Only One ChopperJuly 08, 2014

Many have heard about "Chopper 3: How to Shoot Friends & Influence People". Fans of crime novels have read "Hooky the Cripple: The Grim Tale of a Hunchback Who Triumphs". Those who were familiar with Mark Read knew "The Adventures of Rumsley Rumsfelt". Read was a celebrated criminal, which he translated into a successful writing career. In fact, he spent only thirteen months outside of prison between the ages 20 and 38.

Some would point out that other's lives were worse and yet they managed to turn it around. One must understand that Chopper was beaten by his father, on his mother's recommendation, when he was a young boy. He was being bullied at school countless times, always at the losing end. So the repeated beatings, which would make such a searing impact. But he didn't want to play the blame game.

"You want to hear about my childhood, I'll tell you. But I don't dwell on it, nor do I use it as an excuse for how I turned up. I didn't have a very nice childhood," he said.

Chopper's father was a former Army Officer and his mother a devout Seventh-Day Adventist. He was placed in several mental institutions during his teenager years, claiming to be subjected to electroshock therapy. He became involved in robbery at a young age, and a few years later, firearm offenses and kidnapping. The law catched up with him, and behind bars, stories about his involvement in gang wars came out. His nickname was derived from a Hanna Barbera cartoon character, coined after an inmate cut off his ears to win a bet.

Many believed that the media were wasting their time on such a criminal, but Chopper was not just any law offender. There was no doubt that he had a bit of charisma, and he died of liver cancer at 58, quite long if one would count the number of violent incidents that he was part of. He was lucky, and in a way, managed somehow. Who would also have thought that someone like him would be mystified, even looked with fascination, later on. He knew it, which may be his motivation to write.

A biographical film based from Chopper's troubled life was expected. Eric Bana, a native of Melbourne renowned for his four-year stint in "Full Frontal", was chose to play the titular role.

"There had only been a small fracture of the character presented to the public. I knew that what I had in my arsenal was always going to be interesting for this very reason. He only had one persona, and that was the one he put forward himself. The film undoes a fair bit of that. People are more confused than what they were initially," Bana said.

"Chopper" was a critical and commercial success, launching the actor's Hollywood career. He had appeared in films like "Munich", but those who knew him from way back would identify him to his breakthrough role. The adulation on Read continues.

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