Surfing,Media, and the Internet Essay -- Sports Technology Essays

Surfing,Media, and the Internet Surfing is a passion. It is a culture, a life, a disease. With the help of movies such as Endless Summer, Gidget and Beach Party, and tunes like â€Å"Surfin’ Safari† and â€Å"Surfer Girl,† surfing became the fad of the early sixties, and has lasted. Being exposed to the Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon Beach Party movies brought surfing to my immediate attention. I love their cheesy plots and musical numbers, and of course, their portrayal of the surfing lifestyle. After watching Beach Blanket Bingo, I was hooked. Unfortunately, I live hours from a beach, and further from one with decent waves. So my time thus far has been spent discovering my passion through the media. As it is not as popular as say, football or basketball, surfing is not often televised, and never as a competition sport. A few shows, such as California Dreams and The Real World: Hawaii have attempted to capture the lifestyle of the young surfer. When they were still televised, I watched them both religiously. California Dreams was a laid back version of Saved by the Bell, and was from the late 1980s. Surfing was hardly covered though, and usually it would be shown as two guys walking into a restaurant with surfboards in their arms. The Real World: Hawaii also disappointed, with the main purpose of the show being the cast, â€Å"seven strangers picked to live in a house ...† and not the sport which is such a part of Hawaiian culture. They did, however, work for a surf shop in Honolulu, and were thus connected to surfing without actually being in the waves. Bummer. Out of the handful of movies, which have been made about surfing, most of the more popular ones dat e back to the sixties. Endless Summer, Beach... ... N’ Sport. Feb/Mar 2001. 3 Mar. 2001 . 2. Hart, Kahea. Home page. 13 Mar. 2001. 16 Mar. 2001 3. â€Å"Learn to Surf.† Ocean Pit Pacific. 21 Mar 2001 4. Quiksilver. 6 Mar. 2001 . 5. Seven Shores Australia. 19 Mar. 2001 . 6. Slater, Evan. â€Å"Me, Myself and iMac.† Swell. 14 Mar. 2001. 18 Mar. 2001 . 7. Surfer Magazine. Vol. 42 No. 5 May 2001. 7 Mar. 2001 8. â€Å"Tapping the Sources.† Swell. 19 Mar 2001 9. Tavarua. 6 Mar. 2001