Bombed at the box office with his action movies, Chow ended up playing a stereotypical hideous character in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Chow Yun Fat, voted by LA Times as “the coolest actor” in the world in the mid-90s, too, failed in Hollywood, in part because that very Hong Kong coolness turned lukewarm in Hollywood movies, and the hard boiled image that made him famous in the East came off a stilted in the West.

But Rain met with drought in North America, where he starred in two movies that flopped, and his bid for global stardom Bi Rain, with his extraordinary dancing skills and his teenage heartthrob status, is known all over Asia as its own Michael Jackson. Take the case of Hong Kong actors Chow Yun Fat and Jackie Chan, and the South Korean singer Bi Rain. But, as a rule, it demands the betrayal of the original, and it requires reinvention - something nearly impossible for those who are entrenched in their own language and cultural sensibilities. To crossover, as far as the world of arts and entertainment is concerned, is to go from the margin to the center, from one set of culture to another, trying to succeed in the latter. It’s the history of crossover itself, the phenomenon that has traditionally been treacherous and cruel, with so many talented entertainers from the Far East or elsewhere at the margins of the Commonwealth, falling off the tightrope on the way to global stardom. Psy’s video is also the most “liked” on Youtube, as well as the most-watched video in Korean entertainment history.īut something beyond Korean history has clearly occurred with the global sanctification of Psy. Among them: North Korea’s own version to spoof a South Korean presidential candidate, and the “ Mitt Romney Style” spoof video.Īnd the genius behind the dance that mimics riding an invisible horse? Jae-Sang Park, erstwhile Psy (short for psycho), a rapper whose career galloped into global superstardom with the distinction of topping the iTunes charts in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and 28 other countries. It has garnered 425 million hits and counting since July, and has spun off countless other videos.

It stands for something along the lines of a brash, flamboyant way of doing things, clownishness, or an act of in-your-face spoofing that is both original, catchy and entertaining.Ī recently setup Wikipedia page showcases “Gangnam Style” as the most watched Youtube videoof the year. Anthropologists and linguists no doubt are having a field day trying to chronicle and dissect how, in the early autumn of 2012, “Gangnam Style” became an American idiomatic expression.

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