Media Musings (Opinion Column)Recently, I was listening to the syndicated radio show, "Loveline", when co-host Adam Carolla said, "I hate the people in Hawai`i. They're all so stupid."
Carolla even went as far as insulting his guest that night, Sanoe Lake of the movie "Blue Crush", who attended a private school in Hawai`i. He said, "Whats your I.Q., like, 80?"
That did it. I blamed the many flaws in Hawai`i-themed movies that have given us this "stupid" image. For instance, in the Disney TV movie, "Johnny Tsunami", the title character exits from a plane in snowy Vermont without any warm clothing. In another Disney movie (coincidence?), "Lilo and Stitch", Nani, Lilo's older sister, calls an inattentive driver a "stupid head." (That was probably a substitution for a swear word. The movie received a PG rating, anyway.)
Hollywood tends to capitalize on surfing in Hawai`i films, the most recent being "Blue Crush". These movies make it seem like the only thing we ever think about is surfing. When I went to Washington, D.C. in the eighth grade, students my age asked me, "Do you know how to surf?" Dearie, I can barely swim.
Hollywood also fails to portray Hawai`i as a civilized state. It's as if the writers are still stuck in the past past meaning, like, 300 years ago. All Hawai`i movies I've seen were set in "the boonies" and/or the beach. Example: the main local character in yet another Disney movie, "Rip Girls", lives in a shack. In fact, the students in D.C. actually asked me, "Do you live in grass shacks and walk around naked?" Some of them didn't even know that Hawai`i was the 50th state. One woman said we were part of the South Pacific. Hawai`i is above the Equator, for crying out loud.
Maybe if the screenplay writers kept an open mind, did extensive research, and interacted with more Hawai`i residents, they wouldn't be giving the Islands a stereotypical image. The makers of "Lilo and Stitch" did this, which explains why it's more accurate than most Hawai`i fims. In truth, we live in modern houses and wear modern clothes, we know what to pack when heading for snow-covered territory, and we yell more profane things to reckless drivers than "stupid head."
What got me even more upset was that Carolla didn't say why he thought we were "stupid." He continued saying how it was "stupid" to have more than one meaning for aloha. There are tons of English words that have multiple meanings. Flip to any page in the dictionary and there will be at least one word that has more than one definition to it.
I guess this means that the entire English-speaking world is stupid. Just like you, Adam Carolla.
