A Review of the documentary film SurfWise directed by Doug Pray.
Like many American outsider-adventurers, Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz set out to realize a utopian dream. Abandoning a successful medical practice, he sought self-fulfillment by taking up the nomadic life of a surfer. But unlike other American searchers like Thoreau or Kerouac, Paskowitz took his wife and nine children along for the ride, all eleven of them living in a 24 foot camper. Together, they lived a life that would be unfathomable to most, but enviable to anyone who ever relinquished their dreams to a straight job. The Paskowitz Family proved that America may be running out of frontiers, but it hasn’t run out of frontiersman.
My Review: This movie was really interesting as it shows what happens when one jumps out of the system. Can they survive? Absolutely. If you want to watch a film that really discusses this, then this is a good one to check out. I am not totally condoning Dr. Paskoqitz lifestyle, I feel he curses too much in the film and takes life down to a kind of primitive tribal level. But, I do think the film has something to teach about what it means to ditch the system. I wish he had talked more about his transformation. The film is mostly from his kids point of view and I guess that’s because it was produced by one of them. Judge for yourself. It’s definitely an eye opener. Warning it is rated R for language and sexuality, not for children which says a lot right there. If a philosophy is true would it be R rated? Leave a comment telling us what you think.
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