Waves of Commodification
A Critical Investigation Into Surfing Subculture,
The public and the academy generally dismiss surfing as either irrelevant or irresponsible, both as an activity and as an object of study. This oversimplification is contradicted by the power and ubiquity of surfing imagery, not to mention the economic force of what has become a substantial industry. Despite the generally grim image of the surfer, he (and I use "he" deliberately here) remains one of the most powerful and enduring icons of twentieth century America. The most popular television show in the world, Baywatch, is little more than an updated version of the 1960s movies Beach Blanket Bingo and Gidget. And southern California, the center of the world’s largest imaging machine and the promised land of American mythology, is virtually equated with surfing and beach lifestyle in much the same way that the cowboy is equated with the wide open spaces of the American West...
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Labels: commerce, paradox, san clemente, san onofre, surfing
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posted by NeoN @ 4/16/2008 07:24:00 AM
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