OK,
I admit that I kind of had a crush on Kevin Sorbo during his Hercules:The Legendary Journeys days. I've always had a weakness for tall guys with long hair - but,
he also seemed like a decent guy when giving interviews. I hadn't
really thought about him in years, but was extremely disappointed to
find out recently that he is now into some of the more extreme
Christian fundamentalist propaganda . It didn't
seem to fit with his past public image, so I was curious. In looking
him up, I discovered that he had a serious illness and had written an
autobiographical book
about it. “Aha!”, I thought. “That might explain the extreme
religious views.”
I
was pleased to discover that my online library had the audiobook of
True Strength, narrated by Kevin himself and his wife, Sam Sorbo. I hoped to find an
explanation for this fundamentalist approach in this book. I was
disappointed in that respect, but really enjoyed and connected with
the book in other ways.
We
all know we are mortal, but many of us like to forget about that at
different times in our lives. Kevin Sorbo probably wasn't thinking
of it too much when he was in peak physical condition and playing the
half-god, Hercules on one of the highest rated syndicated television
shows in the world in the 1990's. But, he was was forced to confront
that in a sudden, terrifying way. Unknown to all but his closest
family, friends and co-workers, at this peak time, Kevin suffered
three strokes after an aneurysm in his shoulder caused clots to
travel through his body. These resulted not only in damage to his
arm, but both long lasting and permanent symptoms such as partial
blindness, dizziness, weakness, headaches and ringing in his ears
just for starters.
This
struck while on hiatus from Hercules,
between
the 4th and 5th seasons, just after the release of Kull the Conqueror (1997). It was at a crucial point, both in his career and for the
continuation of Hercules
where a lot of other people depended on Kevin as the star to keep the
show going. Hercules hadn't yet reached that magic 100 episode
number for the best syndication deals. But fortunately, everyone had
a little time to figure things out before filming began again - and
it took a lot of creative solutions.
It's
been a long time since I've seen Hercules,
but I still can remember when the writing suddenly changed with Kevin
missing in strange ways - like one episode where he had been turned
into a pig or was missing altogether. At the time, I was annoyed at
the writing. Now, after reading True
Strength,
I'm amazed they pulled off hiding Kevin's recovery and disability so
well! I found it really interesting to hear about all the little
tricks they did to make it look like he was there more than he was
and what they used to hide his weakness. He went from doing many of
his own stunts to needing a body double to even lift a sword for
awhile. He was never able to return to doing even many of the
previously easy-to-him stunts.
Besides
relating to True Strength as a fan of Hercules and then Andromeda, I
very much connected with the personal struggle Kevin went through
with his sudden disability. I couldn't be further away from the TV
business, or the physical fitness enthusiast Kevin was. But, as
someone who became disabled after a car accident, I could relate to a
lot of the things he felt and encountered - from the broader
implications of not knowing what you are going to be able to do with
your life, to the little strange things like developing random food
allergies.
I
too was knocked down at a high point in my life. It doesn't matter
how much money you have or how famous you are - it is the same
process of discovery to figure out what exactly happened to your body
and what is your “new normal” state mentally, physically and
emotionally - and then what to do to move forward with all of that.
Like
many people, Kevin had a tough time with his doctors. Some dismissed
his symptoms and thought he should get better quickly, while others
said the opposite. It became a struggle to know who to trust and
believe and to know when to trust and believe his own body too. It
is hard enough for us “regular” people to work through this just with
ourselves and our families. Kevin had to go through all of this
while presenting a public image of a demigod. He had been so good at
doing this before his strokes that even doctors and emergency care
workers afterwards weren't always taking him completely seriously
because he was Hercules.
I
read a review of True Strength that criticized Kevin as just a whiner
- that he had lots of money to afford doctors and alternative
treatments etc. when this particular disabled reviewer didn't. I
think they are missing the point of the book. Yes, he had it easier
than many people in some ways. But, as I said above - money doesn't
really matter when it comes to the internal, personal struggle you go
through. Kevin openly admits there were times when he got
self-absorbed and depressed and took it out on people like Sam. I
think it would be a very rare person indeed who didn't experience
that at some point with a big life adjustment like that. It is
refreshing to see a real portrait of that kind of roller coaster
rather than the myth that disabled people are only inspirational and
good people if they are passive, meek and grateful just to be alive
and for any charity they receive.
That
view of the disabled is perpetuated to make the the charity givers
feel good about themselves. It does not treat the disabled as
well-rounded human beings - and that is why I am very happy that
Kevin Sorbo wrote this book! His celebrity can make other people
think about disability in a way that the average person can't.
Hopefully, in a way that also makes them more compassionate towards
us.
True
Strength is an inspirational book. As a disabled person it is
good to see that even celebrities deal with the exact same things as
we do and that they can rebuild successful lives, both personally and
professionally.
Back
to the original reason I listened to this book - Kevin's Christian
fundamentalism. He talks about coming to terms with his faith in the
book, but I didn't really pick up on how he got to the more extreme
views. In
fact, he talks about some decidedly non-fundamentalist views about things
too. I still suspect the strokes had an impact on his more extreme
beliefs, but this
book is more about Kevin as a whole person and at an earlier time in
his faith, so there were no good answers about that.
As
an audiobook, Kevin and his wife were excellent narrators and it made
the book more personal. It was one of my favourite books of the year
and I highly recommend it in audio or print version.
Audiobook
Narrator:
Kevin Sorbo and Sam Sorbo
Publisher:
Oasis Audio
Duration:
9 hours, 36 minutes
ISBN:
9781608149285
Release
Date: January 19, 2012
Hardcover:
296 pages (also available in paperback and e-book versions)
Publisher:
Da Capo Press (October 11, 2011)
ISBN-10:
0306820366
ISBN-13:
978-0306820366
One day, I happened across an interview to hear her talking about her memoir, Unsinkable. She sounded quite passionate and open about her life, so I looked forward to reading it. After a long wait on my library's list, I was expecting something like a Canadian version of Kevin Sorbo's book True Strength, that I enjoyed reviewing in 2012.
