For the fourth week for our readings, I read articles The
Pump House Gang by Tom Wolfe and Gidget by her father, Frederick Kohner. The Pump House Gang article was based on Tom Wolfe’ view of the Southern California surf culture. It was an era of segregation between the teenagers and older folks. The surfers created a little society for themselves, which ranged from the age of 16 to 25. It was quite a life to live for some folks. It was a way of living “The Life”. It was the life of being so carefree and being mostly happy. The people were close to each other. That became the norm life of surfers. At first while reading the Pump House Gang, I did not know who the black panthers were until a certain quote near the end of the reading. It stated, “Some of the older guys, like Gary Wickham, who is 24, are still in The Life, they still have it, but even Gary Wickham will be 25 one day and then 26 and then… and then even pan-thuh age. Is one really going to be pan-thuh age one day?” I interpreted the black panthers to be the older people who really did not fit in the age range of 16 to 25 anymore. I thought one part of the article was insane when a person would commit suicide because they probably thought after you reached the age of 25 there was nothing else to live for since they lived it through “The Life”. The sort of life they lived was the happiest place for them. This article reminded me of the film, Muscle Beach Party because the kids in Pump House Gang would all live together (even boys and girls together) just as the kids in the film, Muscle Beach Party did too. They had parties as well. The characters in Muscle Beach Party lived a carefree and happy life at the Beach like the kids from the article, The Pump House Gang. I really enjoyed watching the film. I love back in the day movies. It makes me want to live in those times sometimes.
In the other article, Gidget, by her father, Frederick Kohner was the life of surfing through the perspective of a woman. I noticed in most articles it was mainly from a man’s viewpoint, so I thought it was really interesting to see from the opposite sex. It was a summer that changed her. It was when surfing came apart of her life. She was simply just a woman in love with a surfboard.
Pechrachanna -
ReplyDeleteWhat do you think was so scary to the kids of the Pumphouse about getting older? What was so important, or so dear to them, that the thought of losing it could make suicide seem like a viable option? How does this notion of "the life" ending at 25 relate to the readings we did on Leroy Grannis and Doc Ball?
- Trey