"Drunk Girl" Video Is Latest Viral Hoax

Submitted by Mastodon on Thu, 2014-11-13 07:58

Story here. Excerpt:

'NOVEMBER 12--The viral video claiming to show a series of men plotting to take advantage of a drunk Los Angeles woman was staged by the clip’s creators, who fed lines to the purported predators, dupes who thought they were appearing in a student film, The Smoking Gun has learned.

The video, “Drunk Girl In Public,” is described as a “social experiment” by creator Stephen Zhang, 20, who apparently sought to ride the coattails of the 35 milllion-view Hollaback! video showing a woman being peppered with catcalls as she walked across New York City.

Zhang’s video, shot on Hollywood Boulevard, has been viewed nearly 4.5 million times since it was uploaded to YouTube on November 8.

The clip stars actress Jennifer Box, 24, who teeters on high heels while drinking from a paper bag. The clip portrays the tipsy Box as prey being stalked by the men she encounters.
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In a Facebook post, Koshak (pictured at right) assured friends that the video “was all staged and all of the people in it were acting,” adding that the clip “does not portray myself or any of the other people in it correctly.” He noted that, “it's a false ass portrayal and I was lied to about what the video even was. Faulty ass shit.”

In response to those protestations, Leach, 22, sent Koshak a private Facebook messageacknowledging that the video was staged. “The important thing to consider," Leach wrote, "is that this video is going to get you well known and have a future with us and our company."    

After promisisng Koshak a night of free drinks, Leach said, “We are going to be huge and you are apart of it. Just go with it dude, you are in our team now and we will take care of you.”'

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Comments

While I think Christina Hoff Sommer's discussion of it brought up a number of good points, nonetheless, receiving any kind of comments from strangers on a street other than simple friendly greetings (which men also get from ppl of both sexes) are inappropriate short of mitigating conditions. It's a social contract thing. Ppl have the right to address others incl. strangers provided they do so civilly and w/out a criminal motivation. Finding someone attractive isn't a crime (unless one is a feminist and it's a man saying hello to a woman he doesn't know -- then, well, it ought to be a crime!). Likewise ppl have the right to ignore a stranger's attempt to get attention and nothing further unless the attempt becomes harassment (persistent and/or uncivil and/or patently aggressive). Then they have an increasing right to act to preserve their personal autonomy, up to and including physical force should the situation warrant it.

This is English common law (CL) 101, forming the basis of statutory and case law here in the U.S., which while subservient to case/stat law, is the rule failing those avenues. In the case of unsolicited comments made to strangers in public, U.S. case/stat law has upheld the English common law tradition consistently. These two rights are the CL Right to Inquire and the CL Right to Be Left In Peace. They are the fundamental human and political rights underpinning free societies.

Where a woman or man receives any comments other than civil and unintrusive ones, no law is broken. Saying hi isn't that. Telling someone to do something like "smile" is obnoxious but not illegal. It isn't patently offensive. Comments begin to encroach on civility when they include intrusive observations, for example, abt one's looks, even if the intent is flattery. Rel'p status must be considered. Telling a coworker I think her new dress becomes her is fine if we're on friendly terms and have worked together a time. Telling a woman on the street I don't know the same thing may be fine too, provided my attitude isn't lewd or inconsiderate, though some may disagree (and to avoid unwittingly offense where none is intended, I wouldn't do so anyway). However saying she looks "hot", etc., is crossing into uncivil speech territory, IMO. I'd feel the same way if a woman (or man) said such to me.

All that opined, how many times does the woman in the now-famous catcall vid actually receive comments that cross the line?

Next, I'll say I'm a bit skeptical abt the authenticity of the plot in the vid. How for example was it filmed? Did someone walk backwards in front of the woman with a camera pointing at her quite obviously, or was some kind of spy cam attached to the cameraman/woman's backpack, etc.? Are rude men really likely to say rude things to a woman being filmed obviously as she walks down a sidewalk? Were some of the catcalls actual and some staged? After seeing Christina's comments abt it, I have my reservations.

This isn't to say I think some percentage of women in a pop'n getting harassed by some number of rude men (which we'll always have, as we'll always have some nbr of rude women) isn't a problem to be ignored; quite the contrary, it deserves attn and action. Peaceable societies require their ppl to behave peaceably. It is to say that the problem can be addressed w/out resorting to fraud to pump up the sense of need. Also, men can and do get harassed by women, esp. gay men or men who "seem" to be gay. Men of all kinds typically don't receive harassing comments from women in the form of crude comments abt their clothing/bodies. (And I refuse to accept "unwanted attention" in the form of being told "hi there", etc., as anything like harassment.) However we get it in other ways, such as unjustified nastiness, behavior and speech that betrays a sense of suspicion of us for no reason, or being rebuked for something that is none of a stranger's business (e.g.: a 50-YO man being told by a 25-YO woman he doesn't know that "That shirt just doesn't go with those pants," or "Well, what are you getting your wife for Valentine's Day? You don't have anything yet? Well, you better hurry!" Imagine a man saying that to a woman.)

Let's see a viral video on that $hit, too.

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Submitted by Matt on Sun, 2014-11-16 21:27