EXTREME seems to be a word we have been hearing alot lately, but what is the true meaning of this word "ExTrEmE"?
The dictionary definition for extreme states that extreme is reaching the highest degree; to the severest state, not to a moderate level. And that is exactly what the media has done with sports that are now labeled "extreme". We're talking about sports that take their participants to extreme measures, where life and limb are at risk. The sports described in this article are a few examples of such extremes. The media have taken these sports to the extreme, by advertising and televising them to the extreme, creating an exciting lifestyle image. We now can find these sports readily on our television stations at home and in our local movie theatres. Our television stations have created specific extreme sport TV shows and events/competitions; the most popular would be the ESPN summer and winter X-Games, B3, and the Gravity Games. Many of these sports have also been invited to join in the Olympic Games. Mountain biking has hit the media by being the first new sport to enter the Olympics, selling out its event weeks in advance.
extreme /Ik'stri:m/ · adjective reaching,
high or highest degree; severe, not mode-
rate; outermost; utmost. · noun, either of
two things as remote or dif ferent as poss-
ible; thing at either end; highest degree.
The ESPN X-Games have been a positive influence on the extreme sport industry, giving athletes of these sports a chance to show
the public (who would not otherwise be aware of them) their talents and to be finally recognized in their given sport. The 1999 summer X-Games did just that, when the legendary Tony Hawk (professional skateboarder) made skateboarding history when he successfully landed the first 900 in skateboarding competition history, turning 2 ½ rotations high above the halfpipe. Skateboarding has been around since the 60's, but has only recently been recognized as a full-fledged sport. The ESPN X-Games has led skateboarding right into the public's eyes--changing the image from skate-punks to extreme.
Warren Miller Entertainment, best known for its annual release of feature-length ski films has given the word "extreme" its true meaning; each of his films has taken skiers and snowboarders alike to new extremes, to the most exotic places in the world.
Extreme sport athletes are forced to maintain such an image by performing at dangerous levels to please the crowds. Every athlete wants to improve and progress in his or her given sport. But when is it enough? When will we realize we've gone too far? When will we realize that these athletes are human too, that they are not superhuman? Brett Murray, a top Calgary extreme skier plunged to his death off a Whistler cliff while filming for an upcoming film. Murray was renowned for making spectacular breathtaking leaps in the extreme skiing world. A life lost, while trying to live up to the media's image of "extreme". The things that these athletes are pulling are amazing and often deadly. But that is what the media is portraying and we all seem to love it. A surfing movie that hit video store shelves called
tries to portray just that. In God's Hands follows three world-class surfers through a journey where the question is asked: " So you want to surf and the waves near the town where you live aren't half that bad, and you start to improve, and you hear about this wave in a far way country with a name you can't even pronounce-- what then? How far are you willing to go? What sacrifice are you willing to make? How good do you really want to be?"
Well, I think our question is answered by skiers, snowboarders and mountain bikers at TRG (an extreme sport film company):
And by surfers at Mavericks
As dangerous as this is to extreme sports athletes, it is also dangerous for extreme sports audiences. North American society has a great deal of difficulty dealing with their own mortality. For most us, death is always an image; rarely is it something comprehensible and certainly it is outside the life cycle. Mark Koenigil wrote that
It may not be popular culture's responsibility to do anything but make money, but if it does choose to exploit extreme sports, it needs to be sensitive to its power. Most people learn about others through popular culture and not through personal experience, so to erase extremities shown in popular culture would be to deny generation X their culture. We should allow the media to expose extreme sports to the public but they should present it in a responsible way.
Imax Films has done just that with their release of the Imax film called Extreme. Extreme takes it's viewers into the reality of these extreme sports--there is no selling of the sport to create an image; it is all at face value. The audiences of Extreme have the opportunity to experience the athletes' trials and tribulations without leaving their seats. Kevin Williams of the Chicago Sun Times writes:
