Reading Reflection 2

This week's reading really caught me off guard. I'm so used to feeling like I have power over and awareness of advertising and brand identity, but Berman's writings in 4 The Weapons made me have to reconsider this idea.

I remember when I started getting deep into skateboard culture in my very young years, reading about (and experiencing) a very negative reaction from others for my involvement in the activity. I remember loving this feeling, that I could be hated for something as simple as riding a piece of wood with four wheels. I loved owning anything that represented that I was a part of that culture. When I was in the fourth grade I got my first t-shirt with a skate company logo on it, a bright red Independent Truck Co. shirt. I wore that shirt at least once a week, more if I could get away with wearing it dirty. I felt so cool. I wore that shirt and continued to stock my wardrobe, trying to replace my entire t-shirt collection with shirts that I thought represented who I was through what I liked.

Then, in middle school it became a fad. Skateboard brands became enormously popular and this confused the sh*t out of me. I went to middle school and suddenly was surrounded by people wearing Independent, Innes, Etnies, ES, Flip, DC, the list went on- and I thought that I had just walked into some dream world where everyone was a skater! However, it turned out that it had just become "cool" to look like one. I was very bitter and often asked kids wearing skate logo t-shirts "if you don't skateboard why are you wearing that shirt?" and being so confused and really pretty mad about the whole thing. How dare these people pretend to be skateboarders, especially when for the last twenty years before this they were the same people who would have been yelling obscenities and throwing trash at someone riding a skateboard. This continued to grow as people began to wear skateshoes and I would increasingly have my hopes shattered to meet a fellow skateboarder only to find their shoes in near mint condition day after day while mine were worn through on the side of the toes after a couple of weeks.

I still feel somehow, that these logos can in some way identify and express some aspect of my personality, or maybe it is just such extreme brand loyalty that I can't stop wearing them, for the same reason I continue to buy their original products - their skateboard decks, shoes, wheels and trucks. And this is where David Berman has caught me off guard.

I am forced to ask myself, does it make sense to buy t-shirts from a company who makes skateboard decks that I have an affinity for? When he asks this question about Nike tshirts, when it is their shoes people are supposed to like them for and Chanel glasses when it is their clothing that is the product I was forced to ask myself the same of the t-shirts, hats and hoodies that I seek out featuring my favorite brands that allow for my favorite activity.

The crazy part is, after much internal debate, I still feel a weird allegiance and justification in wearing clothing from these brands like Independent, I Path, Alien Workshop and Habitat skateboards. Is it wrong? Maybe it is. Somehow I still feel justified in being a walking billboard, even proud to be one for these companies. It's like wearing a band's t-shirt, it somehow feels like you are helping them out by being their billboard. It is a weird phenomena for sure, and I feel a bit silly now . . . though not enough to start wearing logoless t-shirts exclusively.