The Crown of a Clown - Chaplin's and JC's Life Struggles | post 23
How did the funny wise people live to come up with their historic sketches and skits? We all read biographies of the real as well as the fictional characters. So, we can always learn some practically useful and philosophically profound insights from these stories.
This post explores the short bios of Sir Charles Chaplin and Jackie Chan. I hope you enjoy these two snippets. i.e, the tales of their growth or their grief, the failures or the victories.
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| Illustration for this post, Crown of a Clown. By Akp51v. |
Let's revisit the life of some of the Comic Artists, whose knowledge, creativity, wit and observations enhanced our social senses to a higher level.
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin
Otherwise known as 'Charlie Chaplin', he was born in London. The month was April, and the calendar read 1889. On the 16th day of April 1889, this multi-skilled artist arrived in this world of ours. Out of all the comics we have seen, read or heard of, Charlie Chaplin has been a legendary entity, whose work might be more relatable to the year 2020 (as well as the aeons yet to come), than what anyone could have imagined or guessed.
He is one of the most crucial figures in cinema history, who performed various roles ranging from that of a Producer to a Writer as well as a Composer. The great films he starred in, authored and directed, include The Kid from 1921. The Gold Rush (1925), as well as City Lights (1931), should never be missed. Watching Modern Times (1936) is highly recommended; after all, we are in the year 2020, you know.
Legends are like gems; the process of their evolution, throughout their life on this planet Earth, is full of high temperatures and intense pressures.
Chaplin lived with his mother, started working at the tender age of five, learned the usage of gestures, body language and observation skills from his mother when they were smiling in the face of deep poverty. She was sent to an asylum when he was 14. He kept working...
And he kept at it... with his unique style of creativity and gusto.
He won many awards, crafted films with perfectionist work ethics, attained complete financial independence, made fun of a then-alive disgusting dictator in 1940, employing his moustache to its fullest potential!
Then he became vocal about the ugly politics of the world wars and lost his popularity. More and more people ruined his public image, and only after two decades or so, his reputation returned.
Since we live in an era of celebrating 'extreme childishness' in combination with the forced positivity (thanks to the voluntary ignorance towards the tragic comedies around the globe, enabled by the mainstream media plus the non-sociable media); many major events from Sir Chaplin's life are deliberately vomited or merely implied by this author, who is at the mercy of the censoring almighty giants. Apologies in advance, offered by this tiny plaster saint.
But don't worry, whether to get unlimited inspiration from his work ethic or for satisfying an inner calling out of curiosity, you could always dig a little deeper with the modern Thoths (Egyptian God of Knowledge) of Magnifying Single-minded (or fashionably one-sided) Lenses, who guide us amid this ever-increasing abundance of Over-information or the Passive entertainment, without leaving our backs even for a second irrespective of the status of GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou or BHUVAN settings (not sure about GALILEO either; frank confession concluded).
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[ It will take another round of Power-Reader Mode. Maybe check back this article after 15th of September to see my 'Thoughts' about a few more Legends, and some example of the favourite characters of this author. ]
UPDATE 15TH SEPT, 2020 - While on the Content Research journey for this blog post, I have been reading multiple resources specialising in the biographies and the insights of the lives of various Comedians and Comediennes. Following brilliantly written resources might be really engaging and interesting to know about Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Lloyd, Semon, Chase, Arbuckle, Normand, Turpin, etc. from the era of the silent films.
Cleverly Written Resources
Writer and Performer Trav S. D. has written a WordPress[ .com ] blog post about how he'd rank the Comics from the silent era of the silver screen. He has authored two books on the same topic and he has been performing since 1995, and directed his own plays and solo acts on various well-recognised avenues. This author has found his articles deliciously long, informative and highly engaging. This post will be saved in my bookmarks, along with his post telling the story of how Laurel and Hardy went on to be a team.
While IMDb has already enlisted 51 names of 'Great Classic Comedians', let me continue with why I found the life of Jackie Chan motivating, uplifting and inspiring as well.
Jackie Chan
Born to the financially challenged parents in Hong Kong (7th of April, year 1954), Chan Kong-sang 'Jackie Chan' grew up in a small family in Victoria Peak district. His parents - Charles and Lee Lee Chan - were refugees from Chinese Civil War, who took French Embassy jobs as a Cook and a Housekeeper. After they went to Australia for work purposes, from where Jackie was sent home in Hong Kong due to lacking 'academic excellence'. This author in an Indian human being... we feel you, boss.
Anyway, Mr. Chan was sent to a great Drama Academy. Strict 'learning environment'? Checked. Highly 'unfriendly' co-learners? True. Punishments? Of course. Opera, Martial Arts, Acrobatics, Stagecraft and Singing were taught there.
He excelled at them, and joined the group of the top performing young fellows!
The comedy he fused with the martial arts in his films, was inspired by the Silent Films era. Chaplin and Keaton had influenced him greatly. As always, it was far from anything 'easy' to be brought into this reality.
Simply put, though he had begun acting in small or minor roles in the movies from his youth years already, everyone wanted to repeat Bruce Lee's style. Martial Artists had to be tough, brutal, strong and serious. Because? That was the popular formula after all. Once a market is saturated with the mould being popular for quite some while, almost everyone - be it the newcomers or the established production houses - wants the exact same thing. The norms decide what is allowed and what is not.
Jackie had an idea and nobody thought it could work. He had to do it himself and find the right people for his team as well. He could have stayed with the herd and done what everyone else was doing, you know. He could have easily used his skills and tried his hard to give another 'Serious' martial artist to the industry.
I wonder how many of us are trying our hardest to fit in the prevailing moulds...
And as per our tradition of being a human-being, let me be selfishly insecure, about some of my own life-choices as well. How often have I let ideas disappear and suffocate because of my own internalisation of the so called 'norms' or 'thumb-rules'?
External Useful Resources:
While Goalcast has a masterpiece about Jackie's life, Cinemablend elaborated the comic books written by him as well as an estimated account of the injuries sustained by him on-set. IMDb has a full record of his career as well as his nicknames. Notablebiograpghies provides us with a more detail-oriented understanding about this martial artist's crafts and personal growth over the years.
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Previously, the distinction between meaningful and meaningless activities was understood as if work versus art. While akp51v is not exactly sure about the best method of teaching something, an incident was described here on SummaryMaster51v, which might provide some insights. Obviously, our worth is similar to any other aspect of life, it will differ depending on where you stand and in relation to what others would be measuring it.
Keep reading, keep writing. :)
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