This week's Crowley reading illustrated the transformation from a spiritual lifestyle to how I'd always thought of surf culture before coming to Santa Cruz: a cutesy, wholesome, white, affluent, tourist-consumed summer activity for people with too much time on their hands. Crowley's description of the Newport Beach surfing regulations was reminiscent of the battle between the Hui Nalu and Outrigger Canoe Club, though in this case, the fight was less a contest that relied on skill and braggadocio and more of a misguided attempt to create a new, regulated summer pastime for Americans.
"For a style of music originally intended simply to make people dance and be happy, surf music found itself confronted with a maelstrom of political and politicized issues in the middle 60s." This sentence to me says a lot about what I find to be the main problem of surf culture. All accounts of ancient Hawaiian surfing, despite its "Sport of Kings" moniker, describe it as a sport enjoyed by all islanders, no matter their social standing, age, gender, etc. Much like any aspect of history, it seems that once white colonists came in, it got more complicated. I and many friends of mine have been put off from trying to learn how to surf because the culture is so territorial and competitive now. From what I understand, that's largely due to surfers wanting to resimplify the sport and lifestyle to its origins, a pursuit I would argue might be impossible, at least in California.
That said, during today's class, I felt kind of judgy myself, thinking that Neil Young's Surfer Joe was so far from surf music. I caught myself scoffing and getting caught up in my personal perceptions of surf music, which is even more ridiculous considering I don't surf. I really think it's interesting how easy it is (for me, at least) to get caught up in these issues of ownership, and what accounts for "real" surf culture.
Nat -
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you were able to have your own 'aha' moment of self-critical reflection while reflecting on the materials in class. It's important for me to try to shatter that cookie-cutter image and ideal of what people think surf music is so they can realize how big an impact it has had on modern music, specifically rock, as a whole.
In regards to 'The Sport of Kings,' Jack London came up with that phrase, so be sure to keep in context; for although there were certain boards and breaks that were reserved exclusively for the alii, the act of surfing itself was by no means reserved to any one sect of Hawaiian society.
- Trey