I got my first motorcycle in China, and because I didn’t have a driver’s license, insurance or registration for the bike; I achieved Badass Outlaw Biker-status immediately. Another childhood dream come true.
The bike was a Changjiang 750, or “sidecar”, or kuazi if you are a member of the cult. Someday I’ll write another post about the bloody knuckle joy of owning one of these great motorcycles and the adventures I had driving all over the countryside surrounding Beijing. Today, however, I am musing about motorcycles, their relationship to man and the universe. I know, it’s been done to death, but now it’s my turn. It’s my blog and I’ll do what I want.
America has a great tradition of motorcycle stories and there’s a good reason for it. The motorcycle is essentially a metaphor for a modern horse and American mythology is a Western; its errant knights are cowboys. Motorcycles stories, as good mythology, help Americans define their relationships to themselves, others, society and the cosmos.
Here’s an incomplete chronological inventory of the motorcycle mythos in America:
• The Wild One – Marlon Brando (movie)
• Hell's Angels – Hunter S. Thomson (book)
• Born to Be Wild – Steppenwolf (song)
• Easy Rider – Dennis Hopper & Peter Fonda (movie)
• Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – Robert Pirsig (book)
• Harley Davidson & the Marlboro Man – Mickey Rourke & Don Johnson (movie)
• Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi (song)
• Motorcycle Diaries (book & movie)
• The World’s Fastest Indian (movie) [thanks Jim for the recommendation]
• Wild Hogs (bad movie)
Look at what the motorcycle represents: freedom, individuality, speed, danger and strength. A man riding a motorcycle is not weak, enslaved, or a faceless member of the masses; he’s a hero (even if only to himself). The motorcycle serves as America’s vehicle of choice in its modern odysseys; reflecting the nature of its people, cultural changes, man’s relationship with technology, spiritual awakenings, and other important themes.
China needs a motorcycle movie. As the nation continues to wrestle with its identity in a post semi-colonial age traumatized by the loss of its traditional culture and the birth of a new society, it should take a good look in the mirror. A motorcycle movie could serve as an apolitical, romantic, modern fantasy to help China discuss, identify and celebrate its values.
I’d like to see a Chinese motorcycle movie. Imagine a couple of young Chinese on Changjiang 750s as they go “on the road” from Beijing to the farthest corners of the PRC to discover themselves and what it means to be Chinese. Although I’m partial to motorcycles and stories about them, China doesn’t have to take my advice. It’s up to the Chinese to create their own modern mythology. Fortunately, I like kungfu movies too.
