c——— iis

  

PREAVIUT ELING e

 

Skateboarder-turned-film-director Stacy Peralta has arrived
with a sister film to accompany his 2002 flicks Dogtown
and Z-Boys, about the rise of skateboarding in Southern
California. Peralta’s latest work, Riding Giants, is homage to
the history of surfing, combining archival footage with
interviews and voice-overs from the legends of the sport.

The movie begins with 500 years of surfing history in
less time than a commercial break takes, chronicling the
people of the Pacific Islands surfing in the 16th Century,
and the eventual outlawing of surfing by missionaries (all
those hot, wet, half-naked golden baked bodies—thou
shall not be led into temptation, so stop it). Surfing was
resurrected and enjoyed a small resurgence with the emer-
gence of famed Hawaii surfer Duke Paoa Kahanamoku,
the only surfer to ever be pictured on a postage stamp.
The Duke also set three world records in his first swim-
ming race, won gold and silver medals at the 1912, 1920,
and 1924 Olympics, and for good measure, took a bronze
in water polo in 1932.

The culture of surf, or more specifically, the culture
of the surf bum, arrived in the 1950s with a small group

It | ObnEPPPeSs

 

Brandon Ferguson, OP Contributor

of men who were broke, bored with the drab and gray
Eisenhower years, and bustling to surf. Greg “The Bull”
Noll, Mickey Munoz, Mike Stang, and Harry Church
were among the handful of surfers that slept where they
could, ate what they found, and survived solely to surf.
Unquestionably, Noll was the poster boy of surf,
with his attacking style, jailhouse shorts, and well-earned
tag “Bull” for his boxy frame. He was famous for tack-
ling any wave—even those that others wouldn’t touch.
He was as aggressive on the waves as he was wild on the
beach. The archival footage of both the surfing and the
lifestyle are worth the price of admission alone. The

 

 

 
   
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    

atmosphere is one of fraternity initiations, spring breaks, Blo
and Mardi Gras, and the shots of the long-boarders on T
the waves of Waimea Bay are breathtaking. It was a small Mavd
and select group led by Noll—that is, until Gidget came
along. for 1
Surfing remained out of the public eye until those grout
God awful Gidget movies arrived in the 60s—those remo
flicks where rich kids are wobbling back and forth mI

before a blue screened ocean, carrying cocktails and
playing cordially on 30 foot waves. Suddenly surfing
was cool, and the streets to Waimea were lined with
boys wanting to be the Bull, and girls wanting to be
Gidget.

What makes the movie memorable is the
surfers. Their culture seeps through
their words so just as you can
marvel at the restored grainy
home movies of long
boarding, you can
also feel the
respect the
true

 

surfers
have for the
ocean. When Noll calls

the pop culture explosion of surfing “bullshit”
while Gidget “surfs” on screen, you feel just as
robbed for the surfers as you did for yourself
when everybody else started liking New Kids
on the