#bumfights

So I keep seeing this post go around.

And instead of posting my unpopular opinion there, I’ll just make a new post all about my unpopular opinion. Because this is just like wrong. In two ways, really.

The first being, that’s not how it happened. He brought him onto the show, and before the dude even speaks, he says he won’t talk to him. And it wasn’t until after Phil thwarted his plan that the dude, very unarticulated, murmurs out his plot to expose Phil for his own exploitation. To which, Phil replies, keep telling yourself that. Beeson then, stunned, tries to fight to stay on the stage while security takes him out. Dr Phil talks to the audience and says he refuses the publicize this story. He brought Beeson to the show to defend Bumfights, but after seeing him come out like this, it was obvious to him (and anyone with brain cells) that Beeson isn’t interested in having an honest conversation. He is there for the clout and to be known forever as the guy who dressed up like Dr Phil and went onto the Dr Phil show. But he certainly didn’t come there to defend his film. Because his film, just like this stunt, and just like Beeson, are exploitative pieces of shit that want to make a quick buck. I encourage you to actually watch the video. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xev7m3

This brings us to the second way in which this is wrong.

Because I think it’s absolutely ABSURD that anyone with iota of intellectual honesty could look in a mirror and say that the dude who films homeless people fighting for money is equally as bad as Dr fucking Phil. Like seriously? I know you’re an edgelord who lives for disrupting the normies or whatever but do you even fucking hear yourself?

Dr Phil. Phillip C McGraw. The dude who has two PhD’s in psychology, both clinical and forensic. Who then went on to open a consulting agency for the US courts. That’s where he met Oprah and subsequently got his start in TV. And then from there, the dude has tried to do as much good as possible.

He’s created a number one day time TV show that highlights everyday people with serious problems. His show, at least in recent memory, has made strong emphasis on mental health. I’m paraphrasing, but Phil often says to his guests that they’re teaching tools, anecdotal cases that demonstrate a larger societal problem. He’s never trying to cure or diagnose anyone. He provides additional support to those guests that need it/take it. And not just support. Like actual multi million dollar facilities, for fucking free, as compensation for coming on national TV and airing your dirty laundry for the world to see. (I guess I should also make it a point here that, in America, where the show is filmed, healthcare is not provided by the government!!!). He and his wife, Robin McGraw, are continuous donors to a number of charities, including the Dr Phil foundation, his own foundation dedicated to helping disadvantaged families in the Gulf Coast. Robin started the When Georgia Smiled foundation, which helps victims of sexual violence and assault. Dr Phil also founded Doctors On Demand, which provides telemedicine at affordable pricing (again, America). But above all of these measurable things (and many more), Dr Phil gets average, everyday people thinking and talking about mental health.

Is any of this to say Dr Phil is without flaw? No. He’s not infallible. He’s done several questionable things that I can think of. Like play down the seriousness of COVID at the beginning of the pandemic (which, it’s also absolutely worth mentioning, he immediately went back on it and then spent the next year making his entire show hyper-vigilant about COVID). And there’s even allegations that some guests he’s helped actually were abused at the facilities they went to (I mean, we can have a completely different conversation about how culpable someone is for another person’s misbehavior, but kinda beside the point rn, just saying, another questionable thing). I’m sure there’s shit he’s done that actually wasn’t that great.

But to try and misconstrue any of that as being on par with Bumfights guy? Sorry. Miss me with that shit.

Especially like.. on the website that champions itself as the home of neuro atypical weirdos and the ambassadors of the Woke™️ community. I just find it exhausting that edgelords who want SJW clout perpetuate this pessimistic attitude towards anything and everything that’s low hanging fruit. Cause here’s a dude, actually like, trying to do good in the world in the exact areas of concern a lot of youth have, and he’s bastardized and read in the most uncharitable light.