I recently viewed the film, “Surf’s Up” with my friend Sean. The premise of this movie is a young penguin aspiring to be a professional surfer in the “Big Z Memorial” surf contest. The young penguin Cody fights his way into the contest, but cannot surf the warm water waves in contrast to his arctic homeland. He fails miserably at first and finds himself knocked unconscious by a poisonous stinger in his flipper. He is saved by the lifeguard, who beings him to her uncle’s house, the island “witch doctor” character. Cody discovers this island doctor to actually be Big Z, the professional surfer who inspired him to surf as a child.
Sean described Big Z to be a “soul surfer.” He explained it to be someone who surfs for the pure enjoyment of the sport, not the competition. Z had been in exile from society in a tree for many years, and was brought out to the public by Cody after showing him the vigor for surfing. I liked this idea of a soul surfer, someone dedicated to their craft for the pure enjoyment of it. I see this in all outdoor activities, people worshipping an activity not for the glory but for the pleasure.
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A better version of this blog: I rewrote it because my friend wanted to read it and I realized it wasn't very good.
ReplyDeleteI recently viewed the film “Surf’s Up” with my friend Sean. The premise of this movie concerns the young penguin Cody aspiring to be a professional surfer in the “Big Z Memorial” surf contest. Cody fights his way into the contest but cannot surf the warm water waves in contrast to his arctic homeland’s environment. He fails miserably and finds himself knocked unconscious by a poisonous stinger in his flipper. He is saved by the island “witch doctor” character who is revealed to actually be Z, the professional surfer who was Cody’s inspiration to surf as a child.
Sean described Big Z to be a “soul surfer.” He explained it to be someone who surfs for the enjoyment of the sport, not the competition. Z had been in exile from society for many years and reemerged into culture by Cody after showing him his youthful eros or passionate love for surfing. I liked this concept of a soul surfer, a dedication to their skillful craft for the pure pleasure of it. I see this in people worshipping an activity not for the glory but for the pleasure, psychoanalytically applying Freud and his ideas of manifesting pleasure in human action. We are natural pleasure seekers, looking toward it as a stimulating motivation for our actions. The pure satisfaction from surfing is enough to please Z without the egomaniacal benefits of professional sports.