If you’re one of those people who just doesn’t give a shit about anything other than yourself and derives a completely self-directed meaning (like, “138 refers to me because my address is 138 W. Dipshit Ave.”) then you’re just hopeless.
However, if you base your interpretation on some kind of context (preferably from the song) then we can talk.
So, in following with the rest of what’s in the song, it can mean that we’re all dead, we’re all robots, or even that we’re all just totally anonymous. It could mean “we’re guys who dress in women’s clothes” if you want it to, though you might be the only one.
If you think ‘We are 138’ means we’re dead or we’re about to die, you can back that up by pointing to lines like “in the eyes of tigers” because the phrase “in the eye of the tiger” usually means something like marked for death.
If you think 138 means we’re robots or we’re hopelessly anonymous automatons you could back that up by pointing to lines like “Is it time to be an android not a man?” or to the coincidence that 138 is the last three numbers in the name THX-1138 (from the George Lucas movie of the same name that’s about automatons—based on Ayn Rand’s book Anthem).
You could also argue that ‘We are 138’ means something like we are the human embodiment of violence and chaos–because that’s what Danzig said he meant.
Any of those would be just fine. Anything else could work, too, provided you can back it up in some way.
But, with any interpretation, you have to make certain choices. And in making choices, you expose your values, and that, to me, is where things get interesting.
See, when we name things or choose the meaning we like best, we’re basing that claim on a system of values we hope to identify with, or be identified by others with.
So we might infer that if you use the term “basketball” to refer to your sport, you’re something of a traditionalist. If you call it “hoops” or “b-ball” you’re still referring to the same activity, but you’re suggesting a slightly different context. For instance, “basketball” is the umbrella term recognized widely across society. “Hoops” or “b-ball” suggests a more nuanced meaning, perhaps eschewing traditional game play in favor of “street ball” or some other less formal version of the game.
I think it’s same thing with rollerblading, and I think one’s values are just as discernable for our activity as they are in any other.
Using terms like “aggressive skating,” “blading” or even “inline stunt skating” requests (or demands) a certain kind of formality or respect. People who want to see skating referred to that way are probably the same people who’d like to see us back in large media market spectacles like the X-Games or televised ASA (or WRS) events.
Using terms like “mushroom blading” or even the (only slightly different) “powerblading” is much more inward looking because no one outside of rollerblading knows what those words mean.
“Skating” is probably used most predominately by those who don’t really care about the differences and see it all as one big swath of activity that includes nearly identical motions performed on nearly identical apparatus—perhaps even including skateboards or even ice skates.
And finally, use of the term “rollerblading” seems to function much like the term “basketball” in the sense that it’s understood as the umbrella term most widely recognized and understood by the general population. People of this ilk seem less likely to be forthcoming with strong opinions about whether or not our activity belongs back in the limelight.
The point is, beneath our language (and choices of words) lies a system of values that, if scrutinized appropriately, can be exposed to reveal what we each believe.
And when you examine that system what you find is a hodgepodge of drastically different value systems that desire many different outcomes (or destinies) for rollerblading.
Personally, I think we’re a pretty evenly divided lot with as many rollerbladers wanting a return to limelight as rollerbladers who’d prefer to keep things the way they are. These two sets of opinions are likely matched in number only by those who flat out just don’t care what happens.
So, just to be clear, let’s say that 33% of us want the X-Games type stuff back, 33% actively don’t, and 33% don’t care.
Given those evenly matched numbers and the disagreements entailed by those differences of opinion, I’d say that we might just as well think of ourselves as “138.”
On the one hand, that guarantees that we don’t have a clear mission, but on the other, it means that our destiny will be one our own choosing.
Thanks for reading.
-fs
Post script: The bit about cross-dressing (above) wasn’t meant to be a dig. Laura Jane Grace – formly Tom Gabel – fucking rules. Serious respect goes out to her.
Fantastic! Oh, and Skating.
Thanks, Mikey! You’re in good company by preferring the term “skating” to cover everything. I was just drinking coffee with Micah Yeager (who, in addition to being a bad ass rollerblader, is great on a skateboard too) the other morning and he said exactly the same thing.
Thanks for reading, man!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dns4zUKfskg
we are 138s based on this: (138= easier to say then 1138. fix yer tits…)
THX 1138 is such a great movie. It’s based on the 1938 novella “Anthem” by Ayn Rand. It’s a great one too!
Good article. I think having an identity is important. It not only takes our sport to greater heights but it promotes sustainable growth. We need our culture not just to barely survive but to flourish. Mainstream media coverage means more skaters, more skaters means the level of quality skating goes up. It also means guys like Jon Julio, companies like Valo and magazines like ONE sell more. Which brings more money in and advances things like skate technology and parts. It helps see that pro skaters get enough to live on and hopefully to invest so when they can’t skate at a high level anymore they have something else to fall back on. Anyone who says we need to stay “underground” just isn’t looking at all the upsides. Having “posers” and some shitty companies trying to capitalize on aggressive skating is easily worth the positives that will come out of the second rise to popularity.
Just my two cents. Thanks for the article.
I definitely use different words to describe what we do depending on the audience. I usually just say skating to people that know me and know I rollerblade. I’ll say rollerblade to people that don’t. And I’ll say inline skating to old people.
@Andre – Thanks for your two cents man! Part of the reason I wrote this article is to give some context for the ongoing conversation in rollerblading about what should happen next. Personally, I’d prefer open dialogue to a “new messiah” who *could take rollerblading by storm and bring us back to the limelight. I still haven’t made up my mind yet on what I’d like to see happen. Either way, thanks for reading and commenting! It’s definitely a conversation worth having.
@Jesse – Me too man! I’ve definitely put “inline stunt skater” on resumes before but I definitely wouldn’t self-identify that way in any other context.
Good read Frank! I like the comparison with the semantics of basketball. I would agree that the term “rollerblading” seems to be the most common and far reaching designation of all forms of rollerblading. It is the most relevant to culture at large, and then can be more specific in our own circles. In terms of an identity of aggressive skating or trick skating, it’s still hard to market that association as being part of an association to the umbrella term “rollerblading”. I’d say there’s still a large part of our culture that thinks us doing tricks is somehow more associated with skateboarding than actual rollerblading. So if we were to “brand” rollerblading as a product to the masses, it would hard to shift the preconceived thoughts of rollerblading = fitness, aggressive skating = skateboarding. I still to this day have constantly correct people that I rollerblade, not skateboard. They could be looking at a picture of me with skates on and still not understand until I explain it in detail. Then they forget later naturally. So if people are to going to start associating what we do as rollerblading, it’s going to have to be more saturated in our overall culture to counteract the skateboarding presence fresh in people’s minds.
Thanks for that, Brandon! And yes, I wholeheartedly agree with you. The only thing I would add is that the scope and scale of what’s ahead of us is precisely the “hard to market” situation that you described. Personally, I think its a matter of making our understanding of “rollerblading” the predominant meaning. Changing the name to something somehow “sexier” won’t do it. It’s a matter of “rollerblading” entering the public consciousness as something that happens on ramps, rails, gaps, ledges and the like.
Thanks for taking the time to read, Brandon. And thanks for the comment! Also, high fives all around for referring to the “semantics of basketball”!
@Frank — I agree we don’t need a “messiah”. I mean you can only have one Arlo a generation anyway 😉
I do think that there will be someone thrown into the spotlight to carry the torch when the spark comes though. Everything goes in cycles and it’s bound to happen again. I hope it’s someone who can shoulder that weight with grace and respectability. I would say Tony Hawk has done well for the skateboarding community.
I’ll enjoy the resurgence as much as I have enjoyed the anonymity. Because at the end of the day if there are only 10 people or 10 million people skating I’ll still be wearing mine and smiling 🙂
Hey Andre,
I think you made some really good points there. I would add though that we can learn something from looking at which sports with a so-called “Golden Boy” have done well and which have not. It would also be interesting to examine those guys individually too, because I think society’s biases might play a bigger role than we might expect (or desire). Just off the cuff, Tony Hawk is a well spoken, handsome, blonde, white guy from California who has a reputation as being Christian and nice to the kiddos. I’m not sure how many of those kinds of qualities someone has to have to become a successfully anointed Golden Boy, but I would expect that the prevailing (albeit subtle sometimes) racism in this country would prefer a clean cut blondie to Jewish kid with crazy hairdo’s or ever a Black, Latino, or Asian-descended guy. I’m absolutely NOT saying I WANT IT THAT WAY. I’m just saying that we should look to larger cultural currents and try to see what else might be implicated in the “big picture.”
Thanks so much for commenting, Andre!
-fs
Side note: this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arQKWiG1IZU just got posted on Twitter by Hedonskate. Eye of the Tiger!!!
Ahhh yes. Well the general public needs a non-threatening, charismatic focal point if it’s going to be a sport they can’t really play themselves. And the person who gets the limelight isn’t always the one you want having it. Look at Floyd Mayweather. He’s made just as much money off of being hated as he has for being liked, probably more.
Off subject I live in Florida and talking about skating all day and watching my newly purchased Game Theory is making me really want to hit some ledges….. I hate you rain.
I usually just say that I skate, because even if someone confuses that for skate boarding, that is closer to what I actually do than what they imagine when I say rollerblade.
As ridiculous as it was how butt hurt people got over the whole “freestyle rolling” and “don’t call this rollerblading” thing, I could still understand. You take something your love and have always associated a word/title with and now somebody is telling you not to call it that anymore, your first thought is fuck you.
That is how I’ve always felt about the term “blading.” That is what skate boarders have always told me I did and tried to correct me when I said I skated and was a skater. Naturally I was like, fuck you, your a dirty roller surf boarder and I’m the skater.
But over the years and after hearing JE constantly pound the term “blading” into everyone’s heads, I don’t really care any more and I actually use the term myself sometimes and I think that is probably the best term from a marketing stand point. It separates us from skate boarding, but it also separates us from regular rollerblading.
I totally understand, Alan! Thanks so much for taking the time to read and comment! I appreciate it man. Ain’t nothin’ without dialogue.
Ha ha, Alan. I think I should point out that it was Ryan Schude (and his history shredding the Bay with Pat Lennen and Bailey) that really brought “blading” in to my vernacular. When I first heard it I remember having the same thoughts you described. But over the years I learned to embrace its quirks and I think you put it well: It separates us from skate boarding, but it also separates us from regular rollerblading. Once upon a time Chris Peel and I made some GET BLADE t-shirts in the backyard at the 29th Street 4×4 house. They were awesome — and every time I got to an event in LA and see this one mom, she’s always still got it on. So whether it’s GET BLADE or JUST BLADE or ROLLERBLADE I think I’m with you, who say you’re with me. But we’re all just with Lenno and Schude. Blading. To blade. Blade…
Yeah, I remember people actually calling them “blade skates” in my area when they first started getting popular around 90-95.
