Did we coin
a phrase?
At the risk of sounding a rather trivial horn, I've
included the following article on this site. In doing so I merely hope to
preserve a record, and perhaps satisfy a curiosity.
About a year after the film embarked on
a nation-wide (and international) film festival circuit, I was amused to read an article
about a Florida BASE jumper who, while being arrested for parachuting from a high rise,
turned to a reporter on the scene and shouted, "We love stealing
altitude!" Prior to that, the only expression I'd heard BASE jumpers use in
that manner was "we're just borrowing a little altitude".
Ever since then, I've had a sneaking
suspicion about the apparent metamorphosis of our film's title into what is now apparently
a stock phrase used to describe outlaw BASE jumping*. Indeed, it does seem
likely that its use amongst BASE jumpers is largely the result of our film's initial
popularity with that crowd.
Even before the film saw widespread
festival release, Fixed Object Journal (a BASE oriented magazine) editor Nick Di
Giovanni had published two stories about the making of the film -- including mention of
the film's title. Given the magazine's fairly wide circulation at the time (almost
exclusively to active BASE jumpers), I suspect that's probably what got the phrase
kick-started.
What Nick and everybody else didn't
know at the time was the rather ironic story behind the film's title.
Struggling for the ideal film title,
Roger and I found little we actually liked. At the time, local BASE jumpers referred
to the act of sneaking onto a skyscraper for a jump as "borrowing
altitude". We considered that expression, but decided it was too tame. So
we tried "stealing altitude" and immediately loved it.
Ironically, our film's main character
absolutely hated it. He felt it was misleading.
"I'm not stealing anything!"
he said, before invoking the famous hiker's idiom "take only pictures, leave only
footprints" that BASE jumpers were fond of. He was proud of his otherwise
low-impact sport (no pun intended), and fiercely opposed our choice of a title.
Considering the significant sacrifices
this man was making for our film, I felt we owed him a debt of gratitude. Soon, I
was arguing his case to Roger. But Roger wisely refused to budge, and when I could
think of no better title I gladly gave in.
So did our film coin the phrase?
Possibly. So far I've not been able to find any pre-movie use of the
expression in newspaper and magazine articles. I suppose the real
question is this: "who cares?"
- John Starr
* Most recently, a late 1990's front-page story in the
Los Angeles Times said BASE jumpers referred to the act of making illegal BASE jumps as
"stealing altitude". |
