the beach, by alex garland

[jadedjordan]

"they were harvard students. sammy was studying law, zeph was studying afro-american literature. their surf act was a reaction to the condescending europeans they kept meeting in asia. 'it's a protest against bigotry,' zeph explained, pulling knots out of his tangled blond locks. 'europeans think all americans are stupid, so we act stupid to confirm your prejudices. then we reveal ourselves as intelligent, and by doing so, subvert the prejudice more effectively than an immediate barrage of intellect - which only causes confusion and, ultimately, resentment.'
'really?' i said, genuinely impressed. 'that's so elaborate.'
zeph laughed. 'no, not really. we just do it for fun.'"

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