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http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/actor-david-carradine-found-dead-bangkok-ap
David
Carradine was found dead, hanged, in a Thailand hotel room.
I
can name, off the top of my head, three meaningful influences that
shaped the direction of my life at a critical period, during my early
teens. One of these was a September, 1974 National Geographic article
about drugs in nature. Another was a book by Adam Smith titled
"Powers of Mind." The third was David Carradine as Kwai
Chang Cane in the unusual television series Kung Fu.
At that
time I was undergoing some profound personality change, where I
became interested in esoteric philosophy, spirituality, and in
general, the supernatural; interests that have not diminished in the
35 years since. I had begun my rejection of conventional and
institutional "American" religions, namely Christianity,
due to my general disagreement with the environment I was growing up
in, rural Massachusetts, surrounded by bumpkins, Puritans, Baptists
and backward hillbillies, most of them my aunts, uncles, cousins,
brothers, mother, and father.
I had always been an avid
reader, and joined the Science Fiction Book Club by age 14. But, in
the evening my family gathered around the television, and when Kung
Fu made its debut I was immediately and irrevocably hooked.
Here
was the story of a Shaolin Buddhist monk, "The most unlikey hero
the west has ever seen," went the advertisements. Kwai Chang
Cane was a half-Chinese raised in a Shaolin temple. During a
pilgrimage with his blind and ancient Master Po (Keye Luke), a
prince's entourage crossed their path. "Even the Prince should
not strike an old man twice," said Master Po, as he defended
himself against a guard who went to strike him a second time for not
moving out of the way fast enough.
From inside his palanquin
the Prince loaded a pistol and shot Master Po. Enraged, Cane threw a
spear through the palanquin, killing the Prince. Now a wanted man, Cane's graduation from
Shaolin was expedited, with the help of Master Kan. Cane escaped to
19th Century California, during the time of the wild west. He
traveled simply with a rucksack and flute. Carrying no weapons
besides his own human body, Cane often engaged in physical
confrontation in order to protect innocents. More often, he promoted
peaceful resolution.
The show was also famous for its
trademark use of the flashback.
Kung Fu impressed me more than
the karate movies from Japan or the Hong Kong kung fu flicks. I even
preferred Carradine over Bruce Lee, who seemed too focused on the
physical manifestation of kung fu, but deficient in the spiritual.
Even though David Carradine's kung fu motions were slow and
amateurish, there was a bigger point to the show that transcended the
actual fighting. It was the spiritual-minded man, whose training was
exotic, unorthodox, and humanist. Cane came to symbolize the emerging
human potential movement. This was the early 1970s, post-Vietnam
Conflict.
It wasn't just kung fu I was interested in, but
Taoist philosophy, the inherent magical power of the human being, and
learning ability that went above and beyond conventional wisdom.
Undoubtedly there was a component of rejection of parents and
tradition, at least the traditions I grew up with. So much more, and
it's hard to remember all the reasons for my original fascination
with Kung Fu.
Eventually I went on to study martial arts, many
different styles, Chinese kung fu, and Japanese karate. My quest for
meaning and what lies beyond the ordinary did not stop at kung fu,
and I eventually moved on to more intellectual pursuits.
Carradine also starred as a kung fu
master in Circle of Iron, a cultish movie from the late 1970s that I
used to watch with my like-philosophical minded college buddies. You
probably knew us, we were the nerdy, socially inept outcasts who
couldn't get dates.
Apparently Carradine (also the son of Gothic horror staple John Carradine) lived a life style in accord
with that of Kwai Chang Cane. He still sets something of an example
for me, personally, an ideal of the kind of vagabond seeker that has
an appeal to me in a social world governed by superficial and
material values.
Farewell, Grasshopper.
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