Point Break (with guest Elsa Devienne)
Episode description
Surf’s up! Sean and Cody have exchanged the deserts of West Texas for the beaches of Southern California, and they’re joined by environmental historian and beach expert Elsa Devienne to take apart one of the most beloved action movies of the nineties. In 1991’s Point Break, FBI hotshot agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reaves) and his bonkers partner Pappas (Gary Busey) hit the beaches in pursuit of a bunch of bank robbers in rubber masks, who are actually a gang of surfers led by Buddhist-babbling blonde beefcake Bodhi (Patrick Swayze). Can they stop the money-grabby Ex-Presidents before the summer ends and the waves go flat? Environmental issues discussed include the evolution of beaches in the Los Angeles area, the history of surfing culture, ocean pollution, the manmade monstrosity of the L.A. River, and Hollywood’s gender-biased view of men, women and the environment.
When, where and how did surfing become a thing? Why is it accurate to say that famous beaches like Venice and Malibu were made by humans rather than existing as natural features? What’s the weird relationship between surf culture, neo-Nazis and white supremacists? Are L.A.’s beaches cleaner today than they were in the 1940s? How did “Tricky Dick” Nixon getting a bunch of oily goo on his beach at San Clemente lead to the modern environmental movement? Why are there so few female action directors? What was the name of Patrick Swayze’s hit pop song from 1988? Do law schools have football teams? Did not wearing a motorcycle helmet give Gary Busey cancer? All these questions and more are in the pipeline and ready to be carved in this surf-tastic episode of Green Screen.
Point Break (1991) at IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102685/ Point Break (1991) at Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/film/point-break/
Next Movie Up: Cape Fear (1991)