'First Point'

So I was recently made aware of this film, 'First Point', by Richard Phillips and Taylor Steele.


(You can find more and varied clips here at Richard Phillips's vimeo channel.)

The director labels the film 'surf noir' in that it pushes against the usually upbeat and positive vibe of most surf films - an interesting idea. The film also stars Lindsay Lohan, who is something of a muse for Phillips. But beyond that, and despite my attempts at finding more information, there is little I understand about this film - I don't know what it's trying to do or say. And while I in no way think that art always has to say something, I really like work that does. I like it when art makes me think, and unfortunately, the celebrity-induced preconceptions I have around Lohan are ultimately distracting. Maybe that's the point? Maybe I'm getting confused and this film is actually about celebrity. Some of the first links that are offered through a google search are interviews at Huffington Post, Harper's Bazaar and this site called The Rising Hollywood, so you can see where the main intrigue and audience has come from. I also read a little piece at a website called Hype Beast, where commenters are more interested in Lohan as Lohan,  - her history, whether they would have sex with her or not (!), what they would like to do to her, her relationship with drugs - rather than any 'message' the film is trying to make. Only one comment, which is my favourite, engages with anything outside of 'Lindsay Lohan':

These movies make me more interested in the chick that surfs in the clips...

The 'chick that surfs in the clips' is Kassia Meador, which, despite her headless state, I found pretty easy to pick due to Meador's own celebrity as a woman and a longboarder in a growing number of surf films. Through her popularity with surf film makers, I'm familiar with her impressive style, her approach to waves, her body-shape. Even headless, Kassia Meador was as instantly recognisable to me as Lohan, which in this case is a kind of interesting parallel if what this film is about is celebrity.*

Ha. Maybe it did make me think after all!


*It's also embarrassing.

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