I guess that what follows--for the most part--is in response to the discourse between Gipper and kamltoe.
I understand I have reiterated the same thing over and over again, but the main point is, Nieratko is suppposed to be some kind of bastion of resistance against all of the--for lack of a better term--unapologetic and wholehearted "selling out" that is occurring these days. And of course, he is not--he is just another industry flunky who commentated at the x-games. I mean, if even our--supposed--voices of reason and dissent are acquiescing to the pressures of consumerism, commercialization, and homogenization, we're kind of fucked...eh? Once again, this cannot be overstated.
Shouldn't there always be at least some people in skateboarding who are not on board the whole main-stream media circus? If for no other reason, than to balance things out--to keep the proverbial finger in the dike?
Are we at the lamentable point where we no longer even kid ourselves about being a unique counterculture who understands that American consumer culture is the most voracious, destructive malignancy that this planet has ever been faced with, and thus, resists it--because the implications of what we are talking about, are that broad.
Nevertheless, Nieratko shouldn't be taken very seriously, and I understand that. Like his whole spiel at that Tim O'connor (or however you spell his name) "roast." Nieratko is going to condemn Nike's--admitted--myriad of crimes against other humans we share this planet with, but at the same time, act like Addidas is different.
We have no more Craig Stecyks in the skateboarding media juggernaut anymore--that kind of honest, uncompromising integrity is pretty much gone. And that has been my main point in ridiculing Nieratko's flawed, self-serving logic. Yes, when it all comes down to it, the act of skateboarding, and each individual's relationship with it, is the only thing that really matters...but...to act like the community that binds all of us together is of no consequence or relevance is fucking naive. For instance, the fact that street skating has--and always will be--an act of civil disobedience in our increasingy Orwellian, acutely commercialized landscape and culture, will always be vital to me.
The relevance and truth of the Thoreau quote that is at the bottom of all of my coments, is eternal in nature, and its utter appropriateness in the context of what we are talking about here, proves this.
I'm sorry...I just care...