Bumfights

[DOXXP29 5]

This is truly sick. I was reading a local paper today and there was this article about a video series called "Bumfights". The premise is this: The show's "producers" go around paying homeless or other downtrodden or broke people to do vile, disgusting acts. The show's creator ha become a multi-millionaire from these videos. Here's a short interview with some clips from Dr. Phil: 

A warning...this is not for the weak of stomach.

It never ceases to amaze me how in today's society, man's inhumanity to man still thrives. Sadly, there appears to be a huge audience for this. The series was being sold on DVD, however most of the major retailers have refused to continue selling it. YouTube takes down the really disgusting episodes. 

Maybe most of you have heard of this. For me, this is a new one. Ironically, I read about it in a local street newspaper distributed by homeless people to bring awareness to their cause. I'd be interested in comments. I'm also wondering how the series creator can get away with not being sued and/or arrested. It doesn't surprise me that someone can get rich off of the total degradation of a fellow human being. How he can avoid prosecution and lawsuits does.

[Duke87 1,070]

Heard about this years ago. Back when it was new, a lot of evening news type programs were doing stories on it. I was under the impression that lawsuits and other court action had gotten the show shut down, though. It's still going?

Granted, it is a bit distasteful, but there's obviously a market for it, and, hey, it's not like anyone's forcing anyone to do anything against their will. Those bums are handsomely compensated for their time and "effort", too. I don't think it necessarily has to be bums, they just do it that way. I'm sure a lot of people would do such things for a million dollars. Money is powerful that way.

I myself don't really understand how this could be entertaining, but then again, I don't understand how Broadway Plays could be entertaining either. I wouldn't consider someone "sick" for enjoying such things. To each his own, you know? Besides, there are things I enjoy which a lot of people would probably consider sick, so I have no right to pass such judgement. In fact, I don't think there are very many people on this earth at all who can honestly say that they never find anything off-color or controversial entertaining. Humans are sick, twisted creatures, after all. It's in our nature. You just have to learn to accept that different people like different things... and just because you find something distasteful doesn't mean other people shouldn't be permitted to partake in it. So long as nothing illegal is involved, anyway.

And considering that everyone in these films has consented to being there and behaving as depicted, I don't see how anything illegal is being done.

[Insane Child of Bodom 1]

BUM FIGHT CREW FOR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

/me grabs his 40oz.....

nah but in all honesty this is quite OLD.....

the old BFK was badass....too bad the cops put it down....Ruffus made mad money i heard....

*I'm agreeing with Duke in the fact  the bums/actors were well paid...

the Actors/Romanians in Borat only made one dollar a day and some sold their houses for $50 just so Borat could put cows inside the houses.....

plus if anyone ever saw DVD number 3....

he is in a house and has a fat beer and the hottest hooker is teasing him and trying to get his newspaper...haha...

*The point i make in the above comment is by the end of the series it seems Ruffus is NO LONGER homeless....

[ShortStraw 1]

Well, I think it's sad and disturbing that there is a market for this stuff. 

That said, what you basically have here is people who don't know any better being exploited for personal gain by people who should know better.  It's like pro boxing on a much smaller scale I think.

Another irritating factor here is that the popularity of the bumfight videos is a reflection of how a lot of people really feel about the homeless, that they are a dirty and "icky" bunch of undeserving slobs and it really doesn't matter what happens to them anyway.  It's one small step away from lighting bums on fire or beating them senseless for the fun of it.

Personally, I'd pay to see the opposite.  That is, spoiled over privileged condescending little rich snot fights.  The prize could be, i dunno, whatever it is those kind of people value.

[Insane Child of Bodom 1]

Originally posted by: ShortStraw Well, I think it's sad and disturbing that there is a market for this stuff. 

Personally, I'd pay to see the opposite.  That is, spoiled over privileged condescending little rich snot fights.  The prize could be, i dunno, whatever it is those kind of people value.quote>

 

I bet the prize would be a night with Paris Hilton...anyway I like the idea...

A bunch of rich punks from Newport Beach or Orange County duke it out and bash each other...

that'd be cool...

[coolotter88 2]

or we could just go out and bash their brains in and skip the money paying part.

[ILL Tonkso 1,236]

This is quite old now, and it still disgusts me.

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 7, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[Zelgadis 638]

It certainly is sad that the people simply don't care. The price these people have to pay is to sell their dignity. Has it occured to anybody to offer them jobs where they don't have to sell every last shred of their dignity? I guess so...

If I had to watch something, I'd much rather see some rich kids from Beverly Hills who have never known a day's hardship to be bums for a few months, at least. That would be entertaining.

ISF

[Godzillaman 21]

Gosh that is just sickening! How can people be this cruel by stealing peoples dignity like this? AND HE MADE MONEY OFF OF THIS TOO!

[DOXXP29 5]

Thanks for the replies and the enlightenment. I had no idea that this had been around for so long. Then again, I never thought to Google "Bums getting paid to lose their dignity", so who knows what else I missed. And your point, Duke, is well taken and something I agree with and have mentioned quite often over the years...we all, to some degree, get off on the misfortune of others. Whether it be laughing when someone slips and falls to getting one's rocks off on snuff films, in some way, to some degree, it's part of the human psyche. Just like we watch the Road Runner so we can see the coyote get flattened with an anvil and laugh like hell. On the surface, some of the scenes are kind of funny if one ignores the fact that these are real humans and that after the show they don't go to make-up and get the blood washed off before changing into street clothes and going home. They ARE home and those ARE their clothes.

One idea that DOES appeal to me (here's the twisted human psyche, as noted before...) is ShortStraw's premise of watching, say Paris Hilton and Pamela Lee Anderson going at each other with baseball bats. Think of it...just as a homeless guy loses his dignity (which MAY be all he has), what would it be like for someone who gets by on their looks to lose their beauty? Whoul we tune in to watch Pamela Lee with two black eyes, missing teeth, crooked nose and deflated mammaries? Of course, she could pay a plastic surgeon to rebuild her looks, unlike the homeless guy who can't go to a doctor and pay him to restore his dignity.

It is a bit of a relief to know, as you've stated above, that these guys were actually well compensated for their efforts. I was under the impression that they were given a pittance or a bottle of rotgut wine for these acts of degradation. I suppose we all have a price for which we'd do certain things that we'd otherwise never consider. And who knows? If I was in the same situation as the guys in the show, I may very well have considered it myself. If I have nothing to look forward to tomorrow, would I really care about what I do today?

[david1314 44]

Originally posted by: DOXXP29

It is a bit of a relief to know, as you've stated above, that these guys were actually well compensated for their efforts.quote>

Um....that's not true.  I think 'handsome' was perhaps a bit 'generous' in describing the situation.

The guy is a millionaire...he's out there to make money.

Bums want booze (or food, drugs, etc.)

booze costs money (but not much)

Millionaire guy will pay as little as possible to make hungry addict fight for the camera to make money.

I think your first impression that a box of wine or a pittance is about correct.

[Zelgadis 638]

I believe the director said he has made "tens of millions of dollars" off of the bumfights. I'd love to know how he's using that money. If he's not giving away at least 90% to charities to help the homeless who support his livelihood, then he's a scumbag.

ISF