get what he's trying to do, and I respect that he has a genuine interest in the fashion/music/culture of the disco era and early gay lib movement, but the way he's executing the references is, to put it lightly, haphazard. There's an irreverence to all of this that really undercuts the long history of violence and racism and struggle and loss and depression that is impossible to remove from these themes/this imagery. If you want to engage with the history, and then sell that history, you need to engage with it more carefully and holistically. I don't think the brand should be fixated on the tragic/violent aspects of the culture, or portray them for shock value, but at least acknowledging that people literally died for this imagery to exist would be respectful.
Paradise Garage Neon Sign
Bianca Chandon Paradise Garage Tee
Bianca Chandon (maybe the first season?) Welcome to Fire Island Tee, Back Graphic
Alex Olson wears a Bianca Chandon Fire Island Tee
Fire Island Polaroid by Tom Bianchi, Late 1970's
As far as the normalization of homophobia in skateboarding, I see how this is could be used as a response to that, but it's done in a way that feels more tongue-in-cheek than serious, which I really don't like. Having grown up skateboarding/immersing myself in that scene, I know firsthand how pervasive the homophobia is, and it kept me in the closet much, MUCH longer than I would have liked to have been. If Alex is making other LGBT people more comfortable in the scene, and is inspiring kids to be true to themselves, I think that's great, but I don't think using the culture as essentially a prop/for the sake of being contrarian is all that valuable.
In closing:
Statistics: Posted by hharrissonn — Wed Nov 01, 2017 12:50 pm
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