Oscar Langburne is fun to watch surf. And Oscar Langburne is unafraid to speak his mind. Both of these things make him stand out in a modern pool of athletes and influencers who either A) churn out carbon copies of interchangeable, everyday content or B) won’t rock the boat with earnest takes on how they see the world or C) all of the above.
Concerning Point B, Langburne passed a short clip along after noticing it was stirring up some conversations. His recent film, Glósóli, featured short interview segments broken up by surfing (or vice versa). It was a personal touch on a 30-minute flick that we don’t see often because…why rock the boat? And the clip in question touched on a myriad of all-too-relatable interactions seen in and around lineups, warranting a quick follow-up chat with the young Aussie surfer who, like I said, is never afraid to share what he’s thinking.
You ranted about homophobia, masculinity, localism, and social media bullying in less than a minute. Obviously, all these thoughts came from a lot of past observations and experiences. Are there any that stick out in your memory that led to that convo?
Yeah, it definitely comes from a few personal experiences in and out of the surf and also trolls online. Since I was young and because of the long hair thing people think they are really witty and original saying, “She surfs okay for a girl,” or “He’s just a mini Ando.”
The online comment stuff…it’s a bunch of blokes sitting alone on their keyboard trying to impress another bloke with how witty they are. It’s a few blokes having a virtual wank together basically. I’ve gone off topic but it’s pretty funny at the same time.
It sounds like the run-in you brought up was something that happened on your average day surfing near home. What happened?
There were about five guys out, and I paddled out by myself. Enough waves for everyone, and one guy decided I shouldn’t be there so he was going to prove how tough he was in front of his bros by paddling inside for every two-foot set and nonstop with the “little poofter” stuff. I’m sure if I paddled out with a few pros or an older mate it wouldn’t have happened. I really don’t know why those people even surf if every normal surf is a competition to prove themselves.
What’s your take on why people are so confrontational in and around lineups?
I totally understand localism and think in some instances it’s actually good in certain lineups to control disrespectful or dangerous behavior, like in Indo where there are a lot of indigenous locals or Hawaii in dangerous waves that need to be controlled. I have no problem with that. I have a problem when it goes the other way and you have locals, or anyone really, disrespecting other people.
I find the local thing a bit stupid in some places over here for sure. People telling you to fuck off cause they may have been lucky enough to have family live close to some beach for a couple of generations is stupid when they aren’t even the true locals here. Then they go somewhere else and pull exactly the same disrespectful shit cause they think they are part-time locals everywhere. I’m in Indo now and just know I’ll go out at Ulus or whatever and there will be these same type of clowns constantly paddling inside for every wave like they own it.
I don’t think it will ever leave surfing, to be honest, because there are too many people wanting more than their share of waves.
So, you shared this rant on social media and got a pretty good wave of support for it. Did you expect that or did you expect to get more negativity when you shared that clip?
I only put it up to call out ignorance and hypocrisy for what it is. I didn’t want to have to say or write “but I’m not gay myself.” That would have been weak to cheapen it like that so I just left it for people to think whatever. I didn’t expect all the positivity around it and thought for sure it would bring some of the inbreds out to comment, but I sort of knew that a lot of people at the premiere (of Glósóli) liked that part. Plus I have had a fair amount of messages from different people saying it’s something they’ve seen or struggled with personally, so that was cool in a small way.
Speaking of, Glósóli was pretty personal. Every segment was broken up by you sharing some thoughts or feelings about life and surfing. What made you want to put yourself out there like that when you could’ve just stoked your sponsors out by sharing the standard shred flick and calling it a day?
That was always the idea, to try and put something out with some personality and opinions. I know this is completely different but I actually really like the old Toby Cregan Real Axe edits with Creed and that because they have some character. Same with the recent Torren clips, because they tell a story. I mentioned that in interviews but it never made the clip cause it was already pushing it for time.
I’m really fortunate with my sponsors supporting what I do and allowing me some creativity, for sure.
Any insights or lessons learned from that whole experience now that you’ve put something a touch more creative and way more personal out into the world?
I always want to try and create something a little different.
Unless it’s one of the guys or girls I go out of my way to watch, I’m not a surfer who will watch every clip that’s dropped, because there are so many. If it’s just another clip that’s been done so many times before or feels like you’re watching Instagram, it’s not for me.
I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a person and hopefully as a surfer as well since then. I’m now starting on something completely different for a sponsor that I’m really keen to get out quicker than (even) that one.
