Thursday, November 14, 2013
Eli Bottom - Bikini Week
After reading through the articles and watching Blue Crush (2002), I was interested to explore the way in which the media addresses the representation of the female surfer. In Blue Crush, the lead character was confronted with a situation in which she found herself used and objectified by a haole. The male actor playing a prominent football figure represents the archetype of the successful white man who thinks they can do whatever they want. Although the film explores the lead female's response to his advances, it also surveys the opinions of her close friends who advise her on the situation. On the flip side, the film also seems to exploit the female form in bikini shots. I do give the film credit for not taking it too far, and by also including similar shots of different representations of the female surfer. On a final note, the absence of wetsuits caused a split for me between reality and fiction. In person, I have never seen surfers enter the water without wetsuits. Since the film took place in Hawaii, there were no wetsuits to be seen, avoiding my life experiences completely.
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Eli -
ReplyDeleteI can imagine the libidinous past of surf culture being harder to grasp for those from where wetsuits are necessary year round, and I appreciate your situation. I'm interested in the dynamic you seem to be pointing out in Blue Crush between the protagonist and her love interest, whom you refer to as a haole, although both characters are clearly white. Where is the line drawn between who is and is not a haole if race alone is not the deciding factor? What determine's one's local status - birth rights, time, etc.? Haunani-Kay Trask, a professor of Hawaiian Studies at University of Hawaii, would be an interest figure for you too look into if you are more interested in these ideas.
- Trey