Surf’s Up

Surf’s Up – an animated story about penguins surfing big waves in the tropics matched with super-smooth reggae-inspired theme music. What’s not to like? But there are currents that run beneath the big drops and beach-side hi-jinx which I’m hoping the modern viewer will also catch.

Surf’s Up is likely to stand out from what seems to be a never-ending run of animal-driven animations if only for the style in which producer / screen writer Christopher Jenkins decided to tell his story. The story of 17-year-old surfing aspirant Cody Maverick (voiced by Shia LaBeouf) is told documentary-style through the lens of an unidentified camera crew, chronicling his drive to follow in the footsteps of his surfing idol, the legendary ‘Z’. What follows is a fairly stock-standard coming-of-age story where Cody first learns to surf, then learns the value of people over prizes. In that respect Surf’s Up will be well at home on the shelf next to Cars and Monsters Inc. But the real connection from a Christian perspective is going to be made in Cody’s back-story…

Cody, like so many kids today, is the product of a one-parent family. Dad is absent, not through choice, but because he has died at an age when the teenage surfer could barely remember him. His drive to succeed is clearly powered by a desire to be noticed by a working mother and a bullish brother. It’s pretty serious fair for an animated movie, but like so many of these ‘kids films’ it’s clearly designed to speak to a number of audiences.

Cody’s plan to make a name for himself in the penguin world’s biggest surfing competition is frustrated by his own inability to temper his enthusiasm with the need for planning and practice. However his discovery that the legendary Z is still alive promises to provide the father figure he so desperately needs. The question is, will Cody be able to learn the lessons Z has to teach? Some of the best wince-as-you-laugh moments arise from the tension between Cody and his surrogate dad. Z might have been teaching his young protégé how to make a surfboard but when a frustrated Cody starts whispering, “Can I do it now?” I felt like I was standing next to my own dad’s carpentry bench.  The producers have beautifully captured the apostle Paul’s admonition to fathers not to frustrate their children.

Predictably Cody and his board both manage to get the rough edges knocked off them by the end of the film. But I couldn’t help wondering what the producers of the film considered would be the likely path forward for the startling number of troubled teenagers who don’t have a Z to step into their lives? After all, this sort of tale is going to be released into a market more than familiar with the ‘Absent Father Syndrome’. Whether due to divorce, long working hours or a lack of parental responsibility, many young men are reaching the crucial teenage years without the prospect of a father to guide them. This is possibly one place where older Christians can play a life-saving role. Films like Happy Feet, Cars and now Surf’s Up demonstrate that western society may have embraced the ideal of individualism, but it hasn’t let go of the necessary father figure. I have always believed that this perceived need is why older Christian men will always have a significant role to play in youth groups, even if they’re not the sort of person to own an ear-ring or tread a board. And as Christians, they are likely to give the same sort of encouragement the apostle Paul gave to the Corinthians, his spiritual children, to ‘imitate me’ (1 Cor. 4:16) even as he imitated Christ.

In the end, Surf’s Up will be a good film for encouraging viewers to appreciate the important role a father plays in any child’s life, but the example will only be as good as the dad they have. As Christians we have the chance to use this piece of celluloid to point them to the Father from whom all men take their measure.

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