Unlocked: 'Bell Jar' By Caity Simmers - Stab Mag

Watch: Episode 1 of the Surf100 Challenger Series presented by Pacifico

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"I felt wise and cynical as all hell" - one of CS favorite quotes from Slyvia Plath's "Bell Jar," a novel that unravels the human psyche with stunning prose.

Unlocked: ‘Bell Jar’ By Caity Simmers

Featuring the best wave of her life.

cinema // Sep 14, 2023
Words by Coral McDuffee
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Learn more about Stab Edit of the Year (including how to win a Bitcoin) here.

At some point, most of us will feel stuck inside a Bell Jar. 

Where glass walls distort reality and dark thoughts tend to permeate. Muffled like hot air in a blimp. From the outside, the cylinder is pretty, even Victorian-looking, which makes it hard to shatter. 

“Wherever I sat — on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok — I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air,” TBJ author Slyvia Plath wrote, as her protagonist descended into delirium provoked by the expectations of traditional America in the 1950s. 

Caity Simmers’ surfing says to hell with your expectations.

Strolling into oblivion.

Her approach to competition appears effortless — Ryan Burch on a Pickle Fork doused with a Nozlike venom. Sometimes Caity strokes into waves and wins; other times, she has a float, sits deep, tries airs, and finishes with 3.70 points. Plus, her post-heat one-liners exist in spite of corpo juggernaut souls. (see below).

While Caity isn’t busy being a tryhard (her words), she produces surf content she actually likes. Her latest personal project, ‘Bell Jar’, features clips she’s compiled from her best free surfs and BTS moments in Portugal, El Salvador, Brazil, Africa, Tahiti, and home. The cameo list includes her travel companions: Timo Simmers (brother), Zoe McDougall (Stab Highway EU Champion), and Stephanie Gilmore (8x World Champion).  

Like all​​ Toasted productions, ‘Bell Jar,’ pairs shaky handycam footage with ludicrous rail work and whimsical beats. Caity’s SEOTY is our first female submission and may well be one of the most barrel hungry yet. Watch the 10-minute edit Caity cut, directed, and starred in above.

And stay until the end or you’ll miss the best wave of her life.

Learn more about Stab Edit of the Year (including how to win a Bitcoin) here.

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