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Hey Clarkie! This is an essay
that I wrote for my English class regarding skateboarding in the
media, and I thought I'd share it with everyone on Real Skate, (sorry
it's a little long!) Here ya go...
Over
the past few years, skateboarding, once considered by its participants
as an "underground art form," is now recognized by the media, including
popular television stations ESPN and Fox. It now seems as if everyone
skateboards. You can poll fifty random people on the street, and
I guarantee that about 90% of them will have heard of Tony
Hawk, skateboard prodigy, who ESPN began to refer to as the
"skateboarder equivalent of Michael Jordan," after landing the 900
at the 1999 Summer X Games. As he stated in his new autobiography,
Hawk Occupation: Skateboarder, "After I landed the 900 at the X
Games, newspaper after newspaper wrote articles about me. Sports
programs showed the 9 on their highlight reels. Surreal. My schedule
filled up with interviews, and television shows filmed segments
about me. Old ladies, jocks, waiters and waitresses, policemen,
security guards, and entire families congratulated me on landing
the 900. How did some basketball fan even know what a 9 is? Or why
did he care? I was awestruck. It's ironic to think that a few years
earlier skateboarding had been as passé as you could get,
and now there were rent-a-cops fighting with teenagers to get a
skater's autograph."
Although to the "outside world," the overwhelming popularity of
skateboarding would seem to have a positive effect on the future
of the sport, the majority of skateboarders feel otherwise. Professional
skateboarder Mike Vallely believes that
the media is "raping skateboarding of its soul." And he's right.
Money hungry people who don't know a thing about skateboarding are
all trying to make some sort of profit off it, from starting up
a cheap company, to building a "How To Skateboard" website. At the
same time, the media's negative influence is sending out a bad message
by telling people that skateboarding is a fad, and will eventually
become as passé as beanie babies, which is not true. Sure,
there will most likely come a time when ESPN will move on to another
sport, but that will not mean that the sport of skateboarding will
go down along with it. Skateboarders who skate for the fun of it,
not because of its popularity, are the ones who skate purely because
of their love for the sport. They're the ones who know what it means
to be a skateboarder.
I laugh when I see the countless
number of little kids on the streets pushing around on their ridiculous
looking metal scooters, and wonder what possesses them to spend
over $100 for such a thing. And that's when it hits me. Everyone
feels as if they need to be "cool." They need to fit in. They can't
be outsiders, so they will do anything in their power to feel normal
and accepted in society. That's why such an overwhelming number
of people are starting to skateboard. I'm not saying that no one
should start to skateboard, what I'm saying is that if your not
planning to stick with the sport through thick and thin, and through
good times and bad, don't bother spending your money. Everyday I
see people walking around in a brand new pair of now horrifically
over priced skate shoes and World Industries T-shirts, and a frown
comes over my face. What is skateboarding coming to? Why is skateboarding
now so cool? If you skated in the 80's and early 90's, and were
caught riding a skateboard, let alone hanging around with a skateboarder
you'd be laughed at, now if you don't skateboard or at least hang
out with those who do you're viewed as unusual.
I applaud those skateboarders who
have been around long enough to know what it's like to not have
quality skateboard goods, to have had to actually make their own
equipment or go without participating in their favorite sport. I
know that I have only been skateboarding for five measly years,
but I also know that skateboarding has become a part of me, not
only a sport but a form of expression.
It's pretty easy to tell that the
media is interested in skateboarding for the money, and only for
the money. If people would realize that they need to do things because
they enjoy doing them, not because of how popular it is or how much
money could be made, life for all would be much better. It seems
people in society tend to wear masks, and if they'd just take them
off, the world would be a much more interesting place to live. Having
a serious, honest, and open mind about skateboarding, like other
hobbies, sports, or interests is an objective to strive for and
promote.
NOTE:
Props to all companies who provide a positive outlook on skateboarding,
as well as this website REAL SKATE!
[Editor's Note: Thank you Tara
and props to you too! Real Skate gives you an A+]
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