Eddie Aikau Questions

1.       The documentary filmmakers called this film Hawaiian, The Legend of Eddie Aikau because the film was based in Hawaii and Eddie was a native from there.  I believe that they added Hawaiian in the title to add respect towards Eddie being one of the best if not the best native Hawaiian surfers that could out surf the Australians and California surfers. Hawaii was very important to Eddie and I believe that in the documentary the filmmakers wanted this to be clear. I think that adding “The Legend” in the title also marked a reason such as Eddies heroic actions.

2.       Every documentary has the following elements:

a.       Topic:  Eddie Aikau was born and raised in Hawaii and trained and practiced surfing basically everyday. He was loyal and loving towards his family and helped many others. He struggled to win a surf contest on his home ground of Hawaii but later

b.      Focus:  The focus of the documentary was the struggles that Eddie faced. It focused mainly on the surfing and the struggle to beat white surfers coming to the island. Not just to beat them but he wanted people to know that the natives have been surfing for decades.

c.       Angle:  The angle of the documentary changed from this happy surfer trying to be the best, to a Hawaiian native surfer struggling to gain back confidence and dominance over other surfers.

3.       Since the film was made by ESPN the filmmakers may have believed that the audience was more focused on the competition and sport aspect of film. Most ESPN documentaries include mainly sports related cases not containing as much detail and historic evidence as the Eddie Aikau film.

4.       The Eddie Aikau film could have been very different I believe if it was filmed by PBS or the History channel. If done by the history channel I believe that many other cultural and historical aspects would be added. If done by PBS I believe that more of a biography would occur and witnesses and family members wouldn’t be included as much in the actual film.