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# Skateboard Hooligans
- URL: https://helpful-koala.pikapod.net/skateboard-hooligans/
- Published: 2022-09-01T01:54:28.000Z
- Updated: 2023-05-14T11:41:56.000Z
- Author: Robert Rackley
- Tags: #Import 2023-01-23 01:24, #Import 2023-05-05 21:23, #Import 2023-05-12 14:50, #robert-2, #Import 2023-08-31 00:31, #Import 2023-10-06 03:55, #Import 2023-11-16 01:27, #Import 2023-12-08 12:54, #Import 2024-09-14 17:57, #Import 2024-12-17 20:04, #Import 2025-01-01 18:26, #Import 2025-12-24 10:01, #Import 2026-07-11 23:34, #Import 2026-08-02 01:19, #Import 2026-09-14 17:25

I was reading my friend Adam's newsletter, [Tendrils](https://world.hey.com/adamwood/tendrils-017-just-because-something-looks-ugly-doesn-t-mean-that-it-s-morally-wrong-75b1eb7d?ref=helpful-koala.pikapod.net), and I came upon some quick thoughts about the movie *mid90s* in a collection of mini-reviews of [A24 movies](https://letterboxd.com/zioibi/list/a24/?ref=helpful-koala.pikapod.net). While Adam enjoyed the movie because it brought back some skateboarding nostalgia, I hated it for much the same reason. It seems like every recent movie or documentary dealing with skateboarding, from *mid90s* to *Minding the Gap*, makes it seem like skateboarders are a bunch of lawless teenage punks who have trouble with school or work. I was big into skateboarding in the early 90s, and I didn't find the stereotype to be true. Some of my friends from that era became software development managers, architects, and worked at major record labels. I would rather not make it sound like a career is the only measurement of success, but these guys clearly didn't meet the stereotype you see of skateboarders in the media.

Just like more organized sports, I think skateboarding can be a great outlet, provided the skaters have a safe environment in which to practice. The kids on an Arizona Hopi reservation [just got that](https://www.npr.org/2022/08/30/1119578688/skate-park-hopi-native-american-reservation?ref=helpful-koala.pikapod.net) in the form of a skatepark. One of the co-leads on the project, Quintin Nahsonhoya, talks about the positive effect of having a place designated and designed for skateboarding.

> "Skateboarders aren't like how they're perceived in movies, as punks or like people who just want to get into trouble," he said. "It's just a hobby that we have… and the community understood that."

I'm glad to see more and more instances of towns and cities recognizing the potential of skateparks to channel kids' energy. I only wish that sort of mentality had been around when I was younger.