It amazes me how intricate and eye opening the
article of “The Transformation of Tom Stone” was. All I ever would have thought
about surfing was that it was an enjoyable sport for all people. Not that it
had gone through difficulties or that it had a certain important movement in
our history. In my point of view by viewing this quote, “The Duality of a
Paradise and a Paradise lost”, I was able to read between the lines and notice
that it has already stated that it is not a clear perfect place, it had gone
through many struggles to be where it is now. There are two sides at looking at
“Paradise”. I have never knew of all the hardships that had happened. Tom
Pohaku Stone went through many up and downs in his life; however, he managed to
get through the rough times and found his purpose for life. He said that being
a life guard probably saved his life from all of experiences with drugs, being
in jail, and surfing. He is now a professor teaching Hawaiian Studies. I have
learned several new things I have not known in the Hawaiian History. It is very
interesting and shocking.
In “Waves of Resistance” written by Isaiah Helekumini Walker, I notice that it was generally speaking about race, gender, and the struggles of obtaining the land. There was a club for the haole (white person) created by Ford. Ford would try to seclude Hawaiians from surfing and the land, but the Hawaiians kept surfing and stayed on their land. For gender, the beach boys would be stereotyped as a man luring divorced white women, rich white women, and so on. Beach boys were more than that. They are tour guides, surf instructors, musicians, and local celebrites. They were sort of a source of therapeutic to all people. They had difficulties of keeping their land from others just like other places around the world was too.
In all, I have learned many new information about the Hawaiian history; about the good and bad part of their history. I feel like on the media, they show Hawaii as paradise, but they never show the hardships that the people have went through. Overall, I have enjoyed reading and understanding the Hawaiian history.
In “Waves of Resistance” written by Isaiah Helekumini Walker, I notice that it was generally speaking about race, gender, and the struggles of obtaining the land. There was a club for the haole (white person) created by Ford. Ford would try to seclude Hawaiians from surfing and the land, but the Hawaiians kept surfing and stayed on their land. For gender, the beach boys would be stereotyped as a man luring divorced white women, rich white women, and so on. Beach boys were more than that. They are tour guides, surf instructors, musicians, and local celebrites. They were sort of a source of therapeutic to all people. They had difficulties of keeping their land from others just like other places around the world was too.
In all, I have learned many new information about the Hawaiian history; about the good and bad part of their history. I feel like on the media, they show Hawaii as paradise, but they never show the hardships that the people have went through. Overall, I have enjoyed reading and understanding the Hawaiian history.
Pechrachann -
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear the readings are expanding your notions of 'paradise' and giving you a peek behind the marketed veil that shrouds the reality of the Hawaiian Islands. If you're interested in land issues, I would encourage you to look into the Great Mahele and how that drastically changed the land laws in Hawaii, ultimately disenfranchising most of the native population and allowing the descendants of missionary class to become the most powerful people (economically, and therefore politically) in Hawaii.