Today I’m going to talk to you about a video that, in my opinion, really captures the essence of skateboarding. It’s a YouTube video titled “gonz 99” featuring skateboarder Mark Gonzalez (The Gonz), a legend in the scene.
To provide some context, the clip in question is an excerpt from a promotional video titled “Richter,” produced by the skate brand Krooked (founded by Mark Gonzalez) and Adidas Skateboarding. The clip was filmed on the streets of San Francisco, where we see Gonz tearing down the city’s steep streets at full speed, weaving between cars and pedestrians. The video blends interview segments with the skater and skate clips, alternating between voice-over and shots facing the camera. The hit song “Narcotic” by the band Liquido elevates the whole thing, giving these images tenfold energy.
What makes this video so magical is the way Gonz expresses himself through movement, as if he were telling a story. The interview excerpts are also very telling; I particularly remember pausing at the moment when he says:
“When you explain something, people either listen to what you say, and they understand or they don’t understand. I’d rather not give them the opportunity to understand or not understand. It’s better to say nothing than to say something.”
These words really resonate with me as a skater, since skateboarding is a sport that’s often misunderstood. Even though we might sometimes be tempted to explain things, that would be a shame, because as Gonz points out, “it takes away what’s special about it.” I think that’s because skateboarding is, above all, something you feel—even before you think about it or try to put it into words.
Toward the end of the video, Gonz talks about the uncontrollable nature of skateboarding; I also find this passage very moving.
“Skateboarding is very free, and a lot of people have tried to organize it and say, ‘Okay, only skate this way,’ and then skateboarding gets really popular and then it dies and then… Skateboarding is a sport that’s uncontrollable, that’s why a lot of kids like it.”
What he says is even more relevant today, because skateboarding has become much more institutionalized since then. It has a place in the Olympics, and many brands are trying to buy into its image. Whatever one may think of it, I find that all these new additions surrounding skateboarding are superficial, and that the essence lies precisely in the freedom of this practice, free from any constraints. That’s exactly the feeling you get when riding downhill or cruising through the city at full speed—that sense that the rules that apply to others don’t apply to you. All that remains is the feeling of being alive, and nothing else matters.