A black and white short film from 1955, Aquatic Wizards features water-skiing as enjoyed by a bevy of white men and women, and one rather talented Hispanic man. A bout of mild racism on the part of the narrator underscores this quite well. Breathless descriptions of various forms of water-skiing follow, from children first learning to experts demonstrating high level techniques such as the so-called "Cypress Gardens weave" and the apparently impossible double helicopter spin, attempted not quite successfully by Alfredo Mendoza. As one might guess, the wisdom of allowing pre-teen children to tow even younger children on a large body of water without so much as a life jacket is questionable at best, but the ultimate message of the short film seems to be that water-skiing is an engaging sport, accessible to the common man, regardless of age, sex, or race, or taste in bathing suits.
For the Mystery Science Theater 3000 version, please visit the episode recap page.
This short film provides examples of:
- Forgot I Couldn't Swim: Joked about by Mystery Science Theater 3000.Joel: Miles from the dock and they can't swim, I love that trick!
- Gender Is No Object: Water-skiing is shown to be enjoyed by both genders, albeit slightly segregated for instruction.
- Male Gaze: Par for the course, considering the ubiquitous swim-clad women, with the narrator admonishing the viewer for (presumably) ogling the bare legs of multiple women presenting different types of water-skis.
- Mr. Fanservice: The camera takes a few lingering shots of the rather well-toned physiques of Alfredo Mendoza and "Chad Slabbody".
- Sink or Swim Mentor: Humorously implied in the MST3K version.Tom Servo: And the incentive to stay up is... crocodiles!
