| Chapter : | Introduction |
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Long Nu’s elegance and captivated by her romance with Yoko, the men watched The Return of the Condor Heroes for different reasons. They were drawn to the intricate martial arts maneuvers, the intriguing plot that follows Yoko’s quest to avenge his teacher, and the feminine allure of Xiao Long Nu, who became the object of their first crushes.
The Return of the Condor Heroes was also the kung fu series that launched the career of Andy Lau, a Hong Kong film and television star who played the role of Yoko. When the series became incredibly popular, he became a teen idol for this generation. Andy Lau was also the star of several films (e.g., Casino Raiders and Best of the Best) that became very popular with this generation. Other immensely popular film stars were Jackie Chan (who starred in Drunken Master, Police Story I–IV, Project A, and The Protector among many others); Chow Yun Fatt (A Better Tomorrow, Hard Boiled, Once a Thief); and Jet Li (Once Upon a Time in China I–III, The Shaolin Temple, Tai Chi Master). These films presented a mix of action (Casino Raiders, Best of the Best, Police Story I–IV, Project A, The Protector, A Better Tomorrow, Hard Boiled, Once a Thief) and kung fu (Drunken Master, Once Upon a Time in China I–III, Tai Chi Master, The Shaolin Temple) genres. They mostly were popular with the men as they provided “cool” role models such as Chow Yun Fatt, in A Better Tomorrow, who played a gangster with intense loyalty for the “brothers” in his gang. These action and kung fu films also portray a lifestyle that differed vastly from their lives in Indonesia. In watching these films, according to some of the men I talked to, they experienced a longing and desire to live in China, Hong Kong, or Taiwan—where they had never been to but projected a life where they would no longer be discriminated against.
This unique media environment brings up several important questions: Why were these series and films popular with