This is the fourth essay for my English 100 class. It is due today & this is the final draft that I'm going to turn in. Not my greatest writing, but it should meet all the criteria.

1. Wischnewsky 1
Louis Wischnewsky
Professor Shawn Quirk
English 100
11 April 2011
Living on the Edge
“... [Y]ou can't help yourself from fallin', Living on the edge!” shouts a 1980s era song by
the ageless rock band, Aerosmith. Among risks taken by the pre-teen boy in the music video
accompanying the tune, the main character and his friend steal a car. The scene becomes intense
as the camera flashes from the rear of a big truck to the uncertain boy in the speeding car, back
and forth at an increasing pace until the truck seems to assure viewers it is solid and will not lose
the coming battle. At the same time the boy's expression changes until, when it would be too late
to change his mind anyway, his laughing face registers finality in his determination.
Yes, the car collides squarely with the truck, totally demolishing the car and leaving not
only the truck unscathed, but the boy and his friend are joyously unharmed, as well. How? The
car had airbags (Aerosmith).
Upon deeper reflection, participation in extreme sports is a little easier to understand than
it might first appear. Not only do people stay in shape, there is a sex appeal. For example, being
the spectator of an incoming tsunami is, oddly enough, quite different from the surfer dude riding
the wave for fun. It is of notable interest that the participants are highly likely to make sure all
the safety precautions that can be made have been prior to partaking in the extreme sport.
Weighting why men and women are drawn to physical activities in the first place, their utmost
caution before participating in the dare helps reveal the mysterious draw of extreme sports. There
are temptations to dismiss differences between controlled danger and real danger, but those
differences are real, nonetheless.

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True, there is an instinctual need to witness conflicts that pit man against the direst of
circumstances. However, while it might make sense that people are eager to watch calamity
unfold, what is it that draws others to actively place themselves in dangerous circumstances?
Consider five California tsunami watchers that were recently swept to sea. Placing some thought
into what those five had wanted to do arouses laughter realizing they should have known they
were placing themselves in harm's way. Still, their collision with disaster came about from either
stupidity or carelessness. That is quite different from the surfers that openly jumped into the
tsunami to ride the wave. The voyeurs simply wanted to watch a might of nature; the athletes
wanted to face that might head on. It is those surfers that throw any theory that people succumb
to viewing disaster due to instinct, pardon the pun, out of the water. They are not wanting to learn
how to survive, they are literally, living on Aerosmith's edge.
Or are they? In “Life on the Edge,” William Dowell and company haphazardly point out
some interesting tidbits about extreme sports. In the very opening of their article, the authors
elevate the drama of the base jumper's descent noting the jumper “... prays his parachute will
open … that his canopy will not collapse” (Dowell, et al, 455). BASE jumper Chance McGuire
seems like quite the testosterone filled twenty-five year old American male. He dares to jump
from someplace with many dangers that could do him in! Harrowing! However, in describing
those dangers, Dowell, et al, conveys there is nothing to worry about because McGuire has taken
every precaution (Dowell, et al, 455).
Perhaps clearer perspective is needed.Watch the nightly news for a month or two and
there will be a story about a plane crash. Plane crashes are interesting news because they are still
rare, not because audiences are hopeful of survivors. And that is the point. Plane crashes are rare,
especially in the scope of how many flights take place across the globe every day – thousands!
The rarity, though, is because every precaution is made to ensure the safety of the people flying.

3. Wischnewsky 3
However, is flying in an airplane any less dangerous than jumping out of one? No. In fact,
at altitudes far higher than those from which sky divers jump, in a chunk of metal and plastic
weighing hundreds of tons, being the passenger of an airplane is outright dangerous. There has to
be something besides the danger itself that draws people to life on the edge.
Jaime Schultz, author of “Discipline and Push-Up: Female Bodies, Femininity, and
Sexuality in Popular Representations of Sports Bras,” may not like the answer to the draw of
sports, extreme sports included, but she has the answer. Going through great lengths to consider
the reasons a simple article of sports clothing has gotten so much attention in recent years,
ultimately she finally concludes that women do have a choice when it comes to sports.Women
can either participate in a way that makes them more attractive to the opposite sex or they can
throw BASE jumper McGuire's caution to the wind and compete at levels that eventually erode
women's aesthetics to the eyes of men (Schultz, 481-484). She can take solace, though, in
knowing that, after all, men are left with (at least in the minds of some men) the choice of being
sexually appealing to the opposite sex with “adequate” athleticism or being potentially maimed
and disfigured, thus quite unattractive to the opposite sex, by extreme participation in sports.
Because, ultimately, that's why extreme sportsmen are partaking in these activities. Not only does
the tsunami surfer stay in shape riding one of the most dangerous waves in history, he has a
bragging right that extends far beyond the sands of Malibu beach: he gets to brag about it later
that night to the awed bubble-headed-bleach-blond at the bar after she reports the daily “dirty
laundry” on the Local 9 (Henley).
It is very tempting to think of such a view as worthy of disposal, something from some
old fart that hides when the clouds grow thick outside. However, what should also be considered
are those people that regularly step into dangerous situations without the luxury of planning
contingencies for everything that could possibly go wrong. Factoring the randomness of human

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nature into truly ominous situations, it is especially debatable which competitor is truly brave:
the BASE jumper or the Army Ranger stalking an enemy in a conflict that demands one of the
two participants dies? It might be argued that the Ranger made his choice, too. However, that is
not wholly accurate. The Ranger trains tirelessly to deal with dangers he may encounter, yes.
Certainly he does not actively seek those encounters, though. Rather, he remains in waiting for
the unpredictable call to go encounter something that is just as actively pursuing him. The BASE,
the tsunami, they do not pursue people; people pursue them. Big difference. And if the surfer or
BASE jumper decides the risks are not worth it or that the equipment is not up to par, as Dowell
points out, he can just turn around and go home (Dowell, et al, 460).
Do not misunderstand: that extreme sports are not the most dangerous activities on the
planet does not deny the guts of those participating in extreme sports. It does, however, bring
into perspective that tenacity. That is a point well taken when Dowell describes Adam Fillipino,
another BASE jumper, and his decision not to make a second jump on the same day with
McGuire (Dowell, et al, 462). These are men looking for controlled danger that. If they really
wanted the ultimate level of the “danger element,” they could just as easily parachute from
extremely high altitudes and open at extremely low altitudes into areas where people are waiting
to shoot at them.
Certainly there is nothing wrong with seeking adrenalin fixes. Closer consideration of
extreme sports, though, does bring a rather simple perspective to actively seeking out
involvement with controlled danger. Getting caught up in nature's throes as spectators marvel is a
different level of involvement with the cult of disaster than those that jump into the water. Just as
different, though, is making certain a parachute is in perfect working order before jumping from
a bridge “for fun” as opposed to a pilot forced to eject after his plane is shot down. The fact is,
sports are not just for keeping bodies in shape, they are activities that allow the sexes to attract

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company. The fact that many of those participating in the controlled dangers of extreme sports
could elevate their level of danger by participating in uncontrolled dangers supports this thesis.
There is a difference between wrecking a car and purposely activating that car's airbags. In any
case, man “... can't help [himself] from falling, [he's] living on the edge.”

6. Works Cited
Aerosmith. “Living on the Edge.” Get a Grip. Geffen. 1993, CD.
Dowell, William, et al. “Life on the Edge.” Common Culture; Reading and Writing about
American Popular Culture. Eds. Michael Petracca, Madeleine Sorapure. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010. 455-462. Print.
Henley, Don. “Dirty Laundry.” I Can't Stand Still. Elektra Entertainment Group. 1982, CD.
Schultz, Jaime. “Discipline and Push-Up: Female Bodies, Femininity, and Sexuality in Popular
Presentations of Sports Bras.” Common Culture; Reading and Writing about American
Popular Culture. Eds. Michael Petracca, Madeleine Sorapure. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall, 2010. 481-506. Print.