Posted on 06/25/2002 5:56:04 PM PDT by cimon
'Bumfights' makes gladiators of homeless On shocking video, they fight and smoke crack
Reality video may have sunk to a new low with the one-hour shockfest titled "Bumfights," a new Internet-only video that depicts homeless men and women fighting each other and participating in dangerous stunts.
Inspired by a street fight they saw in San Francisco, a pair of film school dropouts who live in Las Vegas shot or solicited footage of fights of the homeless, fake abductions, sexual acts and drug use, and compiled it in a wildly popular video that is billed as "the most hilariously shocking video you've ever seen or your money back."
The tape shows a man setting his hair on fire; a man who smokes crack and then defecates on the sidewalk; a man who pulls out a tooth with a pair of pliers; and "Rufus the Stunt Bum," a man who voluntarily rams his head through fast-food restaurant signs, jumps off a building into a Dumpster and rides a shopping cart down a steep hill.
All the participants signed consent forms and some were paid, according to the filmmakers. The $19.95 tape sold about 10,000 copies within a month of release and then sales skyrocketed past 300,000 copies after shock radio host Howard Stern discussed it on the air recently.
"It's just like any other reality television," said filmmaker Ty Beeson, 24,
a dropout of a Los Angeles-area film school. "It's in line with those other shows. People should probably take a look at the tape, and they'll see the humor."
Advocates for the homeless and federal legislators say the tape is a disturbing and possibly illegal manipulation of homeless men and women, many of whom are desperate for money or struggle with mental illness or substance- abuse problems.
Donald Whitehead, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said he was appalled when he watched the tape and was just as outraged that there is such an enormous audience for it.
"We think it's disgusting, outrageous and the worst form of exploitation that we've ever seen," Whitehead said. "What's even worse is that this kind of blatant exploitation has an audience in America. That to me is as disturbing as anything in the video."
Whitehead said the video would encourage violence against homeless people in the same ways that professional and underground wrestling footage spurs imitators. In the past three years, Whitehead said, 120 people have been killed by attackers who said their victims were singled out because they were homeless.
"Not only does it encourage further exploitation, but it will actually encourage more violence against homeless people," Whitehead said. "It puts homeless people in isolated positions in grave danger."
Whitehead said his group supports the efforts of Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D- Ore., who asked for a federal investigation last week into the legality of the tape. Blumenauer asked the Las Vegas branch of the FBI to investigate what he says are criminal actions depicted on the tape and file charges against the filmmakers.
"We should do all we can to stop this outrage and punish those who would torture, degrade and exploit some of our most vulnerable citizens," Blumenauer said.
Paul Boden of San Francisco's Coalition on Homelessness said he hadn't seen the video yet but had heard about it and compared it to gladiator fights.
"It's illegal to stage dogfights and cockfights, but apparently it's not illegal to stage random people fights," Boden said. "Any connection between this and entertainment is a scary thought. They considered it entertainment when the gladiators went at it. Years later you look back and say it's barbaric."
Beeson has heard all the criticism about his video and says he has no problems with it. In fact, a sequel is already in the works.
"If anything, I'm glad that this tape has brought to life the problem of homelessness," Beeson said. "We are going to give some money to homeless charities. I think (Blumenauer is) under the misconception that we're out there to brutalize homeless people, and that's not true."
Having them move to Mexico won't solve anything.
God forbid some bum get paid for
doing something he can do. Send
him back into his refrigerator packing box
with his dignity intact. Barf.
(And OF COURSE you can count on Stern to be leading the charge here.. It's just his speed.. )
This is what I wanted to puke at. Why rent the video when I can see it everyday on the streets?
I can't help but recall Damon Wayan's (?) portrayal
of a homeless derelict on In Living Color. 'Member that?
Mr. Whitehead, I suggest you remove your head from your ass and watch a few nights of cable TV and the networks.
This tape is on the list I'm mailing to Santy Claus this year.....
At least it's not about homosexual men slapping each other...!
It doesn't seem any worse to me than watching Mike Tyson box.
I agree..
Unless they are watching to see him finally get his butt whooped!
Otherwise, it's in the same category, imo..
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