Bumfights - I just saw a documentary about this

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I'd hear about Bumfights and just saw an old doc on it. What is the general consensus? I thought it was really sick and disturbing where I hoped it might be amusing. Although the bum running into a wall was vaguely funny. But these little squirts deserve a really good kicking.

― NamC., Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:18 (twenty years ago)

i don't believe you.

― g e o f f (gcannon), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:27 (twenty years ago)

it's a real thing. i remember spin wrote an article about it a few years ago about how one of the bums sued them for damages or something?

― joseph (joseph), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:34 (twenty years ago)

the general consensus = calum is a cunt

― -----------@-----------.com, Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:34 (twenty years ago)

'Bum' as in vagrant or 'bum' as in arse?

― Autumn Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:35 (twenty years ago)

i know the bum hunter!

― charleston charge (chaki), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:46 (twenty years ago)

take it to the neighborhoodies thread, chaki!

― g e o f f (gcannon), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 01:50 (twenty years ago)

That bum hunter dude is a good idea gone way fucking wrong. Waking up homeless people and bounding and gagging them in the middle of the night is really scary and fucked up.

I hated they got that old man to have bumfights tatooed on his head. What a bunch of evil little bastards. May they be sued until they have no money left.

― NamC.., Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

why did you "hope it might be amusing"? It's an utterly vile idea, and i wish death &/or injury on the people who thought of it.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:08 (twenty years ago)

what's the URL for your blog Calum? I'm dying for more deep insight and curveball opinions on controversial topics like this. It's a shame all these posts by other people get in the way isn't it? Make sure you set the comments option to 'OFF' on your blog yeah?

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:13 (twenty years ago)

Also, in what way is that "bum hunter" thing a "good idea", never mind the "gone wrong" part?

Serious question.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:16 (twenty years ago)

.. although the "bum running into a wall" was a very odd picture, until I figured out what kind of "bum" you meant.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:19 (twenty years ago)

Well by 'good idea' I mean that if it had been scripted and done with actors a guy - pretending to be Steve Irwin - who rounds up bums in the way Irwin does crocodiles could make for a funny sketch. You know - it's not out of the question that this could be a Saturday Night Live short or something. But when done in REALITY it is a horrible, scary - seriously scary - thing to watch.

Pash - I agree. What I meant is that the idea of people doing dumb shit is usually amusing (i.e. Jackass) but the reality of preying on down and outs and making them actually hurt themselves is just horrible. Seriously man, some of these scenes were sticking in my head last night and they were not pleasant - just really disturbing.

― NamC.., Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:27 (twenty years ago)

Ah right. Fair enough. Although sounds about as funny as a "not the nine o clock news" golden oldie sketch, but nevermind.

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:30 (twenty years ago)

.. although execution of an idea is everything...

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:31 (twenty years ago)

Interesting how binary the reality/fantasy reasoning behind what's intended as 'funny' really is e.g. betting on tramps pulling their own teeth out in Nathan Barley funny (tho i don't know if i laughed much myself) though this happening in real life so kneejerk horrendous. Worth challenging and exploring this mentality maybe.

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 12:37 (twenty years ago)

i saw one of these bum fight dvds once and it really made me sick. especially the BUM HUNTER part. for one -- NOT EVEN REMOTELY FUNNY IN ANY UNIVERSE. I mean, pretending you're the croc hunter? hah hah. sure. And it was just SO TERRIBLE and sad and yeah, those guys need to go die. They are rich because they are the biggest jerks ever!

― gunther heartymeal (keckles), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 14:10 (twenty years ago)

There is one bit where they get this drunken man and give him a sled and then ask him to sled down a snowy hill drunk and that was kinda amusing because:

A) He never got hurt
B) It was kinda wacky

The rest - UTTERLY DUD and really REALLY disturbing in a Faces of Death kind of way. Anyone who ever paid to see this shit should be ashamed. The guy pulling out his teeth for money was so fucked up it haunted my sleep last night.

― NamC., Tuesday, 19 April 2005 15:50 (twenty years ago)

"Nathan Barley", I suppose (not having seen anything other than the trailers) is about the kind of "edge" tendency in laddish media, though? How much can we get away with/omg moral black hole sort of thing. I guess there's a certain humour in that, but it's a hollow laugh, given that something like "bumfights" actually exists.

Am i being para here, or wd this thread be a good candidate for de-googling?

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 16:35 (twenty years ago)

ps these were all scripted and the homeless people were paid well.

― charleston charge (chaki), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)

I thought they weren't paid at all. Because werent the bums starting a lawsuit against the dudes?

― gunther heartymeal (keckles), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:01 (twenty years ago)

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