Thursday, August 13, 2015

Vile Viral

There's this Child Predator Social Experiment video making the rounds on the social medias. It's a catfish thing where Coby Persin (a 'prankster') sets up three different 12 year old girls to meet him somewhere, and then scares the living crap out of them as their parents jump/freak out from out of nowhere at the last moment.

FEAR! BE AFRAID! STRANGER DANGER!

I get it. It's an important message. We live in a sinister world of deceivers, child rapists, and murderers. You can never trust anyone.

Don't. Answer. The. Door.

But as I watched the video, I thought of a Nike commercial. The one where a hockey-masked chainsaw wielding killer comes upon a young woman in her home, but she has Nike running shoes and is able to run away. I'm not always the most astute, but even I knew it was 'not quite right'.

I think it falls under I don't know what porn is, but I know it when I see it.

Essentially, women are prey.

Maybe if the young woman had turned around and kicked him with her Nike running shoes, and proceeded to kick his ass it might have been something palatable. Bottom line, it was not cool. Not even close.



I wasn't the only one who saw through the Friday the 13th subterfuge. Two days later the spot was pulled.

I don't know what this Coby catfish creep wrote to the girls. I don't know how they were set up. THAT would have been enlightening to see. THAT would have been compelling.

I felt bad for the girls, being they were not actors. Their faces were blurred, but not their parents. Not too hard for their friends (or anyone) to figure out who they are. 

WTF is THAT about?!

And in that same vein, now that child predators see how easy it is...

I was never a 12 year old girl, but if my parents did this to me, I can't see how I would not rebel and hate them for the rest of my life. The humiliation, rage, and distrust would fuel/scar me for decades.

Anecdote: In college I went to a house party. I had to pee, so I used the bathroom. Halfway through the shower curtain ripped open and two drunk dudes were laughing and screaming, "Got your penis, got your penis!!!" Were I cooler, I would have continued peeing, but pivoted 90ยบ to my right. As it stands today, whenever I pee in someone's home (friend, family, whomever) in which I find myself in a full bath, I ALWAYS look behind the shower curtain. ALWAYS.

Also, why just girls? This happens to boys, too.

Again, women are prey...

This video creeped me out, but not in the way it was intended. It made me mad at the filmmakers. And not just because Coby gives off a Jersey Shore bro vibe. It felt exploitative and cruel.

Again, I get that this is a concern - for 100% legit reasons. And yes, I recognize I might be in the minority about this video, but here's a link that does a better job illustrating the video's shortcomings.

http://www.freerangekids.com/the-dangers-of-social-media-child-predator-social-experiment-i-e-boogeyman-out-to-get-your-kids/

Here's the video. Judge for yourself.





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