# 'Bum fights' offensive or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 10, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386 "2002-05-10T22:40:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Palo\_Verde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Palo\_Verde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palo_Verde)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/1 "2002-05-10T22:40:22Z")
[http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/05/10/homeless.fighting.film/index.html](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? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/2 "2002-05-11T00:50:00Z")
Oh, boy. So it’s simply a documentary. From the story; > [@](#): > > “Fights are part of their culture. It’s a way for them to vent their anger. We’re simply there to video it.” 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 ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/3 "2002-05-11T01:09:25Z")
Shit like this makes the Baby Jesus puke his guts out. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/4 "2002-05-11T01:19:16Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/5 "2002-05-11T02:22:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > **To begin with, I’m not ready to accept ‘video’ as a verb.** _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.”) ---
**Author:** ![Jojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecd19e/32.png) [@Jojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jojo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/6 "2002-05-11T15:31:09Z")
> [@](#): > > 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? 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. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/7 "2002-05-11T15:40:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/8 "2002-05-11T16:01:29Z")
> [@](#): > > 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.”) 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 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/9 "2002-05-11T16:40:20Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Omnivore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e47774/32.png) [@Omnivore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnivore)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/10 "2002-05-11T17:54:54Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/11 "2002-05-11T18:27:06Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Tr8rJake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tr8rJake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tr8rJake)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/12 "2002-05-11T18:27:24Z")
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). ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/13 "2002-05-11T19:12:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Omnivore \* > \*\*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. \*\* 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? ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/14 "2002-05-11T20:50:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tr8rJake \* > \*\*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 . . . \*\* From the linked CNN article: > [@](#): > > Clark County District Attorney Stewart Bell tells CNN there are no cases pending against the two filmmakers. He says before a case can be opened, a victim must file a complaint with police. “The film is irrelevant unless the filmmakers paid a perpetrator to beat up someone,” says Bell. “Then they would be considered an accessory to a crime. But filming a fight between two people in and of itself is not a crime.” ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2002, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bum-fights-offensive-or-not/108386/15 "2002-05-11T22:07:09Z")
Just curious, **Tr8rJake**. Why do you call yourself “Traitor Jake”? Peace, mangeorge