My post on advertising got me thinking about way in which skateboarding has become increasingly mainstream. There seems to be a conflict between the more commercialised facets of skateboarding and those clinging to the antagonism of the OG's such as Scott Oster and Jay Adams, who once said skating was about: "violence and acting crazy."
Tony Hawk, is credited with the invention of many aerial skateboarding tricks such as the Madonna, Stalefish and McHawk, and is probably most famous for being the first recorded skateboarder to land the 900, which consists of a 900° rotation in the air before landing back on the pipe, during the televised X Games on June 27, 1999. Yet Hawk has almost become a household name not just due to his skateboarding, rather his side projects including his own film and TV production company (900 films), his clothing brand Hawk Clothing, an apparel and footwear line sold exclusively at Kohl's and his skateboarding game series which since its launch in 1999 has release 10 games. In many ways Hawk has brought skating to the mainstream.
EA games has also released 'SKATE the game', similar to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. These games star real skaters such as Jerry Hsu, Dustin Dollin, Rodney Mullen and Mike V.
Another skater who has brought skating to the mainstream is Ryan Sheckler (below). Aside from skateboarding Sheckler stars in a MTV reality show; Life of Ryan, has hosted TRL on MTV, his own merchandise and an official "fan site" which allows girls to send in photos of themselves which are later posted on the website.
Yet there seems to be a conflict between skating in the mainstream and skating as a subversive subculture.This is pretty clear if you compare magazine like Thrasher, who promote the adage Skate and Destory, against something like Transworld, which paints a far more adherent picture of skateboarding.
Can something still be a subculture if it is mainstream?
Tony Hawk, is credited with the invention of many aerial skateboarding tricks such as the Madonna, Stalefish and McHawk, and is probably most famous for being the first recorded skateboarder to land the 900, which consists of a 900° rotation in the air before landing back on the pipe, during the televised X Games on June 27, 1999. Yet Hawk has almost become a household name not just due to his skateboarding, rather his side projects including his own film and TV production company (900 films), his clothing brand Hawk Clothing, an apparel and footwear line sold exclusively at Kohl's and his skateboarding game series which since its launch in 1999 has release 10 games. In many ways Hawk has brought skating to the mainstream.
EA games has also released 'SKATE the game', similar to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater. These games star real skaters such as Jerry Hsu, Dustin Dollin, Rodney Mullen and Mike V.
Another skater who has brought skating to the mainstream is Ryan Sheckler (below). Aside from skateboarding Sheckler stars in a MTV reality show; Life of Ryan, has hosted TRL on MTV, his own merchandise and an official "fan site" which allows girls to send in photos of themselves which are later posted on the website.
Yet there seems to be a conflict between skating in the mainstream and skating as a subversive subculture.This is pretty clear if you compare magazine like Thrasher, who promote the adage Skate and Destory, against something like Transworld, which paints a far more adherent picture of skateboarding.
Can something still be a subculture if it is mainstream?
1 comment:
hey man great post. it depends on your definition of mainstream. If your talking about teeny boppers who like ryan sheckler, yes thats sellout status. If your talking about a ton of people surfing with their buddies, enjoying the laid back lifestyle that was once just a cali subculture, then theres nothing wrong with that.
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