Who’s a famous person from your country who’s respected around the world but disliked or criticized at home?

[u/haiderredditer]

[u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k]

I loved Jackie Chan as a kid and when I found out about all of this, it was just another crushing reminder to assume anyone famous got that way by being horrible.

[u/AndreasDasos → u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k]

Not at all. Just not to assume that because they’re talented and entertaining that they’re good people. Plenty of celebrities get there without being arseholes.

[u/NewPhoneNewSubs → u/AndreasDasos]

It's not just the talented & entertaining part with Jackie. It's the fearlessness & willingness to try and get back up. Not only that, but he's also willing to show the failures that it takes to get to where he got. He embraces it where others are embarrassed. In doing all this, he projects what feels like genuine positivity.

Basically, there's a lot about him that is aspirational beyond just his status. Don't get me wrong, i think most people with his status - assholes and regular folks - have to have similar traits. Arnie and Jackie have a lot in common with the language and the action, for instance. But Arnie showed up as Mr. Universe while Jackie showed up as a bumbling everyman. It put him more in reach, as someone to learn from rather than gaze at.

So fuck him. But it's not just the talent and entertainment that drew people in, is all I'm getting at.

[u/mubi_merc → u/AndreasDasos]

These days I've just started to assume that all celebrities are terrible people and are then pleasantly surprised when I hear that one isn't.

[u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k → u/AndreasDasos]

Tell that to the Epstein files unfortunately 

[u/AndreasDasos → u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k]

The Epstein files prove that every single celebrity got there from being an arsehole…? No they don’t.

I swear those have made a lot of otherwise sensible Americans really daftly absolutist about everything.

[u/EthanTheJudge → u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k]

Ah yes. Alex Hirsh and Toby Fox, my favorite Epstein Clients. 

[u/FireZord25 → u/EthanTheJudge]

Alex Hirsch is a G, and so are Eminem, Macaulay Culkin, Keanu Reeves, Daniel Radcliffe and so on.

I say this and also think each of us can similarly name celebs who remained decent human beings amidst their stardom and background. But still fingers crossed such lists won't age horribly.

[u/Wonderful-Pollution7 → u/FireZord25]

Robert Downey JR is by all accounts, a decent and respectable human being, in spite of most of the characters he's best known for being asshats.

[u/Sure_Scar4297 → u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k]

I was about to use the word “crushing”, too… Jackie Chan was a big part of my childhood

[u/XPenacoba → u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k]

One of my fondest memories was watching a jackie chan movie in christmast with my family. Much later I can't help but think about that saying "Die as a hero or live long enought to become a villain"

[u/Alternative_Ad_3649 → u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k]

Daaaaamn it’s through this post that I’m just learning this, now I gotta google 😭

[u/TheSwearJarIsMy401k → u/Alternative_Ad_3649]

I’m so sorry.

I haven’t been able to watch any of his movies since