Bums are entertaining. Fights are entertaining. Therefore, bums getting in fights must be entertaining. At least, that’s the logic behind the new reality movie “”Bumfights.””
Capitalizing on the success of MTV’s hit series “”Jackass,”” “”Bumfights”” takes to the streets and shows homeless men getting into real fights with each other and doing stunts, such as lighting each other’s hair on fire and running head-first into walls and fast-food drive-thru menus.
Lately, however, the argument over the video has focused less on its entertainment value and more on the criminal case that now surrounds it. The group of four filmmakers that created “”Bumfights”” was arraigned in El Cajon Superior Court this month on charges of soliciting a felony act.
Unfortunately for the district attorney involved, these charges are legally unfounded. The prosecutor is arguing that by paying men to commit assault, which is a felony, the creators of the video were committing a crime. The only crime really being committed here is the district attorney twisting the law to lead a moral crusade against something that he doesn’t agree with.
If paying men to commit assault is a crime, then why aren’t Don King and the heads of HBO and Showtime all in jail? Well, according to prosecuting attorney Curtis Ross, boxing is different from this streetfighting because there are rules, referees and a medical staff on hand. Does that mean that if the filmmakers had instructed their backstreet brawlers not to kill each other and had a medical student enforce that rule, then there wouldn’t be any charges filed? Highly doubtful.
What is really at issue here is that the authorities believe that the “”Bumfights”” filmmakers were exploiting the homeless people involved. It’s easy to see why the bums were taken advantage of since they got a free meal, extra cash and, in some cases, alcohol to willingly participate in a film.
Ah, but if the filmmakers promised alcohol to a homeless alcoholic, then that would certainly be taking advantage of him. It’s hard to argue that point, but is it really any different from a “”respectable”” filmmaker paying an alcoholic stuntman to do a dangerous stunt that nobody else would do? To my knowledge, there have been no charges filed against any producers, directors or stunt coordinators lately.
The bottom line here is that this is, or at least should be, a freedom of speech issue. These four men should be allowed to film whatever they want within the constraints of the law. It should be clear that the “”Bumfights”” video fits within that parameter. These were willing actors in a bad film that will unfortunately skyrocket to No. 1 on the trailer-trash top 10 list. That does not make it illegal. These men are not legally obligated to get a full mental evaluation and clean bill of sobriety from actors before allowing them to be in the film.
If anyone should be to blame in this mess it should be our society. Didn’t anyone see this coming from the long line of “”reality”” television shows like “”Real World”” and “”Jackass””? There is even going to be an “”American Candidate”” show on Fox for the next presidential election. Enough is enough. In a society where we would rather watch other people live life than actually live it ourselves, are a couple of homeless guys picking up a few extra dollars to knock each others’ lights out really that bad?
People should see this situation for what it really is. It’s a few guys going too far with the “”reality”” concept of television and paying people to do some stupid things. It’s an over-ambitious prosecutor trying to make a name for himself when the Las Vegas authorities and even the FBI couldn’t come up with any charges. It’s not a crime. It’s just a shame.
