In the episode shown above, the basic plot of the entire first season is laid out. Jackie Chan is doing his archaeology thing in a Bavarian castle, trying to find a lost cache of treasure. Unluckily, the castle is filled with traps, and Jackie barely makes it out alive with a golden shield that he picked up. He soon finds out that there are two parties of people who are very interested in the shield: a government organization that monitors international crime called Section 13, and a giant crime syndicate called the Dark Hand. The Dark Hand is looking for twelve magical talismans, and Section 13 enlists Jackie's help to find the talismans before the criminals do. Cue the stereotypical world hopping, talisman hunting and bad-guy beating.
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| Jackie in his archaeology getup. Sort of Indiana-esque, minus the hat. |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGft6pcq_ok#t=16m13s
It's pretty intricate fighting, and you can tell a lot of time went into the action sequences of the show. But even if the show isn't focusing on Jackie's archaeology, the audience is reminded pretty frequentlythat he is an archaeologist. Jackie is in the same vein of archaeologists as Indiana Jones, as he is doing all his work and ass kicking for the good of the world and all that. But he also has to constantly do research and tend to the antique artifacts in his uncle's shop, something that is played for laughs a lot in the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGft6pcq_ok#t=3m05s
In essence, the show has a pretty tasteful portrayal of archaeology. While Jackie may be jumping around in ruins and fighting off demons, Jackie is also says many times that he is "just an amateur" and that his archaeological expertise is only a small aid to his overall job.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGft6pcq_ok#t=10m51s
The show is meant for kids, and isn't meant to be read into much. It does perpetuate the idea of the adventuring archaeologist, but unlike other forms of media that do this, it actually mentions the value of research quite a bit. There's nothing here for a professional archaeologist to get angry about.
It's a fun little show, and I may come back to it again if I think of something relating the show to archaeology.
What's Right?
Balances fun for kids with explaining that this is not what real archaeology is like.
What's Wrong?
Jackie is an Indiana Jones archetype who goes hunting for artifacts, but its a non-serious kids show meant for entertainment rather than education.
Grade: B+
I'll be doing a report about archaeologists in media for a college class. I chose Jackie Chan Adventures b/c it's the best thing ever to me. :P Nice to see I'm not the only one who has decided to do this.
ReplyDeleteJackie does say a good number of times that X "belongs in a museum", which at least would get kids to think, hm keep things in museums and off the black market!