“Florida man” & “dumb criminal” memes are little more than a socially acceptable way of gawking at and belittling the dispossessed and indigent.

[Blackjack200]

Without checking my own posting history, I'm probably guilty of participating, but I've never really liked this kind of "humor".

In January, for media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, I interviewed three people whose lives had been ruined by viral mugshots. This genre of clickbait may seem trivial or “just for fun,” but these stories involve real human beings with real families and real nuances and complexity and, very often, real mental health or drug problems. And while we may view this type of story as a harmless joke, having spoken to those upended by our viral tabloid story obsession, I can assure you it’s not. Goofy “dumb criminal” stories—the close cousin to “Florida man” stories—in all their iterations feed a culture of indifference toward incarcerated people and the poor.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/florida-man-jokes-are-an-excuse-to-laugh-at-the-poor/

 

[KMFJD]

i'd agree more with websites like people of wallmart

 

[IronWing]

We aren't laughing at Florida man for driving a junker car. We are laughing at Florida Man for driving his junker car into a tree hoping the airbag would launch him through the sunroof and high enough to grab his kid's kite out of the tree.

 

[IJTSSG]

Some people need to be made fun of. 99.9% of this forum for example.

 

[96Firebird]

Some people need to be made fun of. 99.9% of this forum for example.

Which is why we make fun of you! You, like Florida man, are just easy targets.

 

[child of wonder]

Live like a piece of trash, make stupid decisions that get you put in the news, be prepared to be laughed at.

Don't like it? Tough shit.

 

[whm1974]

Live like a piece of trash, make stupid decisions that get you put in the news, be prepared to be laughed at.

Don't like it? Tough shit.

Especially the 30 something Y/O Man-Child who sue his parents for demanding the he move out.

 

[pmv]

Isn't "Florida man" just a function of the fact that Florida has laxer rules about reporting on criminal cases than do other states?

I agree in the most general sense, though. Things like that People of Walmart and also the Darwin Awards, involve a lot of superficial and uninformed snobbery. In general most people's inexplicable stupidity or eccentricity turns out to have reasons behind it (see also Brexit and Trump). People are very quick to judge based on a total lack of knowledge of someone's experiences and circumstances.

Edit...and yet, some footage of inept criminals is just funny, dammit. Like non-crime-related scenes of people cocking things up. Like the one of the armed bank robber who panicked and tried to run away and then couldn't remember which way the door to the bank opened, frantically trying to push a door he needed to pull. Maybe there's something reassuring about the idea of criminals being as incompetent as everyone else?

 

[ch33zw1z]

@pmv - Florida Man has a become a catch all for stupid people doing stupid things because so many of the people seem to be from Florida. I mean, when I read a headline of a person doing something completely stupid I'm already writing it off to Florida much of the time

WRT the OP - yes, humans like to use shame and condescension for a variety of personally uplifting scenarios. I'm guilty of it myself, but I'm also honest with myself about it.

 

[pmv]

@pmv - Florida Man has a become a catch all for stupid people doing stupid things because so many of the people seem to be from Florida. I mean, when I read a headline of a person doing something completely stupid I'm already writing it off to Florida much of the time

WRT the OP - yes, humans like to use shame and condescension for a variety of personally uplifting scenarios. I'm guilty of it myself, but I'm also honest with myself about it.

Yeah, but my point is just that the reason it's so often someone from Florida is, not, apparently, because Florida people are uniquely dumb, but simply that Florida law allows these sorts of stories to be more openly reported than in other states. It's a reporting bias.

(Though I do like John Oliver's line about "just because your state is shaped like a cross between a gun and a penis doesn't mean you have to behave accordingly")

 

[ch33zw1z]

Yeah, but my point is just that the reason it's so often someone from Florida is, not, apparently, because Florida people are uniquely dumb, but simply that Florida law allows these sorts of stories to be more openly reported than in other states. It's a reporting bias.

(Though I do like John Oliver's line about "just because your state looks like a cross between a gun and a penis doesn't mean you have to behave accordingly")

Yeah, Oliver is pretty funny.

Your take on it makes me wonder about Ohio and Texas then. There's a local radio station that has a contest each week. They read an article on the air and you have to guess which state it's from. Florida, Texas, or Ohio. The article is always something outrageous, and your safest bet is Florida....but sometimes it's another state.

https://lazer993.com/2019/03/04/florida-texas-or-ohio-contest-rules-week-of-3-4-19/

 

[pmv]

Yeah, Oliver is pretty funny.

Your take on it makes me wonder about Ohio and Texas then. There's a local radio station that has a contest each week. They read an article on the air and you have to guess which state it's from. Florida, Texas, or Ohio. The article is always something outrageous, and your safest bet is Florida....but sometimes it's another state.

https://lazer993.com/2019/03/04/florida-texas-or-ohio-contest-rules-week-of-3-4-19/

Wouldn't surprise me if there are varying degrees of 'reporting bias' for different states, depending on their laws.

I can't come up with any determinative factors based on the shapes of Texas and Ohio, so I'm guessing it's more likely to be that.

 

[UNCjigga]

Florida man dies after trying to remove pet pigeon from power line with ‘20-foot aluminum pole’

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-...on-from-power-line-with-20-foot-aluminum-pole

 

[Jaskalas]

Pretty sure "Florida man" started when a guy on bath salts was EATING another man's face off.
Dignity is reserved for non cannibals.

 

[Bitek]

Let's get real, a bunch of people are poor because they are dumb as shit.

I'm perfectly fine with laughing at the actions of stupid people.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Let's get real, a bunch of people are poor because they are dumb as shit.

I'm perfectly fine with laughing at the actions of stupid people.

a bunch of people are rich who are dumb as shit because they chose the right parents. I'm perfectly fine with laughing at the actions of stupid people.

 

[Bitek]

a bunch of people are rich who are dumb as shit because they chose the right parents. I'm perfectly fine with laughing at the actions of stupid people.

Exactly. If we spare stupid people, we'd have to stop making fun of Trump.

No one wants that... Other than Trump.

 

[BUTCH1]

OK, I live in FL so I'll add my perspective, 1st is FL ranks dead last in the amount of $$ spent on mental health, 2nd is even if you qualify for any type of anything you're on a list or it's made extremly difficult. Case in point, I was laid off in 2012, even to collect the paltry unemployment benefit, ($275/wk, 49th in the nation) I had to go online to take a flash-based "skills assessment test". Mostly common sense type stuff and basic math, but it stopped stone cold frequently, (crappy Flash applet). It took 3 tries for it to run and finish, about 2 hours, thing is it cannot be run from a smartphone/tablet and if you go to a public library you won't be able to finish it before your session is up. So the deal was to intimidate people to get frustrated and give up and not collect their earned benefits, then when you collect, Rick Scott tied your benefit weeks to the unemployment rate and you lost half of your weeks anyway. 3rd is a lot of nutty people come down here, a lot of homeless people come down here. (Would you rather be homeless in the Midwest in Jan or FL?)..

 

[Jhhnn]

OK, I live in FL so I'll add my perspective, 1st is FL ranks dead last in the amount of $$ spent on mental health, 2nd is even if you qualify for any type of anything you're on a list or it's made extremly difficult. Case in point, I was laid off in 2012, even to collect the paltry unemployment benefit, ($275/wk, 49th in the nation) I had to go online to take a flash-based "skills assessment test". Mostly common sense type stuff and basic math, but it stopped stone cold frequently, (crappy Flash applet). It took 3 tries for it to run and finish, about 2 hours, thing is it cannot be run from a smartphone/tablet and if you go to a public library you won't be able to finish it before your session is up. So the deal was to intimidate people to get frustrated and give up and not collect their earned benefits, then when you collect, Rick Scott tied your benefit weeks to the unemployment rate and you lost half of your weeks anyway. 3rd is a lot of nutty people come down here, a lot of homeless people come down here. (Would you rather be homeless in the Midwest in Jan or FL?)..

Libertopian paradise, huh?

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

OK, I live in FL so I'll add my perspective, 1st is FL ranks dead last in the amount of $$ spent on mental health, 2nd is even if you qualify for any type of anything you're on a list or it's made extremly difficult. Case in point, I was laid off in 2012, even to collect the paltry unemployment benefit, ($275/wk, 49th in the nation) I had to go online to take a flash-based "skills assessment test". Mostly common sense type stuff and basic math, but it stopped stone cold frequently, (crappy Flash applet). It took 3 tries for it to run and finish, about 2 hours, thing is it cannot be run from a smartphone/tablet and if you go to a public library you won't be able to finish it before your session is up. So the deal was to intimidate people to get frustrated and give up and not collect their earned benefits, then when you collect, Rick Scott tied your benefit weeks to the unemployment rate and you lost half of your weeks anyway. 3rd is a lot of nutty people come down here, a lot of homeless people come down here. (Would you rather be homeless in the Midwest in Jan or FL?)..

Homeless in the Midwest during winter is better because you can't be turned away.

 

[Jhhnn]

Homeless in the Midwest during winter is better because you can't be turned away.

Yeh, but I get the impression that it's hard to freeze to death in Florida.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Yeh, but I get the impression that it's hard to freeze to death in Florida.

Being homeless sucks no matter where you are. I'm just saying there are more services for the homeless in the Midwest than in warmer climes.

 

[Lanyap]

Isn't "Florida man" just a function of the fact that Florida has laxer rules about reporting on criminal cases than do other states?
...

Yes. This article just came out and it explains the "Florida Man" phenomenon. It's not that "other States Man" doesn't exist, it just doesn't get reported by police like in Florida.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/why-apos-florida-man-apos-100001976.html

Florida has one of the most robust public records laws in the nation. Documents, photos, even videos created by a public agency are readily available — with some notable exceptions (and here I'm thinking of the video of New England Patriots' owner Robert Kraft in that massage parlor).
Police agencies routinely make all this available to the news media. I was added to the distribution list for one local police agency without even asking to be; now I get daily arrest reports via email.

'Florida Man' is uniquely ... Floridian
When I came to Florida and realized what journalists could get, I was astonished.

You mean, law enforcement provides you with this info as a matter of course, without complaining or throwing roadblocks in your way or claiming it's crucial info in an investigation?

Yep.

And this, more than any other reason, is why "Florida Man" exists.

It feeds on itself: The Florida media get the info and run the stories. The stories get noticed, they feed the "Florida Man" narrative, so we're on the lookout for ever-more Florida Man stories.

Our public records laws being what they are, there's always more grist for the mill.

It's funny, but it's not always funny. Mental illness surely plays a role in some Florida Man stories.

And there's a clear class aspect to it: We're laughing at working-class travails, basically.

So there's reason to take the Florida Man phenomenon with a grain or three of salt.