Kien Review

the only psychotic thing here is being supportive of queer skaters while rejecting a gender neutral pronoun. suggest you do some research. also it's not strange at all, it's about creating a space for people who haven't had one. pretty simple really. it also has incredible longevity. more and more people identify as queer each year and are becoming less afraid to be who they are. a company built off that ethos will only see increasing support

Jye W

interesting that an "older" skateboarder enforces queer as a slur. sounds like you still have some growing up to do.

Jye W

This whole part including the fits was just so try hard. Missed the mark. I've been skating for like two years and wouldn't hard post 90% of these clips. Like I'm all for niche skating and not every skater needs to be mind-blowing but some gatekeeping here is required... Like roll away from your tricks, if you can accomplish it w a sketchy land you can probably land it clean. Just feels super low effort. Maybe there was a time crunch. Either way it's super cringe for a pro debut part.

Slept

bonghits40

TBH im want to see inspiring skating that is both relatable and achievable so I can go out and do it. This mostly does not fit that, very half baked to quote you.

Sol Zero

Most definitely avoid talking about this at any cost. This stuff is bad... and you don't want to be involved in any way

Pieter Roesbeke

No I’m my username got flagged, new link is in my IG bio

1

did you get rid of ur twitch?

panasonictv1

This is one of the few videos from ur Patreon I could watch with my gf because its so universally entertaining! Loved it

Alexander Cantu

I’m not encouraging anything, I’m giving my opinion on Patreon, what people choose to do with it is up to them.

1

LOL

Cage Yamamuro

lol

Karl Havoc

your encouranging total wieners to create/steal unfounded opinions on stuff that has little or nothing to do with them, and for that Joa i'm out. The wave finally broke you can almost see the high water mark of your steve berra/ skatemoma/ jagger/ nyjah related content.

Sol Zero

drama

Sol Zero

Thoughts on mark oblow’s account of gator

Cage Yamamuro

sorry if this is obvious and annoying btw.. im sure you're getting flooded with mentions as it is

Nick Redwine

Did you see Dumb Data posted ANOTHER cringe video about you? The comments are flooded with so-called GH "fans" too. He's playing you out to be someone who likes to dish it but can't take it, while simultaneously being defensive as ever and making you the center of his video to get more views. EDIT: He seriously cropped a full 10 minutes from your stream just to rebut every single point you made....

Nick Redwine

I think you’re missing the point of why a company like THERE/Unity is important for skateboarding. It doesn’t matter if the skaters have “real skill” or not, what matters is the possibility model that they create. Queer skateboarders have never had a space in skateboarding and so they have to create it for themselves. When a big company puts a women or a queer skateboarder on their team it feels like they’re just checking a box. What THERE has set out to do is create the lane for themselves that is genuine and authentic and not just have a company check a box. You may think their videos are subpar, but they’re clearly not for you. They are for the queer skateboarders that have never felt included in skateboarding. It’s not counterproductive, it’s a start. It’s hard for people to feel included and grow in a space that has been primarily dominated by men for the past 40 years.

thewhatofwhom

⬆️douche

Terry Hamilton

it’s not psychotic to use the pronouns people want to be called. it makes sense to refer to someone as “they” when you don’t know their pronouns, just as you would refer to somebody whose gender is unknown: “i don’t know who left this bag here, but i guess it’s their loss!” and if somebody wishes to be called “they” all the time, i don’t think you need to call them psychotic, i think you should probably just call them “they”. plus i think it’s pretty normal for members of a marginalized group to want to support members of that same group, it’s something almost everyone does. especially in skating where so much is about creativity and approach, it makes sense that people want to support skaters they identify with and who make them feel more confident within the skate scene or wtv and who are taking a different approach. and i don’t think the company is going purely off of sexuality - i think there’s a lot about the skating too. this part doesn’t mention sexuality at all, even. if that’s all you can focus on then that’s fine, but there’s a lot more going on here, even if the part was pretty mediocre.

dogdish

But heres the thing, i dont give a shit about sexual preference or pronouns, if your a good skateboarder it will show. But I personally think if your seeking out your Skate brand based on who the rider has sex with or what pronouns are used ( using they/them/they’re is completely psychotic to use when referring to a single person) then you have much bigger issues in your life. Also your supposed to refer to someone by name when they are present, not the pronoun. Lets see people pushing the limit aswell as producing good skate content, otherwise literally shutup. Its not weird that there is an influx of gay and trans skaters, it’s weird that its any of our business.

Terry Hamilton

I don’t think anyone has a problem with trans skateboarding. The problem people have is with LGBTQ being a replacement for real skill and style. Having to create a team to put trans skaters on seems counter intuitive to wanting to include them into the culture. It’s literally putting them in a box of one team, and then people form their opinions on all trans skaters based on that team and their subpar videos. If an LGBTQ skater is throwing heavy parts then people will recognize that outside of the team they skate for. The need to showcase subpar skating for LGBTQs sake is counterproductive.

KittyWizard

Efron rips!! (Efron uses “she” pronouns though)

Samantha H

unitys graphics look like mikey alfred drawings im sorry

centar_rick

This might be where someone like Efron Danzig on VIOLET has an advantage. They’re being represented by a new board company with a somewhat diverse team (of highly skilled and stylish young skaters) that’s about pushing “‘preme” Edgelord” skateboarding and not exclusively gender nonconformity.

Benjamin White

Agreed. Reviewing this shouldn’t be a third rail. It’d be doing them a major disservice to be dishonestly positive or to ignore it. I’m sure Kien can handle some constructive criticism.

Benjamin White

This has always been the great irony of skateboarding’s sociopolitical facet; it’s grown to be very ethnically/racially diverse over the past 40 years (and it always has been to a small degree), but somehow queerness (and especially nonbinary gender identity) was a bridge too far (until maybe five or six years ago)? I always found it odd and sad. That’s one reason why I was pulled toward and felt comfortable in the underground punk/hardcore/indie/whatever scenes of the late 90’s.

Benjamin White

Underrated comment right here.

Benjamin White

please review Money Time mr joa

Isaac fishman

I really admire how you can navigate skateboarding’s turbulent sociopolitical waters. I always thought it was super ironic how homophobic most of skateboarding was (or seemed to be on a superficial level) up until the last 5-10 years. Although it’s thought to be “white dudes doing hard tricks,” skateboarding has been more and more racially/ethnically diverse and inclusive since I was introduced to it in the late 80’s. So why is sexuality and gender identity a bridge too far? You’re 100% correct about those that are (mainly older and) uncomfortable having lost the plot a bit. All that aside, you said it best when referring to many of these tricks as “half-baked,” “cheeky,” and/or “taking the piss.” Any of those would have been better titles than “Ruining Skateboarding.”

Benjamin White

Artistically sure, push boundaries, but at some point marketing a company off of one’s sexual preference is strange to me and lacks longevity

Terry Hamilton

Imo from the song choices to the trick and spot selection it was all very elementary and I agree with what you said about kiens part where at least it’s going to be different, no part of this felt creative or unique to me. I know you talk about how the level of skateboarding is not always important to the part but watching this it felt very obvious that the level of skateboarding is simply not there and her skating was not creative or unique enough to make that not really matter to me.

Jonas Hill

Not really that into pushing yourself for tech tricks if you have to go really slow. Thought the part was ok, not a very well rounder skater though. The back tail clip was super dungeon5000

1

What’s your opinion on the Jessyka Bailey part for there

Jonas Hill

never saw the corporate art thing with the unity stuff before but now that GH mentioned it I totally can't unsee it and have given more thought to it. I think the exaggerated proportions of the body + gender ambiguous characters are enough to make us associate it with that corporate memphis style. the irony being that the intentions of THERE and the corporations using that style are probably polar opposites but still coalesce through the desire to push inclusivity. Hopefully what sets THERE apart is authenticity– "We draw ourselves looking fucked up like this with crazy bodies because this is how we feel" instead of "we designed this because if you fuck up the proportions of a person enough then it's less representational of a specific type of person and will sell to more audiences"

Nice Great

I fear that this part is exactly what people who were rooting for this company to fail from the start wanted it to be

Garrick Slings

I really don’t see the issue with reviewing this part honestly? Even if it were to be a public review. That’s like saying female/trans/queer directors can’t have their movies reviewed or people should pull their punches and honesty… seems like a major disservice to everyone involved.

Karl Havoc

Fuck

1

I want to see you make good on your claim on being able to do a 360 no comply down a stairset. I thought that trick was nuts. And i dont think i have ever seen anyone do one down a considerable amount of stairs.

Jakson Slater Hunt

On a scale from 1-cheeky this part is a thong

Dalton Hausman

i feel like the THERE art style is similar to the big tech stuff because both are guided foremost by “radical inclusivity”. odd shapes and proportions that don’t reinforce beauty standards of size, gender, etc. i think they both kinda look like ass though unfortunately lol same thing with this part, like you said. good philosophy around it, it’s cool to see representation not just of different groups of people in skating but also different ways of skating and thinking about skating. in practice, though, it came out kind of boring, and paradoxically, a bit uninspired. also just straight up ugly sometimes 😬

dogdish

I mean people have been ripping these videos and putting them on YouTube, so Kien will probably see it. This shit isn't as private as it should be.

KapZachlan

I’m a gay skater, firstly, I refuse to be called a slur, secondly, your experience isn’t mine, I’ve never been marginalised because of my sexuality, or my gender in skateboarding, and I’ve always been able to be 100% myself without making it about who I sleep with or my pronouns.

Ash

Im a queer skater and I don't think this part is great, but I love seeing There and the skaters on the team get some shine. The issue is saying skating was always a haven for gay and trans people just isn't true. Skating was and in some places still is one of the most homophobic things I've ever been around. Having an issue with someone making "it" 100% of their personality is the problem. Until recently queer skaters couldn't 100% be themselves publicly while getting any kind of recognition or sponsors.

Logan Jones

That dude rips, really looking forward to his part

Dillon

As an ‘older’ skateboarder, it frustrates the hell out of me that skateboarding was always the haven for misfits, alt fashion and gay and trans people, but the difference now is people seem to be making it 100% of their personality. It’s corporate marketing at its finest, making money out of something that shouldn’t be sold. The part wasn’t great either, being pro now seems to be who you know, and how sellable you are.

Ash

this part is 10x more impressive because they r skating krux

ben braun

If Ace pelka dropped this part hed be getting the same treatment

Fernando

I do fuck with the idea of there, I think it’s good. I usually cover, controversial parts in general. In these kinds of situations I cannot win, because if I ignore something I am wrong because I’m not putting it on, if I cover it then I am hurting it if I give my honest opinion. If this were available to the public, i would not have included the second half, because it’s more important to support a movement like this. However that is One of the benefits of Patreon, we can talk about this stuff in private. Either way I stand by what i said I think kien isn’t capitalizing on their potential, but I’m not going to shit on the part publicly

1

I think you could have just left it at the first half. I don't think you needed to review this part. I don't think its above critique either, I just don't think with your platform it was really necessary to add fuel to the fire of hate this video is already getting and then say you 'fuck with the vision'.

jackie

Yeah biggest problem with this part is that the whole time it felt like a tech skater was doing their damnedest to prove to everyone that they were roller surfer

Benjamin Saunders

I've been a fan of Kien's since I started skating a few years ago and they inspired me a ton as a new queer skater at the time. I feel like I've seen them push themself harder in the past. I wanted this part to be groundbreaking but it seems they just wanted to chill and experiment. If you wanna see a fully baked THERE pro skater check out James Pitonyak. He's put out some highly slept on stuff over the years

Val

Yeah I agree with your take on this one. I'm normally a big fan of "creative" skating but I think part of what makes that brand of skating interesting is making what would normally be an illegal or downright dumb trick look cool. Kind of like defying expectations. I really wanted to like this part because I'm hyped on There and what they represent but this part just really didn't do it for me

Kevin Yue

before watching the video , I’ll say I love Kien and their skateboarding , watching them made me feel so much more comfortable in myself as a non-binary skater a couple years ago , but personally I wasn’t a big fan of this part . I thought some tricks were good, and maybe my taste in skateboarding has changed , but I just feel like they can do a lot better

Kissing the Serpent

LOOOL yeah I did it was sick too

1

i see you made sure you watched the brent atchley part lmao

jordan

Wish they Had more shit out.

sosalistener

can't deny that after seeing the side by side google images

Kevvo

I think it’s pretty good too, but I do think it does resemble the corporate art style.

1

i actually think the there drawings/graphics/art are a little better than frog's. they're both childlike and silly in a good way but frog comes across as more microsoft paintesque imo

Kevvo

125, rue Montmarte <3

nolan

First! You're fucking Cancelled Joa

Gabriel Snyder