Scott Rosenberg
jon
Surfwise doco rides waves onto US screens (LINK)
What is the American Dream?
“There is a wisdom in the wave, high borne and beautiful,
for those who would but paddle out.” - Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, MD
for those who would but paddle out.” - Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, MD
Together, they lived a life that would be unfathomable to most, but enviable to anyone whose dreams succumbed to a 9-5 job. The Paskowitz Family proved that America may be running out of frontiers, but it hasn’t run out of frontiersman.
Doug Pray’s documentary 'Surfwise' poses an intriguing question: just what is the true American dream?
By 1956, Paskowitz was successfully rising in the worlds of medicine, sports and politics. He had easily conquered one version the American success story, but his idea of the “dream” found its realization in the then, relatively small nomadic community of surfing.
Through his interaction with nature and quest for a more natural form of mental and physical health, he found transcendence. And that idea of finding something “holy” in nature, harks to the earliest Americans, whether they were natives or refugees from Europe.
The idea was to find some greater force in the physical surroundings of the land; transcendence if you will. And coupled with that idea was the fact that the new world offered one the freedom to pursue their dreams.
Spurning the 50’s infatuation with material prosperity, Paskowitz choose instead to raise his family on the road, where they were frequently down to their last dime. And as the film recounts Paskowitz’ fantastic journey, it prompts one to consider our contemporary idea of the “dream.”
What has it become?
An aspiration to be a finalist on ‘American Idol’? Or more to the point: is a person’s true worth based on their possessions? If this is in fact the case, then indeed the Paskowitz experiment was a failure. But if Paskowitzs’ life is taken in the context of what the American dream originally was, then Doc Paskowitz may be one of the richest men in our country.
Movie Synopsis
“Most parents say ‘Go to school. Don’t go swimming with sharks, that’s dangerous. Our parents said, you can go swimming with sharks, but you’re not fuckin’ going to school—that shit’s dangerous!” - Salvador Paskowitz, the 7th Paskowitz son
'Surfwise' follows the odyssey of 85-year-old, legendary surfer Dr. Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, his wife Juliette, and their nine children—all of whom were home-schooled on the beaches of Southern California, Hawaii, Mexico and Israel; they surfed every day of their lives, and were forced to adhere to a strict diet and lifestyle by their passionate and demanding, health-conscious father.
In the mid-1950s Dorian Paskowitz was a successful doctor living the good life in the territory of Hawaii, until two devastating divorces and the realization that he had no interest in money or status caused him to completely upend his life. Dorian dropped his practice and traveled to Israel for a year where he lived among the Bedouins and developed a lifelong obsession with a healthy diet.
He introduced surfing to Israel and became a hero in the burgeoning Tel Aviv beach scene. Returning to the States, he met his wife Juliette, and the rest was history. They fell madly in love, steered clear of society, lived out of a tiny camper on the beach, and had 7 sons in rapid succession: David, Jonathan, Abraham, Israel, Moses, Adam, and Salvador Daniel. Then they had one daughter, Navah, and their ninth child, Joshua.
The children were raised in the Jewish tradition, complete with Shabbat on the beach every Friday night. But that’s where similarities with a normal societal upbringing end. Doc’s absolute determination was to raise his children according to the strictest standards of nature. They ate only organic and/or raw foods with no sugar or fat. Their community was their family. They didn’t need money or have to pay bills or taxes. Their home was anywhere the crowded camper was parked.
What happens to eight brothers and a sister that are raised under such extraordinary circumstances?
'Surfwise' is the story of a man who pursued his dreams and dragged his family along for the wild ride.
Magnolia Pictures releases film in USA May 9, 2008.
