In the 1985 film 'Weird Science' two nerdy boys create the perfect woman, who is played by Kelly LeBrock. It's a terrible movie but for the sake of argument, let's imagine what the perfect male might have looked like if the two nerdy boys were replaced by two adolescent girls. I think I know the answer. He would have looked like a Hawaiian surfer. I just returned from Hawaii where I interviewed Kala Alexander, one of the most notorious founders of the surf tribe, Wolfpak, and spent the week surrounded by young, taut, virile young men. It was awful.
I was struck by their masculine perfection, and by the beauty of Hawaiian tattoos, which are territorial, warrior-like and designed to intimidate. Etched in black ink, the tattoos depict maps of Hawaii, cursive letters or Polynesian symbols, and although my story was all about surf gangs (not tattoo design), I did get a rare glimpse into how tattoo art has become an emblem of Hawaiian identity.
(Left: Kala Alexander, as photographed by Cory Lum in Oahu, Hawaii. My interviews with Kala appeared in Sunday Magazine & Tracks magazine).
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