http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/10/homeless.fighting.film/index.html
A young filmemaker released a film of homeless men fighting each other. They were paid from $20 to $100 for their actions.
Was he taking advantage of their poverty, or just filming a legitimate aspect of homeless culture?
Oh, boy. So it’s simply a documentary. From the story;
To begin with, I’m not ready to accept ‘video’ as a verb.
What an outrageous statement! And I assume he’s ‘simply’ selling t-shirts to keep buyers warm? And the tapes are meant ‘simply’ to be educational? Bullshit.
Of course it’s offensive.
Peace,
mangeorge
Shit like this makes the Baby Jesus puke his guts out.
My question is whether topless pillow fighting is a legitimate aspect of sorority girl culture and can I get an educational grant for the documentary I’m planning on this subject?
Video not a verb? Better tell Ovid. Video meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor. (“I see the better, and I approve of it; but I pursue the worse.”)
A woefully under-investigated genre, Nemo, and very brave of you to plunge into this dark, nefarious world. I would like to pledge my assistance to you with the making of this essential and courageous documentary.
This sounds like a project which needs in-depth study. I suggest several teams working simultaneously in various parts of the country.
I hereby volunteer to begin scouting operations in the Midwest.
Ovid? The guy couldn’t even speak proper english.
Video is an english word. We took it, and it’s our’s. And it’s not a verb.
Peace,
mangeorge
Jojo and LurkMeister, you are hereby deputized as Executive Producers for my magnum opus Battlin’ Babes. Send me all the footage you can get for editorial review.
You know, this stinks. It was decades ago that people, for fun, usually white, used to pay poor black kids a nominal fee to get into a home made ring and beat the crap out of each other while bets were placed on them. The same thing was done with poor kids in South America.
It is exploitation and nothing more and the producer is only interested in making a quick buck, knowing that there will always be sicko’s out there willing to buy a video of people beating the crap out of each other. Historically, the poor have been used in brutal fights with each other to entertain the well off and this is nothing different.
It sucks.
I don’t care about the fighting, but there’s something about a man riding a shoping cart down a flight of stairs that just cracks me up.
Sorry to say it, but . . . the truth is that the aforementioned combatants will not likely suffer severe injuries from mere skin-fighting, especially since they are not likely trained pugilists or athletes. If they can get a C-note out of it, they are probably better off, scrapes and bruises not withstanding. So, are all the bleeding hearts screaming “EXPLOITATION!” offering these guys $100 to do something other than pummel each other senseless?
Legal tangent: Is this legal? Fighting, even if both parties consent to the combat, is assault and/or assault and battery. But, these individuals are being compensated. Are they being paid to perpetrate a crime against each other or are they competing in a sport? What defines a sport? Just wondering . . .
BTW, all of us WILL BE exploited to the fullest extent that we allow ourselves to be. This should not salve the consciences of the “producers” above mentioned but, society can’t babysit everyone (though we should make every effort to watch out for children and the mentally impaired).
Not that I don’t think it’s within the realm of possibility but I’ve never, ever heard about this specific form of entertainment being
inflicted on poor American, black children by white spectators wagering on them. Do you have any kind of a written or online historical cite for this having happened to American black children?
From the linked CNN article:
Just curious, Tr8rJake. Why do you call yourself “Traitor Jake”?
Peace,
mangeorge