peak of his career as a film star. His interpretation of “minority model” fit the expectations of the western mainstream ideology and therefore to a certain degree has enhanced the positive image of Chinese people. Moreover，the traditional Chinese values JC communicated in and beyond the silver screen have positively promoted the image of China and effectively spread the Chinese culture.

Chapter Five examines JC star brand. Extensive participation in social activities has expanded JC brand's influence well beyond film field and transformed JC film star brand into a celebrity brand. As a film star brand，JC has experienced a series of internal adjustments and thus accumulated rich economic and symbolic capital. Outside the cinematic field，a large amount of brand expansion activities have earned JC even richer cultural and symbolic capital which have made him a “cultural hero” with the nature of national symbol. However，JC brand is not only the outcome of the positive construction of JC and his team，but also the complex result of media construction.

Chapter Six investigates the JC phenomenon from the perspective of traditional Chinese culture. Through the analysis of Chinese masculinity，we can find JC aims to construct himself a male model who is not only good at Wu （martial arts） but Wen （culture）. Moreover，mainly due to the profound psychological basis of chivalrous spirit in Chinese folk culture，JC's “Chivalrous Hero” image has won wide recognition from Chinese people both at home and abroad.

Key Words： Jackie Chan Movies；Hero Image；Body Spectacle；Star Brand；Identification；Chivalrous Spirit