"Skate and Destroy!"

"Scarred" is an MTV network program produced in the concept of Reality Television. It is real life accounts of extreme sports (of which there is also a show on another network) and the pitfalls that can befall irresponsible and over-rambunctious athletes. I use the word athlete loosely, because I don’t think mainstream media has honored the roller sports with the title Athletics. They have included snowboarding in the Olympic Games. I am mystified by this turn of events seeing as two other sports that are the foundations of snowboarding are no where to be seen in the Olympics. Both surfing and skateboarding have been reserved for the X-Games, the previous of which I am not sure it even made it. Motocross limbo, aerial acrobatics and BMX cycling are all included in the X Games. I enjoy watching them. Catching the art of surfing on video or film is a challenge too great for land-based media. Only Hal Jepson and Stacy Peralta it seems have taken on the challenge of producing surfing related projects. Why would the Olympic committee choose to include snowboarding in the Winter Olympics? It, in the last decade, has stolen the limelight away from traditional winter sports such as slalom skiing. Aerial acrobatics, because of their extreme nature and exposure on television, snuck in the back door. This may not have been a good idea seeing as the ratings for Olympic coverage have plummeted. Are spoiled rich kids the right choice as both mentors to and representatives of Americans? Upon listening to them speak, we must agree interviews are a bad idea. Until an athlete has a general command of the King’s English, it may be better to watch them rather than listen. The terms “I am stoked,” “Knarly,” and “Rippin’” may be slang phrases better left in the leisure life of America’s teen culture. American once took pride in our athletes, because the Olympic games are supposed to be transcendent. Donned in pageantry and a rich cultural history in Greece, a national pride becomes imminent from the viewing of our trained athletes well-representing our country. To allow snowboarding in the Olympics was to say “Our games are synonymous with the images of smoking weed, drinking beer, and generally having a good time." The qualities of sacrifice, discipline, and allegence are no where to be found. Snowboarders have said nothing that represents American ideals, rather conveying attitudes only of indulgence and self-gratification. Dogtown’s" Z Boys" conversely have become role models to millions of youth all over the world. In only pairs of ripped Levi’s blue jeans, blue Zephyr tee shirts, and canvas Vans the Z Boys single-handedly brought skateboarding to the forefront of America. How was this possible? Although the Z Boys were rough on the exterior, their skating exhibited artistic expression. They were using the vehicle of skateboarding as a means of artistic self-expression, for which there must have been much inspiration. Like surfing, skateboarding on this level possesses a component of spirituality unbeknownst to the masses. Carving a wave can not be accomplished without an astute awareness of and an acknowledgement that something greater exists in the universe other than yourself. This force is what provides you with the wave to begin with. Mother Nature, as provided by God, allows man to “catch a wave" striking a deal with Nature. You have respect for its venue, the water in the ocean, and it in return allows you to rent its massive power for personal enjoyment. When respect is lost or forgotten, it is only then the possibility of getting hurt arises. Awareness of God, not man, is key. The careless pursuit of immediate gratification and satisfying of the media are the building blocks of only pain and failure. MTV’s program “Scarred” is exploiting worse case scenarios, videotaping young athletes attempting to defy gravity. With pressure for satisfaction and media hype, they are sacrificing their bodies in a way that is the antithesis of Jesus's crucification on the cross. There may not be a cognitive plan that says the participants must get hurt, but the show would not exist without those accounts. It would seem, as other reality TV programming promotes, pain is now a commodity. If young Americans are sacrificing their ankles, shins, ribs, and arms for money, then we responsibly should intervene and demand the respect for and leadership of the youth involved. “Scarred” is misguided attempt at television that recklessly is "scaring" the roller sports industry with an irresponsible, renegade, and almost criminal image. If the roller sports are ever to return to the mainstream of America providing harmless enjoyment and diversion to many, then the paradying of cartoon and comic book Super Heros, Martial Arts Ninja figheters, and other computer games based images needs to be discarded for reality. The philosophy of “Skate and Destroy” must be retired and replaced with an ideology that more clearly embodies the nurturing and compassion of the human being by both the media and the American people. Is using each other for money to what Capitalism has devolved?